“You’re disappointed.” He seems so nervous; I don’t want to make this worse for him.
“No, no, not disappointed, but I could kick Angie’s arse. Remember how guilty she made me feel when I didn’t tell her we were related? Well, it’s payback time.”
“Well, if that’s all your worried about.” Scott looks at me, almost relieved.
“Well, come of it. Angie’s a big girl. She knew what she was doing, as I’m sure you did. I just want to enjoy making her squirm for a bit.”
“You can keep me out of it. I don’t need her mouthing off at me.”
“What are you talking about?” I laugh. “You’re very muchin it, considering you were the one who spilt the beans.”
“Angie will go mad at me. I’m sure she thinks I’ll keep quiet.”
“Oh, so you’re talking. That’s good. At least it’s not awkward between you two. The last time I saw you both together, you seemed okay. I didn’t have a clue anything had happened.”
“You were too upset about Ash going away to notice.”
I feel awful. I’ve been so wrapped in self-pity I didn’t see what was happening right in front of me. “I’m sorry, Scott. I should have realised something was going on.”
He half-smiles. “No, I didn’t mean that how it sounded. We obviously did a good job of covering it up.”
“But you’ve seen each other since, right? You know you two have to get along somehow. My brother and my bestfriend are my rocks.” I say light heartedly, but he seems uncomfortable.
“Thing is, it happened again.”
Just as my mouth drops open and a sharp-edged, “What!” blurts from my lips, my phone vibrates. I continue to stare into Scott’s worried eyes until he lifts his chin towards my phone. “Aren’t you going to get that?”
I glance at the screen, not recognising the number, so I send it to messages. “It’s probably one of those cold calls telling me I’ve been in an accident. This is far more important.”
I stare back towards Scott, just as the waitress comes over with our cokes. I smile up at her politely as she settles our glasses down.
“Sorry the drinks were so long. Problem with the pumps.” She glances shyly at Scott again.
“No problem.” Scott smiles, not realising he’s making her blush again.
As soon as she leaves, I lean over the table, making my demand. “Spill.”
He moves his hand from under mine and clasps both on the table in front of him. “It’s kind of your fault.”
“My fault! How?” I whisper shout.
“You left for uni a few days earlier than you planned, leaving Angie in the lurch. She was feeling down and?—”
“Don’t tell me, you used your comforting arm again. Nice move.” I sit back in my chair. “At least tell me you’ve seen her since, and everything is okay.”
“No. Angie travelled back to her own uni without saying goodbye.” Now he sits back in his chair, looking to the ceiling while rubbing his hands through his dark brown hair.
“Why didn’t she tell me?” I say more to myself. “You don’t think she was getting me back, do you?”
“No, of course not. It was probably for the same reason I kept quiet. We didn’t want to upset you.”
“Me? Why would it upset me? You two are adults, it’s not up to me what you do as long as no one gets hurt. It was just a shock, that’s all. I thought she liked Tommy. In fact, she never did tell me what happened between the two of them. I thought she was so obsessed; she wouldn’t look at another man.” I stop myself, realising how stupid I am. “Sorry that came out wrong. I’m not doing so well with words today.”
“It’s okay. I thought the same, which is half the problem, Calla.”
His words shake me up a little. “There’s a problem?”
“Only for me.” He doesn’t meet my eyes when he says, “When she left without saying goodbye, it hurt. I really like her.”
