We stare at my locked phone screen.
“We should read it,” I say.
Jacob nods.
I squeeze his knee. “It’ll be okay.”
“Will it?”
“Whatever happens, we’ll face it together.”
“Yeah, you’re right.” He threads his fingers through mine.
I unlock my phone and open the text message, ensuring my screen is in a position where Jacob can see it too.
Mum: You can come back to the villa whenever you want. Love you.
I frown. Was Mum able to talk Barry around? The last thing he said was that we wouldn’t be welcome to return if we left. Mum is good at bending people to her will, but is shethatgood?
“What does it mean?” Jacob asks.
“That we can go back.”
He sucks in a breath. “That’s not what Dad said.”
“Mum must have convinced him otherwise.”
“What if she didn’t?”
I loop my arm around Jacob. “She wouldn’t have told us it was okay to go back if it wasn’t. We should go and see what they have to say.”
“Now?”
I shrug. “Why not? At the very least, we need to change our clothes. You forced me out of bed and into the shower to get clean, but all we have to put on is crusty club clothes.”
He chuckles, but there isn’t much humour in the sound. “Good point.”
“We’ve got this room until the morning. Worst case, we pick up some clothes and come straight back. But that won’t happen. It’s going to be okay.”
“I’m not sure I have anything left to say to Dad. He instantly thought the worst of me. How can I forgive him?”
I lean my head on his shoulder. “Who says you have to?”
“He’s my dad.”
“He’s a bully.”
“But he’s still my dad.” Jacob sounds so lost my heart breaks.
“You have to do what’s right for you.” I’d like to tell Barry to go fuck himself, but he’s not my dad, so it’s easy for me to want him out of my life for good.
“How do I know what that is?”
I put my hand over his heart. “You’ll know. You’ll feel it here.”
He rests his head on mine. “I hope so.”
“You will. We don’t have to go back to the villa right away. We’ll go whenever you’re ready.”
