Lying Together Read Online Free PDF

‘Don’t forget, this man is a bastard.’ Yet when I stepped into his office that day he looked exactly the same as when I first saw him: pale face, blond hair, freakishly beautiful. And yet with a look that was almost kind. Maybe I had misjudged him. Maybe he wasn’t so bad. Maybe we could be grown-up about things.
    He put down his pen, scrutinized me carefully. ‘You look tired, Anne. Husband of yours not looking after you?’
    â€˜I’m not here to talk about Steve, thank you, Radnor.’ Defensive already.
    â€˜Ah. No of course, it’s about Evie. Well?’
    â€˜She’s in a state.’
    He raised his eyebrows. ‘ In a state. What exactly does that mean?’
    â€˜Haven’t you noticed how much weight she’s lost?’
    He hesitated. Clearly he hadn’t. But he wasn’t going to admit it. ‘Women are always losing weight. And gaining it. That can’t be what’s brought you here at such short notice. I told you how busy I am.’ He indicated the piles of exam papers, folders, sheets of paper, all stacked neatly: annotated, labelled, assessed, valued.
    â€˜She’s desperately unhappy, Radnor. And she feels she can’t talk to you.’
    â€˜Nonsense. Evie is not secretive like you, Anne. She’s a high-spirited, open person.’
    â€˜Yes, I know all her good points. She’s my best friend, remember?’
    â€˜So she is. And therefore you’re aware that there isn’t a devious bone in her body. That’s what’s so lovely about her.’ He’d apparently forgotten how he’d once called her ‘that tarty-looking girl who takes up all your time’; how for a year he’d tried to break up our friendship because she was ‘trivial-minded’. He had a different view of her now she belonged to him.
    â€˜Look, she may be lovely, Radnor, but she’s afraid of you, all the same.’
    â€˜Afraid?’ He seemed genuinely taken aback. ‘What is all this nonsense about, Anne? Please come to the point.’
    â€˜Okay.’ I was in for it now. I took a deep breath and the words came out in a rush. ‘Evie can’t have children. She had a hysterectomy ages ago. I don’t know the details. Evie finds it too upsetting to discuss, even with me. And she couldn’t face telling you at all. So I’m here instead – the fall guy.’ I gave a stupid little smile.
    He stared at me. He didn’t look shocked, or even surprised, although he raked his hair a little with his fingers. ‘Yes, I suspected something like this.’
    â€˜You knew ?’
    â€˜Well, Anne, it’s not rocket science. We’ve been lovers for four years. There must have been something wrong. I’m not totally obtuse.’
    â€˜Oh, Radnor, why didn’t you say? She’s been going half-mad about these tests. Afraid you’ll dump her, even.’
    He frowned at the distasteful word. ‘ Dump her?’
    â€˜Leave her. Throw her out. You know what I mean.’
    â€˜How badly you think of me, Anne.’
    â€˜You’ve been known to do it, though, haven’t you?’
    His eyes deepened with anger, but he said nothing. He was in super-control. ‘The difference in this case, Anne, is that Evie is the innocent victim. So I can hardly let her down – even when things are, well, disappointing.’ He adjusted a pile of papers a quarter of an inch to the right, and I saw the tightness in his throat.
    â€˜Disappointing? Is that all you can say? I thought – she thought – you wanted a child more than anything.’
    â€˜You know I did. You of all people know how much I did. But sometimes things don’t work out just as we want. Fate takes a hand. Or people help Fate along a little, don’t they, Anne?’ He gave me a hard look. ‘But Evie mustn’t worry. You can pass that on, as you seem to be the appointed messenger. Tell her I