“Thank you, little Jamie,” I whisper to my niece. “I knew you’d save my arse one day. Now let’s see if we can worm our way into Aunt Casey’s heart – it might take a little while, but I know that I can do it, with your help.”
“What was that?” Casey asks, raising an eyebrow.
“I was talking to my niece. We have a secret language, you know.”
“Is it a secret language for people under the age of five?” she asks, back to taking the piss out of me.
“We have a special bond. It’s almost telepathic.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Of course. Since the first moment I laid eyes on her.”
“Did you work some of your charm and watch her fall to your feet?”
“Something like that.”
“Nothing changes,” she comments.
“Well, apparently my charm doesn’t work on everyone.”
Casey takes a few steps away from Chris and Martin, who’s pretending – badly – not to be listening to our conversation. She reaches one hand out towards Jamie, stroking her delicately; her lips part, as if she needed a way to pull more air into her lungs just to handle her thoughts, to calm the storm circling her heart.
Go on, Casey: take my air, too. You can take anything you want, as long as you start to accept what’s happening here.
“Maybe some women find it hard to trust. Especially where you’re concerned.”
“Maybe I could try to prove to you that I’m not who you think I am.”
“Maybe you should try that, and see what happens,” she says, lowering her voice.
Thank you, God. Despite all my blasphemy, you still remember me.
“Welcome back.”
“What?”
“Welcome home, Casey,” I tell her, my heart pumping furiously in my chest.
She looks at me for a few seconds. Then, her eyes start to smile, and the corners of her mouth begin to lift: and it’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.
It’s a sign of surrender.
“Welcome back home, Nick,” she says – and I feel as if I’m one step away from falling to the ground and kissing the grass, like a celebration of victory.
33
Casey
Mr O’Connor comes over and sits himself down on the sunbed next to mine.
“Are you having a good time, dear?”
“Yes, thank you.”
“I love days like this. The whole family together again, the sun, the laughter; it feels like I have everything I could ever wish for.”
“I can imagine.”
