Before he could finish, Elias and Zara started calling us into the kitchen. “Food’s ready! Get in here!”
“Yeah! Get in here,” Zara echoed before letting out a big guffaw of a laugh. Man, she was such a giddy kid. I loved that about her.
“I hope nobody has plans to kiss anyone tonight because I used a lot of garlic,” Elias said as Roan and I approached the table and saw that the meal consisted of chicken Kiev, mashed potatoes, and greens with a side of garlic bread.
“Not me,” Roan said. “My love life is tumbleweeds right now.”
“What about the manager from the art gallery?” Elias put in. “She’s into you.”
I recalled the tall, pretty brunette from the gallery. The one I’d purchased Roan’s painting of Shannon from. Which reminded me, I still had to go collect the piece. I wasn’t sure if Roan could see the details of who’d purchased which painting, but if he knew I’d bought it, he hadn’t mentioned it. And that was again why he was such a great guy and definitely shouldn’t be on my dad’s list of catfish suspects.
Roan flushed. “She’s not into me. She’s just a friendly person.”
Elias chuckled. “Sure, bro. I’m glad I’m not as oblivious as you are; otherwise, I’d never get—” He caught himself as he glanced at Zara before finishing, “to spend time with anyfriendlyladies.”
“Uncle Roan, are you looking for a girlfriend?” Zara asked. I didn’t realise she was paying such close attention to the conversation since she’d been focused on chomping down on her garlic bread. It looked homemade, too. Elias loved to cook.
Roan looked embarrassed. “No, I’m not—”
“Because Mammy’s friend Margie is looking for a boyfriend. I heard her telling Mammy about all the dates she’s been on. Oh, and Lotte doesn’t have a boyfriend either, but I’m not sure if she wants one. She said she prefers her own company.”
“Does your mammy know you’ve been earwigging on her conversations with her friends?” I asked, arching an eyebrow and she had the good grace to look chagrined.
“Eh, I don’t know. Maybe.” Zara cut into her chicken and took a big bite, and I shook my head while grinning.
“And what do Margie and Lotte look like?” Elias asked. I shot him a censoring frown to which he only grinned in return.
“You’ve met Lotte. She’s the quiet girl who works in the National Archive,” I said.
“Oh, yeah, I remember her. She’s h—” Again, he caught himself. “Lovely.”
“And Margie you haven’t met. She’s a bit older than Shannon. Maybe late thirties, works in tech. That’s how she and Shannon met, I think.”
“I don’t mind older,” Elias said with a smirk, and I rolled my eyes. No way was I letting him anywhere near Shannon’s friends. He was notorious for leaving a trail of broken hearts wherever he went, though he’d been keeping a low profile lately.
I cast him a look of warning, and he raised his hands in surrender. We finished our meal, then hung out for a while. Elias thought he was being subtle when he brought up the subject of me possibly writing some new songs, but my creative well was dry. I’d poured so much of myself into recording album after album for eight years straight, and I’d finally gotten to the point of running out of inspiration. It was fucking scary, to be honest. I was starting to worry I’d never write another song again.
But would that be so bad? I could start my own business like Bren had done, build and repair instruments for other musicians instead of being the one up on stage. Learning about how to build guitars was the first thing that had truly interested me in a long time.
After dinner, we all sat down to watch the originalGhostbustersmovie, which was a favourite of Elias, Roan’s, and mine from when we were kids. I loved seeing it through Zara’s eyes. She was so expressive and full of wonder sometimes that it fascinated me.
It was just after eight when we left Elias’ place and headed back to Shannon’s. The lights were on, and I could hear chatter coming from inside. Then I remembered Shannon was having her friends over for some club where they drank wine and read famous old letters to one another. I didn’t exactly see the appeal, but maybe you had to experience it to understand.
I was about to knock when Zara closed her small hand around my elbow. “Wait, Daddy, we can use my key.” Sheproduced a sparkly pink keychain and slotted it in the lock. Shannon had one of those older doors where the lock was lower down, so it was easy enough for Zara to reach. I found it cute that she had her own key, though I guess it was smart if she ever got lost and needed to get back into the house.
She pushed open the door and immediately ran upstairs. Roan had given her a set of paints that she was eager to try out, and though I’d already told her it was too late to open them, she was far too excited to listen.
A feminine giggle sounded from the kitchen, alongside several voices. Deciding I should let Shannon know Zara was home, perhaps offer to put her to bed, I walked towards the voices. A man was speaking then, and when I entered the room, I saw it was Shannon’s old college friend, Ozzie. He was a super friendly, tall, and chubby gay bloke in his late twenties. I’d always gotten along with him. Lotte, on the other hand, had been a little reserved towards me in the past. I could never tell if she disliked me or if that was just her normal manner.
On the table there were a few opened bottles of wine but they were the non-alcoholic kind. I recognised the label. Shannon said that she and her friends drank wine during these get togethers. Had she arranged for them all to drink non-alcoholic wine because she knew I’d be dropping Zara back and didn’t want me walking into a house full of her tipsy friends? I wasn’t sure if I should be touched or offended. I mean, I’d never had a problem with alcohol but I was also in a really stable place and didn’t need others tiptoeing around me.
“My angel, my all, my very self. Only a few words today and at that with pencil (with yours). Not till tomorrow will my lodgings be definitely determined upon,” Ozzie said, reading from a tablet open in front of him. Shannon’s eyes lifted when I stepped into the room, connecting with mine as her friend continued reading, “What a useless waste of time. Why thisdeep sorrow when necessity speaks. Can our love endure except through sacrifices, through not demanding everything from one another; can you change the fact that you are not wholly mine, I not wholly thine.”
“Jace,” Shannon said, a catch in her voice while the words rang in my ears. I couldn’t place them yet their sentiment had my chest tightening in a vicelike squeeze. They expressed something I hadn’t been able to put into words about how I felt for Shannon. Especially that last line. She had been wholly mine once, but not anymore. Perhaps never again, and that was the most gut-wrenching part.
I cleared my throat, finally dragging my gaze away from hers. “Zara’s upstairs. Um, we used her key. I hope that’s okay.”
“That’s fine. Did she have a good time with Elias and Roan?”
