‘A family holiday. Let’s book a break away, like you mentioned.’
When he slipped his arm around her shoulder again, Liv felt her anger seep away a little. They hadn’t been away for a couple of years and she loved the thought of sunshine heating her skin. ‘Maybe we could go abroad, somewhere cheap and cheerful,’ she said.
‘Sure. Or I was thinking of a nice little B and B in England. Or camping is always fun. Then we’ll still have some money to spend on the house.’
Liv froze. She had a vision of herself cooking sausage and eggs on a tiny outdoor stove for breakfast in the rain. Even if Jake did it instead, it still wouldn’t feel like a holiday. The unreliability of the British weather meant taking a whole car full of stuff, from sandals to hats and gloves. It was weird how you could go on holiday with three suitcases of things, and return with six cases’ worth of laundry. Her blood simmered at the thought of Jake allocating all their money to bills, repairs, his business and the boys. The only treat Liv had given herself was better coffee. Even the Bentley and White cake she’d bought was for the family.
She suddenly wasn’t sure if she wanted to holiday with them all.
You could get some sunshine, on your own, a voice cooed in her head.A working break, of course.
Liv ran a tongue over her top teeth and let the tempting thought take root. It seemed to grow at an alarming rate, swelling in her lungs and chest, pushing her to let it out. The more she tried to quell it, the more it rebelled. ‘Essie’s asked me to accompany her to Croatia,’ she blurted.
Jake frowned at her. ‘Why?’
‘Because I’m her assistant.’
‘And who’d pay forthat?’
‘Her publisher, of course.’
‘What about the boys?’ he said, wearing the expression of someone watching their shoes being swept out to sea.
Liv eyeballed him. ‘What about them?’
‘Well, what if they need you?’
‘They’re adults, and they havetwoparents.’
Jake bristled. ‘Well, it sounds very odd to me. What would you do out there?’
Liv didn’t even know. She shook her head, wishing she hadn’t mentioned it. ‘I’ve been doing some writing for Essie and—’
‘Writing? I see…’ Jake interrupted. He nodded several times, in the same way he did when Johnny swore blind he didn’t know how biscuit wrappers got under his bed.
‘What’s wrong with that?’ She glowered at him.
‘Nothing. It’s not going to berealwriting, is it?’ He picked up the remote control. ‘As if Essie would ask you to dothat.’
Liv’s face blotched. She knew tiredness and stress might be fuelling her anger, but her words spewed out anyway. ‘Essie trusts me more thanyou’llever know.’
His eyes became surprised circles. ‘What’s brought this on?’
She hadn’t eaten anything since a brownie at lunchtime and her blood sugar was flatlining. She was aware of how childish she sounded, but couldn’t stop herself. ‘You have. All you think about is football, work and your sister. You make more effort arranging raisins in your muesli than you do with me.’
‘Raisins?’ Jake said.
‘You don’t even know that Essie is dea—’ Liv clamped her teeth together, horrified she’d almost let this slip out.
‘Essie iswhat?’
Liv’s pulse jumped. She fought against revealing the truth. ‘Um, that Essie isdedicated to helping me realize my talents more.’
Jake switched off the TV and set the remote control down on the coffee table. He leaned back and regarded her. ‘I didn’t know I didthatwith the raisins.’
‘You set them out in a circle before eating them, and it’s weird.’ Why was she even bringing this up? It was the least of her worries. ‘Andyou never send me roses,’ she added.
‘Well, you ate chocolate cake in the bath and dropped crumbs. I thought they were insects on the rubber mat,’ he said, then paused. ‘Ihavebeen keeping stuff about Paperpress from you. It’s because I didn’t want to worry you.’
