“Well?” Flick nudged.
“I may have dropped into the conversation the fact that I knew who he was.”
Flick stared at her mum. “So, let me get this straight. You’re telling me you just let himthinkthat you were blackmailing him.”
Brenda nodded.
“Because that makes a whole heap of difference, doesn’t it?”
“There’s no need to be snarky. I can’t help how the man’s mind works now, can I?”
Flick couldn’t believe what she was hearing. No wonder Nate thought they were responsible for this whole mess. Although thanks to her mother they probably were. If her mum hadn’t approached him for help, as she put it, the video shoot wouldn’t have ever taken place. Which meant there’d have been no photo opportunity for whoever did take the damn pictures and, therefore, no resulting newspaper article.
“Oh, Mum. How could you?”
38
“Here you are, ladies.”
As Pete placed two large glasses of wine on the table, Flick tried to decipher his accompanying smile. Was it meant to be reassuring? Or was it given out of embarrassment? Watching him head off, she decided it was probably a mix of the two.
Her stomach churning, she turned her attention to Jess who sat with her. “I wasn’t sure if either of you would talk to me,” Flick said, picking up her drink.
“What made you think that?” Jess replied.
Flick tilted her head, one eyebrow raised. Did the woman really need to ask? “Nate’s a friend of yours. And as far as he’s concerned, me and Mum are public enemy number one.”
Jess proffered a dismissive hand, clearly wondering what all the fuss was about. “He’s also a big boy who’ll get over it. In my view, the whole thing’s hilarious. Who’d have thought it, eh? Your mum a blackmailer.”
While Jess giggled, Flick cringed, wishing she could see the funny side too.
“You shouldn’t laugh. Not really.” She put her glass back down. “I know Mum was only trying to do the right thing by me, but to resort to extortion. How could she? Especially when she knew everything Nate’s been through. I’m so frustrated with her right now. It’s no wonder he hates us. As for everyone else, I can only imagine.”
“I, for one, think you’re being too hard on her,” Jess said.
“You do?”
“Yes, I do. Taking a step like that can’t have been easy, particularly for someone like Brenda who obviously doesn’t have a malicious bone in her body. She risked her own reputation for her one and only daughter. Fair play to her. I’d like to think I’d do the same thing for mine if I had one.”
Flick wondered what else Jess thought Flick’s mother had been up to. It was one thing taking responsibility for what she had done, but as for anything else. Flick felt a thickness in her throat as she considered the shame of it all. “You do know she didn’t take those pictures though, don’t you? I wouldn’t want anyone adding that to her criminal record.”
Jess laughed. “I was there that night, remember. And I never saw Brenda with a camera or her phone out all evening. Believe me, the way I was milling around with those canapés, I’d have noticed.”
Relieved, Flick drank a mouthful of wine. “Nate thinks she did.”
“Nate’s wrong.”
“Not that I blame him. Mum would be the first on my list of suspects too if I were in his shoes.”
“Nate needs to climb out of his own backside,” Jess said, causing Flick to almost choke.
“You can’t say that!”
“Why not? Don’t get me wrong, Nate’s one of my best friends. I love the man to bits but he does take himself too seriously sometimes.”
Flick jerked her head back in surprise. Considering the man’s history, she expected more sympathy. “He has had it rough, by all accounts.”
“Of course he has. His mum was in the spotlight for most of her life and for all sorts of reasons, good and bad. Nate too for that matter. And the way she died… I wouldn’t wish that kind of grief on my worst enemy. When I think about what he went through, it’s no wonder he went off the rails for a while. And boy, did he go off the rails. It’s no wonder he went from grieving son to spoilt trust fund brat in all the papers. His behaviour was enough to make your eyes water.” She picked up her glass. “Anyway, there comes a time when we have to deal with our baggage. And thanks to your mum, that time might well have come for our Nate. The way I see it, she’s done him a favour really.”
