by Nicola Marsh
‘The girls were in the shop, Ruby, so I have no reason to doubt what they saw.’ Sadness pinched Nancy’s mouth. ‘I’m disappointed in you. If you couldn’t afford the necklace you could’ve told me and we could’ve worked something out.’
Mortification flushed Ruby’s body and, to add to her humiliation, tears stung the back of her eyes. ‘I didn’t take the necklace. I swear.’
Nancy shook her head and turned away, the offending necklace still swinging on her finger, taunting Ruby. ‘Don’t ever set foot in my shop again, Ruby.’
‘Are you going to report her to the police?’ Becca piped up, her smile sickly sweet as she gave Ruby the finger behind Nancy’s back.
‘No, but I’ll be speaking to her mother,’ Nancy said, casting a final glower over her shoulder at Ruby before heading back into the shop and letting the door slam.
Ruby whirled back to the girls. ‘You bitches—’
‘Foul-mouthed as well as a thief,’ Jane said, wagging her finger. ‘I seriously think you’re not fit to be Connor’s date tonight. And once he hears about this …’
Fear wrapped around Ruby’s heart and squeezed. ‘You’d lie through your professionally whitened teeth because you’re too much of a troll for Connor to ask you to the ball?’
Malice glittered in Jane’s eyes. ‘We’re not just telling Connor. We’re telling the whole damn town what a scumbag you are. Including Anne Delaney, who won’t let her precious son anywhere near you once she hears this.’
‘Go to hell,’ Ruby said, needing to escape before the tears stinging her eyes spilled over. She pushed past the girls and straddled her bike.
‘Isn’t that where you’re headed now?’ Louise wrinkled her pert nose. ‘That place you call home is the closest thing to hell I’ve ever seen.’
‘Let her go, girls,’ Becca sneered, her high-pitched voice quivering with barely suppressed laughter. ‘She doesn’t have the guts to show up at the ball now, not when Connor wouldn’t be seen dead with a thieving slag.’
Ruby wanted to say so much. She wanted to let her hatred for the three girls who’d made her life a misery spill over in a raging torrent of vitriol. Instead, she pedalled away, ignoring their taunting laughter, tears streaming down her face.
ISBN: 9781489281159
TITLE: SECOND CHANCE LANE
First Australian Publication 2020
Copyright © 2020 by Nicola Marsh
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