Page 71 of The Jealous Girl

‘Word of mouth has been the key,’ Ryan said.

My shoulders dipped slightly.

‘We just had to get a few people signed up initially and then the rest just snowballed from there.’

I nodded. ‘Right. That makes sense.’

‘Once people discover how much fun it is, they can’t wait to get back on a horse.’ He glanced at me over his shoulder. ‘Well, most people.’

I stiffened at the reminder of my one and only failed attempt at riding. With Charlotte.

I pursed my lips. ‘She came to the hotel today. Charlotte,’ I added quickly, seeing Ryan’s brow crease with confusion. Horse riding might forever be linked to her in my mind, but that didn’t mean it was in his.

‘Oh,’ he said, his attention shifting back to the hob.

‘She was asking lots of questions,’ I said stiffly. ‘About why I’d stayed in Dorset. About how we reconnected…’

Ryan shrugged, his back still to me. ‘Sounds like she’s just being friendly.’

‘Charlotte? Friendly?’

That caught his attention.

He turned and stared at me. ‘Don’t start that again.’

‘Start what?’ Irritation seeped into my voice.

‘I’ve never understood this hostility you have towards her.’

‘That’s because you’ve never acknowledged the hostility she has towards me.’

He rolled his eyes and turned back to check the spaghetti.

‘I didn’t imagine it,’ I said quietly.

‘I never said you did. I just think the two of you got off on the wrong foot. Maybe this is her attempt to change that.’

Ryan reached for the pasta bowls and started spooning spaghetti from the other saucepan.

I glanced across at the loaf of fresh bread on the breadboard. I started to step towards it, my hand raised, ready to reach for the knife and slice it. But I stopped and drew back to my position in the doorway.

Ryan hated it when I crowded him. I might think of it as helping. But to him it was interfering. Getting in the way.

‘It couldn’t have been easy for you,’ he said, ‘seeing the connection she and I had. The history. The shared interest in the stables. The horses.’

‘You think I was jealous?’

‘I think you always assume the worst about her.’

His words settled heavily.

You always read too much into things.

I shook away Janice’s ever-present voice.

I knew Charlotte had it in for me. She always had.

Even if Ryan refused to see it now, just as he had then…