“You were the one who taught me,” I counter.
He shakes his head, but I can see his lips trying not to lift into a smile.
It was funny, well, until my dad got wind of my newfound swear word, and I got a backhander.
After that, I never swore around him again. Well, I did that last time. I push to my feet, needing to move and expel the memory.
I never told him, even after they found out what my dad was really like. We never went into detail about what happened after they saw me. I think it was pretty obvious. Not even my sisters like to talk about it. My mum gets too upset and blames herself. Not that I know why; she’s a victim too.
“You want a beer?” Henry asks, going to the fridge.
I nod as he pulls out two bottles and hands me one. Twisting off the cap, I toss it into the bin and take a long pull as he pours Meg a glass of wine.
“Here you go, beautiful.” I almost miss the way her cheeks flush from the term of endearment. They’re both so whipped. It would be funny if it weren’t achingly adorable.
What can I say? I’m a closet romantic, not that I would ever admit it out loud. Of course, it's much easier to be the clown they all expect me to be.
Before I forget, I pull out my phone.
Me: How did your audition go?
I quickly scroll over to Instagram and check Henry’s account, and with my admin access I reply to a few comments, share some stories he’s been tagged in, and then slip it back into my pocket. Who’d have thought I’d make a decent personal assistant marketing guru?
I’m chasing Jacob around the living room when Lottie and Ethan turn up, and Henry moans about him not using his key. We all still have a key, but it just feels weird using it now.
“Hey, sexy lady,” I say, pulling Lottie in for a hug.
She swats my shoulder as Ethan grumbles, “Mine.”
He and Henry are easy to rile up where their women are concerned.
“Smexty, smexty,” Jacob says, pulling on my trouser leg.
Lottie bites her lip to stop laughing, and Ethan quickly looks away.
“Nathan!” Meg says, swooping Jacob into her arms. “It’s your bedtime, buddy,” she says, blowing a soft raspberry on his plump cheek, causing him to giggle. When he smiles, he looks just like Clara.
He tries to wriggle away, but I snatch him up. “How about a bedtime story?” I ask. He claps his little hands excitedly.
Lottie lets out an awe sound, and I roll my eyes, ignoring them as I carry the little guy up to his bedroom. Considering it used to be Ethan’s room not so long ago, you wouldn’t even know it.
I glance at the canvas print on the wall, the one of him and Clara, and I get the niggling tingle of guilt like I always do. We might have all drifted after she cheated on Henry with Emilio, but she was still one of us, and I wish I could’ve helped save her from herself.
Deep down, I don’t believe it was intentional, regardless. She loved this little boy, and I don’t think she would have intentionally left him.
Placing Jacob in his cot, I look around at his small bookshelf and grab one of my favourites, Peter Pan.
ChapterTen
VIOLET
I feel like I’ve committed the worst crime at the weight of knowing I pinched Max’s t-shirt, but why shouldn’t I have it? He wouldn’t have expected anything less, I’m sure. Well, that's what I tell myself anyway.
As soon as I close and latch the front door, I’m pulling off my coat and kicking off my boots, closely followed by my bra. Letting out a deep breath, I head to the kitchen, grateful I still have half a bottle of wine in the fridge.
Once I pour the remaining contents into one of my big gin glasses and drag myself to the sofa, I retrieve my phone and t-shirt from my bag. I lay the t-shirt on the empty seat beside me and hold up my glass.
“Cheers, Maximo.” A soft sigh escapes me, thinking about how he would always respond by calling me Lettie. I laugh at the memory of the first time I ever got drunk. He caught me trying to steal a bottle of wine from a family get together and rather than cuss me out or grass me up to our parents, he snagged the bottle and joined me instead. He told me if I was going to drink, I shouldn’t sneak off to do it alone, and I was at least safe with him. But he did make me promise to never accept a drink from a stranger or to leave my drink unattended. And to this day I’ve kept that promise. Always my protector.
