“Not a hope, dear. This is fascinating. I knew he liked you.” Marjorie patted her arm. “I could see the spark.”
“More like a forest fire.” Hazel nodded. “I was in danger of getting caught in the flashover.”
“I’m not sure you get flashovers in a forest fire,” Gerry mused.
“I really like him.” There was a brief moment of silence following Leah’s quiet admission.
“Tell us why.” Ava’s interest was genuine and gentle. Cassidy brought a cherry pie to the table and began to cut it into slices.
“He’s objectively gorgeous, so that doesn’t hurt. But I thought he didn’t care enough to visit Esther and that brought him down a notch when he first turned up at the house. Plus he was rude. Like, really rude.” Leah poured cream on her pie. “But even then, he was so inconsistent. He’d blow hot and cold from one minute to the next.”
Hazel sighed. “It breaks my heart but that boy hasn’t been shown a lot of love or respect. He’s not immediately going to know what to do with it when he stumbles across it.”
“Under all the grouchiness, he’s interesting and thoughtful and supportive. We like the same movies, he’s easy to talk to, and he’s clever with his hands. We had an amazing weekend together. Ireallylike him.” Leah poked at her pie with her spoon. “I’ve spent my whole life making myself as small as possible so I don’t cause any waves. Twisting myself into shapes to make other people like me.It didn’t work when I was in care and it didn’t work with Matt. I don’t feel I need to do that with Jax.”
“I tell my boys that genuine connections happen naturally with the right person.” Cassidy’s gentle mom-advice soothed like a balm. “You don’t need to be anyone other than yourself to be lovable.”
“What other people think of you is not your business. It’s a them-problem if they don’t like who you are.” Marjorie’s voice was firm.
“She’s right,” said Florence. “And I think you’re hilarious, babe.”
Marjorie nodded. “A one-off.”
“You’re very kind,” said Gerry.
“And although your cooking is a bit wobbly, you’re always willing to give something a try,” added Hazel. “That’s a very positive trait.”
Leah’s eyes burned, her chest quivering on a shaky breath. “Hey, guys. Pack it in now. We’re supposed to be dissecting the book, not my character.”
Hazel laid her hand over Leah’s on the tabletop and gave it a squeeze. Surrounded by friends and filled with thoughts of a brooding man who made her blood sing, Leah let the smile grow on her lips and the conversation swirl around her.
“Yeah, I’m sick of you hogging all the attention.” Florence threw her a lifeline. “Let’s get back to Betty Big-Tits and see if any of us cared abouthercharacter arc.”
Chapter 39
Jackson
The week was punishing from start to finish—almost as if payback were being served for every lighthearted moment he’d stolen at the beach.
Blindsided by Leah’s message from her ex, Jackson had already been off-balance. He tried to maintain some perspective, tried not to damn her without an explanation, but the turbulent swell it created had left him adrift. It wasn’t a great foundation for dealing with his father, the missing insurance, and the fucking huge loan they now couldn’t make the repayments on.
At the Barnforth site they viewed the destruction of the overturned crane side by side.
“It could have been worse.” Not much, but it could have. The damage to the building hit by the crane was not too bad. The damage to the crane itself was far more expensive.
His father’s face had a gray cast. The back of his hands, where they clasped the barrier, showed a roadmap of tendons and veins beneath the skin.
“It’ll be $75K or more to get that jib replaced.” Alistair’s voice was raw. “Tell me there’s interest on your grandmother’s house. Tell me I have something to go back to Peake with.”
Jackson swallowed. “There’s nothing at the moment. It’s still not officially on the market.”
His dad closed his eyes. For once, he looked every day of his age. The wolf was at the door; it was time to take action.
“OK, let’s think about this logically.” Jackson’s mind was racing. “We can’t sell Amity Court quickly and the bats at the Kingswater site mean we can’t turn that around yet. So, what can we sell? We have more properties between us. There’s your house, the beach house, and my condo. Which would go fastest?”
“The beach house is in your mother’s name. I’d need her to sign off on that. Our house is in both our names, so the same goes for there.” That his father hated every minute of divulging his personal affairs showed in each flare of his nostrils. “I don’t want to tell her about this unless I absolutely have to.”
Jackson turned disbelieving eyes on him. “You haven’t told her? Dad, you have to. We could lose the business over this!”
