Twenty-four
‘You look tired, Mum,’ Savannah said the next morning as Jenny leaned against the kitchen bench, waiting for her toast to pop.
Great. She’d have to cake on the make-up today. ‘I couldn’t sleep,’ she murmured, grabbing the toast and buttering it.
‘How come?’ Chloe asked, and Jenny sent a swift glance at her youngest daughter. Her interest was odd.
‘I just … didn’t.’ She was too tired to get into all this now but at the same time, she was sick of trying to make up any kind of believable story. Stuff it. She’d just tell them and get it over with.
‘I’m seeing Nick,’ she blurted and braced herself for the interrogation.
‘It’s about time you came clean,’ Brittany said, putting her cup into the dishwasher.
‘Came clean?’
‘About spending pretty much every night over the last two weeks with him,’ Brittany said.
‘How did you know that—’ Jenny started, gaping at her children, alarm etched across her face.
‘Mum, we’ve known for ages,’ Chloe informed her with a grin.
‘What?’
‘Hello, it’s Barkley,’ Brittany said blandly.
‘What?!’ She’d been so careful.
Brittany laughed. ‘I’m messin’ with ya, Mum. I found out a few days ago when Cassie saw you heading upstairs at the pub, after closing. Don’t worry, she didn’t say anything to anyone else. We just thought it was cute.’
Cute? Oh my God.
‘I think it’s great. Good on you,’ Savannah said.
Jenny suddenly felt stupid all over again. Her kids thought it was cute that their mother was running around after some younger guy. This was a bad idea.
‘Mum?’ Brittany asked, sounding wary. ‘Are you okay?’
‘I’m going to end it,’ Jenny blurted.
‘What! Why?’ they chorused in varying degrees of horror and surprise.
‘Because it’s—’
‘It’s awesome,’ Brittany interrupted quickly. ‘You’re happier than you’ve been in a long time. We’ve all noticed.’
‘He’s barely older than you,’ Jenny said miserably. ‘He’s closer to your dating bracket than mine.’
‘Oh, please, he’s what? Ten or eleven years older?’ Brittany scoffed before screwing up her face. ‘There’sno wayI would ever go out with a guythatold.’
‘Forget the numbers—if he makes you feel good, who cares?’ Savannah added firmly.
‘Do you like him?’ Chloe asked.
‘Yes.’ Jenny nodded and felt a tiny flame begin to flicker to life inside her at the thought. ‘Yeah, I do,’ she said, a little wistfully.
‘Then don’t worry about all the other stuff. The only thing we care about is if you’re happy.’
Jenny’s throat tightened and she blinked away unexpected tears. She really did have the best kids anyone could ever ask for. ‘Nick wants to come around for dinner and meet you all, properly. I said I’d check.’
