Chapter 1 – Leah Hobbs
Only Leah Hobbs' older brother Jacob could talk their parents into getting a hot tub. If she had tried, the word no would have bounced off every wall of the house, but their blue-eyed boy always got his way. The first thing they allowed him to put in their precious conservatory when he returned from university was his exercise bike. It did not even matter that he had an apartment at The Point, nor did it matter what the neighbours thought about it. What Jacob wanted, Jacob got. In this case, a small swimming pool with bubbles. Possibly the best part about the whole palaver was that it was his best friend Max Vaugeois doing the installation. When they were younger, Jacob and Max irritated Leah and her best friend from next door, Lili Wallace, at every available opportunity, but the two boys had grown into decent young men and Max made a great buddy for online gaming. RPG was Leah’s thing, not Jacob’s, and it was Max’s and not Lili’s.
A crane had arrived out front and Leah watched in amazement as Max lifted a digger high above the street to go over the roof of the house and into the back garden. The Hobbs’ house backed onto the garden of a house on Elm Street and with no other access, the only way the JCB was getting into the garden was over the top.
Max smiled and waved as he caught sight of her watching out of the lounge window.
‘Woahhh,’ her dad yelled as it looked like the distraction was going to place the digger in the loft by mistake. Deeming it better to leave the boys to their toys, Leah headed off in search of food from the fridge.
‘Leah, can a hard-working man get a cup of tea?’ Max said from the other side of the conservatory while removing his boots so he could enter the house. Anita Hobbs, Leah’s mum, was the queen of house proud, and dirty shoes were a big freaking NO. When they were children, Jacob had to eat his food in his room because he made such a mess. Anita only entered his den of dirt once a week to clean and retrieve the washing. These days, when her mother invited people to dinner or a special event such as The Hobbs' Hogmanay, Jacob would be the first to put the plastic runners on all the thoroughfares of the house.
‘What tea do you want?’
‘Hot and sweet, just like me,’ Max said. A boyish grin infused his face and chipmunked his cheeks, making him appear sixteen all over again.
‘Help yourself to milk,’ she said, placing the cup on the granite-topped island.
‘Some hostess you are. You need to take a leaf from Anita’s book, aye. Making a man fend for himself and get milk from the fridge.’ He tutted loudly as his head disappeared behind the open American fridge freezer door. A moment later, he let out a little giggle.
‘Still sore that I flattened you last night?’ she said, leaning her elbows on the counter as Max reappeared.
‘I was having an off night. Your brother kept messaging me every five minutes with his demands for this place.’ Pulling one of the bar stools around from the other side he sat next to where she stood. ‘Wait till tonight girlie.’
‘Promises. Promises.’
