Jackson took her hands in his and stood back looking at her. ‘You disappeared. You wouldn’t take any of my calls.’
She looked to the floor, shaking her head. ‘I couldn’t, I was so embarrassed after what happened.’
‘You had no need to be. It’s us who should’ve been embarrassed. You know, Dad never talks about what happened.’ He still held both of Nicole’s hands in his. ‘Why didn’t you keep in touch, with me at least?’
Tears sprang into her eyes. ‘I didn’t want to make it worse for you. I know you and your father have a difficult relationship. I didn’t want to meddle with that.’
He sighed exasperatedly, and they seemed to have forgotten Evie was there until she moved to remove the infinity loop from around her neck.
‘Oh, where are my manners?’ Nicole let go of Jackson’s hands, wiped her fingers beneath her eyes. ‘This is Evie, my good friend.’ She hugged Evie to her. ‘Evie, this is Jackson.’
Evie stared at the man. He was gorgeous, no doubt about that, but she’d seen him before, she knew it. She just couldn’t place him. And if she wasn’t mistaken, he was looking at her in much the same way. He had soft toffee eyes, hair the colour of roasted chestnuts and a smile that showed well cared for teeth, much like hers were now. She’d not allowed Nicole to spend much on her over the years, but Nicole had put her foot down with some things, including dentistry. When Nicole had rescued her, Evie had been doing her best to keep a dental hygiene routine going, but it was hard when you had no home to call your own. One of the first things they’d done was get her medical insurance and see a doctor and a dentist. Her health was fine, but the dentist had given her a filling, an all-round clean and six months later they’d given her braces! She’d avoided them in her teen years and then orthodontics became a luxury item when her mother got sick and the family business failed. But Nicole’s gift had given her a smile that still took her by surprise on occasion, when she caught sight of herself in a store window.
Evie shook hands with Jackson, eyes locking at the same time as their skin touched.
‘I’m sorry, have we met?’ he asked, still holding her hand, obviously trying to place her, as she was him. He only dropped her hand when a bubbly Amazonian beauty appeared out of nowhere. She’d clearly been to the fragrance department given the waft that came with her.
‘Aurelia,’ said Jackson, ‘this is Nicole, an old friend of mine.’ His eyes were on his girlfriend but didn’t take long to flit over to Evie’s direction again. ‘And this is Evie, a friend of hers.’
Evie smiled back at Aurelia, let Nicole introduce herself and make small talk about Christmas, the business of shopping. Evie bit the side of her mouth nervously, unable to figure out where she recognised him from.
‘Well, we’d better go,’ said Jackson as Aurelia linked his arm proprietorially. ‘I need to choose a present for Dad.’ Aurelia’s other arm hugged her shopping equally as possessively: a Burberry bag and a Louis Vuitton, no doubt filled with all the luxuries she’d ever want but probably didn’t really need.
‘It was lovely to see you again, Jackson.’ Nicole kissed him on the cheek, touched her hand to the stubble around his jaw. ‘Please do give my best to your father, won’t you?’
Whatever was between Jackson, his family and Nicole, the strong emotional ties were written over both their faces. Over the years, Evie had become adept at reading people without talking to them; she’d had to in the darkest of days when her parents were no longer around, and then when she had no home to go to or anybody to care for her. She’d soon learned whom she could trust. And now, she didn’t miss Jackson gulp as he said goodbye to Nicole.
‘I’ll tell him I’ve seen you,’ he assured Nicole. ‘Take care of yourself.’ He didn’t seem to want to leave, but the shopping bunny on his arm was raring to go.
‘I feel like I’ve seen him before,’ she told Nicole when Jackson went on his way and they took the infinity loop over to the checkout.
‘You have seen him before.’ Nicole sucked in her breath. ‘That was Jackson Churchill.’
‘Churchill?’ The name was familiar, but it took a moment to fall into place. ‘As in the Churchill family who fired you?’
‘The very same.’ Nicole took out her purse as they lined up to pay.
‘And that was the son, the one who found me before his father appeared?’
Nicole nodded. ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t want to say who you were.’ She clasped one of Evie’s hands as much as the bags on her arms would allow her to. ‘Not because I’m ashamed of you, but for your sake. I didn’t want him judging you because of your past. I wanted him to see you as my friend.’
‘Thank you.’ Evie tilted her head to the checkout when it was their turn. This encounter had clearly affected Nicole more than she cared to let on, and it was obvious she and Jackson had an incredibly strong bond that neither of them wanted to sever.
‘Maybe we could sneak upstairs and have one of those frozen yogurts you like so much,’ said Evie as the sales assistant wrapped the infinity loop and put it into a bag.
The sparkle was back in Nicole’s cheeks. ‘Pomegranate for me.’
‘I’ll have the peach passion.’ Evie smiled and hugged her friend to her, the only mother figure in her life now. ‘Can I ask you something, Nicole?’
‘Of course.’
‘Do you regret not going back to see them? You seemed quite emotional when you saw Jackson.’
Nicole popped her receipt into one of the shopping bags as they walked away from the checkout. ‘I was close to him. His mother died before I started working for them, and I don’t think that family ever got over it. There was a lot of deep-set anger, a lot of words unspoken, and Jackson doesn’t get along with his father.’
‘He was a scary man.’
Nicole smiled. ‘Not when you really get to know him. Underneath that bellowing voice and behind the expensive suits, I really believe he’s one of the good ones.’
