He set it up on the dining room table in his suite, spending every available moment on it, until it fast became an obsession. It was ten o’clock at night and there he was, leaning over the table, working away. He was oblivious to the spectacular view out of his wide windows, the bridge standing sentinel over the always moving ships across the water. He’d forgotten to eat dinner. That was becoming a bad habit.
The elevator bell rang. Frowning in frustration at the interruption, he glanced up. His mother stepped into the living area, a covered tray in her hands.
“I stopped at the kitchen before coming up. They said you hadn’t ordered dinner.”
He shrugged. “I wasn’t hungry.”
“Well, you need to eat, regardless. They had some ravioli left so I’ve brought that for you.”
“Thanks.”
He heard Gwen move across the room, but kept his gaze averted, concentrating on pushing the carving knife carefully into the wood, shaving off a curl of walnut and letting it fall to the table. She stood next to him, watching him work for a long moment, before pushing aside the tools he had laid out on the table anddunking the tray in front of him, lifted the lid. He glanced up at her, ready with an angry protest.
“You’re about ten seconds away from an intervention, son. Eat.” Only to mollify her, he picked up the knife and fork and removed the serviette, taking a bite of ravioli while she watched him. Satisfied when he put a second forkful in his mouth, she ran her hand affectionately across his shoulder before going to the minibar and getting them a beer each. Handing him his, she took a sip, leaning a hip on the table edge, picking up some wood shavings in her hand. “Walnut. An interesting choice.”
“It’s got the right finish.”
“I see.” She let the shavings drop back to the table. “I want you to tell me what’s going on.”
“Nothing. I’m carving wood and eating ravioli.” He took another bite, looking at her with a challenge in his eye.
She sighed, reaching out to push his hair back from his forehead tenderly. “You decided you didn’t love her?”
He flinched.
“Oh. She decided she didn’t love you.”
He dropped the fork. It landed on the plate with a loud clatter.
“So, you love each other. What, then?”
Fuck, she was persistent. “She can’t live in Sydney.”
“That I can understand. But what about you?”
He looked up at her then, for a long time. He watched as comprehension flashed in her eyes. “You’ve sacrificed yourself, your happiness, forus?”
“For Dad.”
She pressed her fingers to her lips, struggling for control. “Oh, darling. Your father would be devastated if he knew.”
“I know. That’s why I haven’t told you.” He pushed the plate away and reached for the bottle of beer. “But don’t you think it would be worse if I left? You’ve said it yourself, Mum. It would kill him. The only thing keeping him going is this business and let’s be real, you can’t run it without me.”
She looked away, gazing out the window unseeingly for a long moment. “I wish you’d spoken to me about this.”
He shrugged. “It’s for the best. Juniper understands.” God, it hurt his heart just to say her name. “She’ll move on, meet someone else and I’ll…” He couldn’t finish the sentence.
Gwen pushed up from the table, saying, “You know best, I suppose.” She leaned down and pressed a kiss to his forehead. “I love you.”
He picked up a chisel, leaning forward and delicately scraping it across the wood. “I love you, too,” he said without looking. She took it for the dismissal it was and walked out.
CHAPTER 30
Juniper
Day Twenty-Nine
Juniper moved around the yard listlessly, stringing paper party streamers from the deck to the oak tree. If she were honest, she’d never felt less like celebrating her birthday. She’d been inclined to just give it a miss, but Mikayla was absolutely insistent. Since she’d roped Billy into the plans, there was really no avoiding it. He was having a hard enough time coping since William had left, anything she could do to make him feel better, she would do.
