For a moment, Sebastian stared at him. Tom stared back, waiting for Sebastian’s inevitable anger, waiting for the rage to start so he could snap back. Talking about Ari and that hideous day when he’d gone to her door — expecting to find the love of his life and instead coming face to face with what he’d assumed were her husband and baby — always put him in a bad mood. If this man wanted a fight, Tom was ready to give it to him.
But Sebastian surprised him.
Tom watched as the blond-haired man nodded slowly, taking a deep drink of Doug’s whisky.
“So,” he said lightly, “you actually went back for her.”
“Yeah, I did,” Tom replied tightly, trying to keep the bitter tone from his voice. “Of course I did. Ilovedher. I still—” He stopped, biting on his lip hard. He saw Sebastian’s eyes flash, and abruptly shook his head, standing up. “I loved her, I promised I would go back for her, promised I would find her, and I did.I did.”
Sebastian nodded slowly again, before holding a finger up to him. “Hold that thought, Somerset.”
Tom watched as Sebastian turned to Marnie, pointing to his glass of whisky. “I say, Marnie, this stuff is fucking fabulous. Like liquid cigarettes. I love it.”
“It was my husband’s favourite,” Marnie admitted, “I can’t stand it myself, but he loved it and, for whatever reason, I can’t stop buying it.”
“Bless you, that’s hard,” Sebastian said, and the tone of his voice made Tom wonder if this man ever missed the parents who’d thrown him out. Maybe that was why he’d taken so well to the little family he’d created with Luis, Ari and Reine. Maybe there was comfort to be found in the parenting of a small child.
Tom swallowed heavily again. Parenting. He would never know now, would he?
“Losing Doug was one of the hardest things I’ve ever been through,” Marnie replied softly.
“When did he pass?”
“Eight years ago, nearly. Just after Tom came back from Europe.”
At that, Sebastian turned back to Tom. “So, that was true? You really did abandon Ari in Germany because your father was sick?”
“Not sick,” Tom corrected him, “dying.”
“And then you went back for her? Two years later? That’s quite a gap, Somerset.”
Tom sighed. “I needed time after my father died. I can’t explain it... I needed time to grieve and to think and to be ready—”
“Ready?” Sebastian cut in, and the snap was back in his voice. “Ari was in London, pregnant and then raising your baby all alone, while you waited to beready? Ready for what, may I ask? A written fucking invitation from the King?”
“Ready to face the truth,” Tom at once snapped back. “Ready to face the truth of who I was, what I’d done and to beg Ari’sforgiveness. I don’t expect you to understand. I don’t even care if you do, to be honest. All I care about is her. All I’ve ever cared about in my life has been her. And I’ve lost her. I’ve lost her. The one bright light in my small, pitiful existence has been lost to me, and I’ll have to live with it for the rest of my small, pitiful existence.” Tom ran a hand over his face. “If you want to hate me, then fine, hate me. It doesn’t matter. No one will ever hate me more than I hate myself.”
Tom heard his mother give a sad sigh, but Sebastian only rolled his eyes.
“You know, normally the brides are the dramatic ones,” he reflected, throwing back the rest of Doug’s whisky, “and Marnie, you really must write down the name of this stuff for me, by the way. It’s Scottish, yes?”
“Actually, no,” Marnie told him. “Japanese.”
“Japanese?” Sebastian raised an eyebrow. “Impressive. You know, when Luis and I take Reine to Tokyo for the next BarbieCon, I might take a day to myself and visit the distillery. Get away from all the pink and plastic, as well as the slightly creepy doll collectors — and I do include my husband in that — fighting over a mint in the box 1983 Fabulous Fur Barbie. I could pick up a barrel or five of this marvellous stuff.”
“You have to be a special client of the distillery owner to buy barrels,” Marnie replied.
“And I’m going to guess by your tone that you are one of those special clients?”
At that, Marnie smiled. “No. Actually, I’m the owner. I had the Somerset estate buy up the place after Doug passed.”
“Excellent. Maybe you can give me a special rate then.”
“Even with a special rate, it’s still very expensive.”
Sebastian shrugged. “Well, luckily for me I just got paid an extraordinary sum of money from a client to plan her son’s wedding.”
Marnie grimaced. “Well, that client sounds like a damn fool.”
