Jed had told me about his conversation with Aaron yesterday and I’d spotted the soft toy tucked under his arm when he’d arrived for work this morning.
‘That was quick.’
‘I think Wally was an excuse. He’s really interested in art but apparently Declan hates him drawing – presumably because of me – so he has to keep it hidden. He showed me some of his work and there’s talent there but he needs some guidance and he asked if I’d teach him.’
‘Oh, Jed, that’s fantastic.’ My heart filled with joy for him, but the downcast expression on his face told another story.
‘Ingrid stormed into the gallery just now, threw Wally at me and had a right go at me – usual stuff about him not being my son and me staying away from him. I’ll give you the full details later but one thing I discovered is that they’re not going back to Australia yet. Aaron’s enrolled at a local school for the spring term.’
‘You’re kidding! When was Ingrid going to tell you all?’
‘No idea. Lucy’s really upset.’
He glanced across the street and I followed his gaze to where his youngest daughter was locking the door to the gallery.
‘I’ll have to go but I wanted to give you the heads up in case there’s an atmosphere when you arrive later.’
‘If you’d rather I didn’t come, I can?—’
‘I want you to come. You’re family now so this involves you. The girls adore you so, if you dipped out, it’d be another thing Lucy would blame Ingrid for and we could do without the added ammunition.’
Lucy crossed the street and I opened the door.
‘Has Dad told you?’ she asked, her voice cracking. The redness in her eyes didn’t go unnoticed.
I nodded. ‘I’m so sorry.’ I wanted to addI’m sure she was planning to tell youbut, from everything Jed had told me about his ex-wife, I wasn’t convinced that was the truth. ‘If you can spare five minutes, there’s a rabbit upstairs who’d love a hug.’
It warmed my heart to see her smile. I handed her the keys to the flat and she left us to seek out cuddles from Hercules.
‘That was a genius suggestion,’ Jed said.
‘It’s awful seeing her hurt. I bet she’ll be a while upstairs so do you want to fill me in on the details now?’
We sat down at the nearest table and Jed told me more aboutthe visit from Aaron this morning and the subsequent confrontation with Ingrid.
‘I’m careful not to say anything negative about Ingrid in front of the girls and I try to see her point of view and defend her when I can, but she doesn’t make that easy. What can I say to defend her in this case? She hasn’t seen Erin and Lucy since the start of the summer, she’s only arranged to see them once since she got here and she hasn’t told them she’s here till Easter. How do I defend that?’
‘You can’t and you shouldn’t have to. From what I’ve seen, they’ve got the measure of her already so, even if you did somehow find a positive spin to put on it, I don’t think they’d buy it.’
He sighed heavily. ‘Yeah, I think you’re right there.’
‘What are you going to do about Aaron?’
‘Exactly what I told Ingrid – give him lessons if he shows up at the gallery. If he wants me in his life, even if that’s just as an art teacher, I’m grabbing the opportunity with both hands.’
I knew how much it would mean to Jed to have regular contact with Aaron while he was here so I hoped Aaron would return. Jed deserved the chance to get to know the boy he’d raised for six years and Aaron had a right to know that Jed had never turned his back on him. The goodbye at Easter would be devastating but the time together would be worth it and I’d do whatever I could to support Jed during it and afterwards.
As Jed had anticipated, being kept in the dark about the length of Ingrid’s stay had caused unrest in his family. Lucy had evidently recovered from her initial hurt – the hugs from Hercules helping immensely – and was now angry, clattering hercutlery, putting her drink down with unnecessary force and taking every opportunity to list all the ways in which their mother had let them down.
Erin was upset and confused. ‘I wanted to see her again before I returned to Newcastle but she kept fobbing me off. I thought she was going back to Aus and didn’t care about seeing me.’
‘That’s because she doesn’t care,’ Lucy quipped.
‘You know that’s not true,’ Jed said.
‘It is! You don’t need to defend her. We know what she’s like.’
‘I’m with Lucy on this,’ Erin said. ‘She doesn’t care about us because we’re not Declan’s kids and she’s always been that way – even way before we knew about him. All my happy childhood memories are about being with you, Dad. All my bad ones involve Mum.’
