And she had a good reason to go.
There was no hope that she would follow her heart if both her children were staying.
“I’m sorry, Mum.”
“No. No, don’t be sorry. You have no idea how pleased I am that you’ve reconnected with Cole. There’s life in your eyes again.” She took my hand, tears in her eyes, and I couldn’t feel worse about a decision that was getting me everything I wanted. “There are some things that I need to figure out before we make the official move back here.”
“Please think about staying with Miles.”
“Are you trying to get rid of me?”
“You know I’m not.”
“When you’re a mum you’ll understand that happiness is where your children are.”
“What about Miles”?
“One of the things I need to figure out.”
“Do you love him?”
A blush crept across her cheeks. I’d only ever seen that for Miles. “Yes, I think I do.”
“Then,pleasefigure it out. I’m going to be so mad if you don’t end up together.”
She laughed softly. “Okay. When are you going to tell Jasper?”
“When are you going to tell Jasper what?” he asked, flopping down on the sofa, and kicking his feet on the coffee table.
Mum batted his legs down.
“I’m staying here,” I said. “With Cole.”
“Straight to the point,” Mum said.
“Like I didn’t know that. You and Cole have been joined at the hip. This time he wasn’t going to take no for an answer.Where are we moving to? I’d rather not be too close to the old house.”
“You don’t have to stay,” I told him.
“Who wants to live in a sunny place with surfer chicks and an easy lifestyle, anyway?”
“You,” I told him. “That’s exactly what you want.”
“I’m staying, so let’s skip the guilt shite and make some plans. You going with Miles?” he asked Mum.
“I’m going where my children are.”
“So, you’re asking Miles to move here?”
“No, we’ve only just got together, Jasper. Let me work out what Miles and I will do.”
Was she talking about a long-distance relationship?
That would be hard.
We’d been renting the house in Australia, so we didn’t have many ties. I wasn’t going back for long, just a few days to get my stuff together, but we’d have to think about the lease. Mum would have to work her notice at her job, but Jasper and I would be fine. There was a high turnover of staff at our job, anyway.
“When are you telling Cole?” Mum asked.
