The silence stretched and Elliot shifted in his seat. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I just – I’d like to talk about something else.”
“No, it’s fine,” I assured him. “Home … it’s a tough thing to define.”
“What do you mean?”
“For years home was my nan and me. Now it’s just me.”
“No siblings?”
“No.” Then I corrected myself. “That I’m aware of. My parents might have had more kids, I don’t know. But Nana Kath was all the family I had.”
“Your grandmother raised you?”
“She did.” My eyes grew hot. “Until about five years ago, home was her. Her and me.”
“Is she … did she pass?”
“Breast cancer. It was … quick.”
“Man.” His sigh was so heavy it ruffled my hair. “Now I’m fucking sorry.”
“Thanks.” I sniffed. “So, when people ask me about home, it’s a hard question to answer.”
“She must have been quite a lady to raise a kid by herself,” Elliot remarked softly.
“She was,” I said. “No-nonsense, ever practical. All the neighbors were terrified of her but also, she’d do anything to help her community. That woman could take a car engine apart and put it back together without blinking then go home and bake enough fruitcake to feed a whole street.”
“The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree then.”
“Oh, she was way more capable than me.” I brushed the compliment away. “She didn’t quite get my obsession with movies either; the only one she’d ever watch wasGhostbusters, every Christmas.”
“I mean, if you’re going to watch one movie and only one movie, that’s the one,” Elliot murmured.
“That and I think she fancied Dan Aykroyd.”
“A solid choice from Nana Kath.”
I liked hearing him say her name. “It’s funny, I often wonder what she would think of my life right now. If she’d be disappointed in me.”
I felt rather than saw his double take. “The fuck you say?”
“Come on,” I said with a bitter laugh. “This industry, how hard it is. The hours, the salaries. I look at friends, my peers … they’re all progressing, thriving. Moving forward. Me? I’m thirty-one and I’m buying budget teabags and facing homelessness. I’m standing so still I’m going backwards.”
“Is that what you’re doing?” he said. “Really?”
“Feels like it,” I said. “Nan would probably think I’m mad. Giving everything to my career after all these years but not getting anywhere.”
“Not getting … ? Has anyone told you just how infuriating you are?” he asked with a laugh in his voice.
“Yeah, my best friend. Frequently,” I said. “And you, actually. Quite a lot considering we’ve only known each other a couple of weeks.”
“Well, if I may be so presumptuous,” he drawled, “maybe Nana Kath would admire your tenacity. Perhaps she would see what you can’t right now; you’re made for this.”
“I’m sorry, what did you just say?” I cupped a hand to my ear as if hard of hearing.
“You heard me,” he said, gently batting my hand away from my face. “I know I’ve been hard on you these past couple weeks, but you’re good. Also, I – er – I read yourTwin Rosespitch.”
For a moment I could barely speak. I’d only sent it to him a few days ago. By contrast, it had been sat in Lin’s inbox for months and she hadn’t so much as opened the email. “You did?”
