“That’s amazing,” she says excitedly, but then her shoulders drop and I can see her mind racing.
I shake my head at her, not understanding. “Scarlet, I don’t want to impose.”
“But you’re about to anyway.” She nudges me with her elbow, giggling.
I take a sip of my wine, smiling around the rim of my glass. “But if there was a way to go back to med school, would you go?”
“I couldn’t. My father doesn’t have his health anymore. Mase doesn’t get it.”
“And neither do I, so ignore me. But you shouldn’t put your life on hold for anybody else. Even if that person is your family.”
She eyes me behind my wine glass, a slight smirk pulling at her lips. “Okay, it’s official. I like you.”
* * *
Mase
I should behappy that my father isn’t drinking tonight. Our guests wouldn’t know; they never noticed when he drank. At least they never seemed to. Maybe it was the elephant in the room for all the years the alcohol wasn’t visibly killing him. It’s too late now. Nothing can mask the damage it’s done.
He’s sick. I can see it in the pale of his skin. The way his body is slower, his bones protruding. It infuriates me that he has done it to himself. All the years wasted locked away in his office with a bottle of scotch that he won’t get back.
“Mason.” He approaches me. “How are you, son?”
I wish I could hate him. It would make this so much easier. “I’m good, Dad.”
He nods. “I was hoping we could sit down for a chat this week. I have a few things I need to go through with you. Maybe you could ask Charles—”
“Just, stop. I have enough on my plate right now without worrying about this. I need to go and find Nina.” I feel like an asshole as I leave him on the patio, but I’m not ready for what he wants to say. I won’t ever be ready, and he knows that. I don’t catch what he says as I walk away. I only hear the wordtime.
I hear their laughter from the other side of the house, and it wraps itself around me like a warm veil. A sound I never knew I needed and now won’t ever forget.
“No!” Nina shrieks.
“Yep, the whole thing is on tape. You have to see it.” Scarlet laughs.
I round the corner finding them at the kitchen island, the canapés a mess and sitting in the centre untouched. There are two bottles of wine on the counter, both emptied. I shake my head and smile my first genuine smile of the night.
They both turn at the shutter sounding on my phone.
“Did you just take a picture?” Scarlet points a finger in my direction.
“Mase!” Nina chides, hopping down from her chair, and moving around to stand beside me. Leaning up on her toes, she places a kiss on my cheek. “You okay?” she asks.
I slide my arm around her waist.I am now.
* * *
We sitin the main dining room for dinner, the cool August evening too chilly for the girls. They seem to have hit it off, and I probably should’ve expected it with Scarlet being only a year older than Nina. With her lack of social life, I’ve always seen her as much younger than she is.
“So, Nina, what is it you do?” my father asks.
“I’m a dancer.”
“She owns her own studio and gym in London,” I correct her, squeezing her thigh beneath the table.
“She’s incredible,” Scarlet admires, staring like a creep across the table.
“Scarlet was telling me about her time at med school. I told her she should go back if it’s something she wants to pursue.” Nina says, and I watch Scarlet’s face drop.
