“What do you mean, ‘probably not’? If you’re not going to be living with Sasha, then of course you’ll come back here.” Marnie sounded indignant, if not downright offended. “You have nowhere else to go, Tom.”
Tom felt his mouth go dry, his pulse hammering in his head. “Actually, Mom, I thought I might go... to, uh, London.”
At that, a heavy silence fell over the room.
“I’m sorry, what did you say?” Marnie asked.
Tom cleared his throat, standing taller. “I’m going to London.”
Another weighted silence fell, followed by another exchange of looks between Marnie and Corentin.
“Tom, have you spoken to Ari about this?” Corentin asked quietly.
“No, I haven’t. Not yet.”
Abruptly, Marnie stood, walking over to Tom and taking his hand. “Look, Tom . . . I know you’re keen to be a father to Reine, and I’m just as keen for you to have that place in her life. But London is... well, it’s Ari’s city. You can’t just move there out of the blue and expect her to be okay with that.”
“I can’t just stay here and do nothing though,” Tom replied miserably. “I have eight years to make up for, Mom.Eight whole years.Ari needs support, and Reine needs a father.”
Corentin, with a sigh, sank into the chair Marnie had just occupied. “I think what Mom’s saying, Tom, is that maybe you should discuss this with Ari before you make any real plans. Give her a chance to be okay with it. Give her a chance to contribute to the thought process.”
Tom took a deep breath, working beyond the initial stab of annoyance he felt, eventually finding the sense in Corentin’s words. There was truth to them, he realised. London was Ari’s city, where she kept her home and where she worked, and he needed to be respectful of that.
“Yeah,” he muttered. “Okay. I’ll talk to Ari before I make any decisions.”
“Try to talk to her alone,” Marnie suddenly piped up. “Without Luis and Sebastian there, I mean. Don’t misunderstand me, I like Luis — I like him quite a lot, actually — but he and his husband... Well, they’ve got an agenda where Ari and Reine are concerned. They’ll do what they can to protect that, I imagine. Not that I blame them, but still...”
“Yeah.” Tom nodded slowly. “You’re right. I’ll try and talk to Ari alone.”
“After dinner,” Corentin suddenly broke in, and Tom looked up to find his brother staring absently out of the window. “The skies are clearing, do you see? It would be a nice evening for a walk. It’s quiet and peaceful out there now.”
Tom blinked in surprise. Corentin was right. After days of grey clouds and cold rain, the sun was suddenly breaking through from above. In the distance, the dark blanket of clouds rolling slowly across the sky seemed to be splitting open, revealing sharp yellow rays that hit the earth in a bright display of hope and colour.
“Ides weather has passed,” Corentin announced, and Tom was suddenly acutely reminded of Doug. Doug, who loved the sky more than anything else.
“Yeah,” he agreed, feeling a wave of calm wash over him. “You’re right. It has.”
His father wanted him to be happy. His father wanted him to make the right choices. Even from the beyond, he felt Doug’s presence there with him in that room. Everything, Tom abruptly thought, was going to be okay.
“You know,” Corentin began, in a tone of voice Tom recognised — it was knowing and rich, and Tom knew it meant Corentin was about to impart desperately important wisdom of some kind, “traditionally, the Ides celebrated the new moon and the festival of—”
“Jupiter, yeah, I know,” Tom broke in, impatient as always where his brother’s painfully slow teachings were concerned. “Mom made me readJulius Caesarback in school too, you know.”
“Actually,” Corentin carried on calmly, “the Ides were first associated with Mother Earth. A day of celebration, where people brought offerings to the Goddess.Anna Perenna, theRomans called her, although she has different names in other cultures. The Ides were celebrated joyfully, where the first new moon of the year meant casting off the old and celebrating the new.” Corentin glanced at Tom knowingly. “A bit like you, hmm? Casting off the old. Celebrating the new.”
“Corentin—”
“Just something to think about, Tom,” Corentin replied calmly, coming to stand beside his mother. “It’s just something to think about. Take Ari for that walk after dinner.”
“Yes,” Marnie said, before adding, with a plea to her voice, “although Tom? Try not to fuck it up this time, okay? I really like Ari, Tom. I want her and Reine to be part of our lives.”
“Yes,” Corentin nodded sagely. “Also, as an aside, I know Mom’s fortune may seem vast, but we can only afford to pay the rent for so many ex-fiancées and ex-lovers a year. Keeping Ari on side might save us a penny or two.”
“Not that I’m complaining about settling Reine’s costs,” Marnie cut in quickly. “I mean, she’s your daughter and my grandchild, and it’s entirely right we take on our responsibility to her. But think of the salmon.”
“Salmon?” Tom asked, feeling thoroughly confused. “What does salmon have to do with Ari and Reine?”
Marnie shook her head. “It doesn’t have anything to do with them, but I’ve already paid for five hundred and eighty salmon fillets to be delivered for your now cancelled wedding in six weeks. It wasn’t cheap and it’s too late to cancel. What am I going to do with five hundred and eighty salmon fillets, Tom? Open a sushi restaurant?”
