‘Looks like it,’ said Jen, tipping Lucy’s untouched coffee down the sink. ‘You like him?’
‘I’m not sure.’ She looked up at the security camera and watched him eat his breakfast. She liked the way he ate. Slowly, with attention and appreciation. He didn’t wolf it down. That boded well. ‘What I am sure of is that I’d like to wake up beside him.’
‘Lucy!’ said Jen.
‘What? Don’t look so shocked. I’m pretty sure the evidence of your son suggests you’ve had sex before.’
‘Yes, but that was with someone I liked… at the time anyway.’ Jen’s brow knitted up and Lucy saw the pain which was still raw in her eyes. Even though she’d been separated from her ex months before he’d died, the drama surrounding his death was still raw and painful.
Lucy winced. ‘Sorry.’ She hadn’t intended to bring up Jen’s ex. She still felt absurdly, superstitiously responsible for his death. She’d wished him dead, after what he’d done to Jen. And then — only weeks later… She cut the thought off. She refused to go there.
Jen waved a hand airily, but it didn’t fool Lucy. ‘No need.’ She gave her a quick hug. ‘It’s not your fault.’ Lucy grimaced. If Jen only knew. ‘I’ll go and lend Marcus a hand in the kitchen.’
‘Thanks for all the help you’re giving me,’ Lucy said.
‘Writing is a lonely occupation. This is far more social. And it’s entertaining watching you flirt. You never know, you might end up in one of my books.’
‘Only if it’s a thriller,’ said Lucy. ‘I can see myself as a gun-toting, kick-ass heroine.’
‘I don’t write those kinds of books.’
‘That’s probably why I haven’t read your others.’
Jen rolled her eyes. ‘You and all the rest of my family.’ She turned, as if remembering something. ‘Talking of family — Dan.’
‘What about him?’
‘He still hasn’t gone back to the US. I wonder if something happened. Something preventing him from going. Has he talked to you?’
Lucy shook her head. ‘No. I was going to ask you the same thing. I thought he’d stayed after Mum’s birthday because of everything going on with you, and then it was my birthday. But that was weeks ago, and he’s still here. And he looks kind of…’ She wrinkled her nose, searching for the word.
‘Lost,’ supplied Jen. ‘He looks lost. You need to talk to him. Find out what’s going on.’
Lucy snorted. ‘Like he’d talk to me. He never has.’
‘You’re closest to him. I used to be, but I’ve been away so long, of course there’s a distance now. I wish there weren’t, but it’s inevitable, I guess.’
Lucy smiled sympathetically. She knew how much it hurt Jen, and how she punished herself for staying away so long, desperately trying to save a marriage until she simply couldn’t.
‘You’ll grow closer,’ Lucy said. ‘Especially if he keeps hanging around MacLeod’s Cove.’
‘So you think he will?’
‘Don’t know. But he doesn’t seem in a hurry to leave. Has Mum said anything to him?’
‘She asked if I would. But…’ Jen winced. ‘It doesn’t feel right coming from me.’
‘So you want me to.’
Jen grinned. ‘Exactly.’
‘OK.’ Lucy fired off a quick text. ‘I’ve asked him to drop in for a drink next time he’s here.’
‘And that’s another thing. Why does he insist on staying in Wellington?’
‘I don’t know. I’ll put it on my list of things to ask him,’ Lucy said dryly.
Her phone buzzed again. She pulled it from her apron pocket, saw who it was and smiled.
