‘Now I know everything,’ he nodded. A yawn escaped and broke the silence between them. ‘I also know I need to get to bed. I’ve got work in the morning.’ He stood and picked up his jacket. ‘Thanks for telling me everything, Evie.’
‘If my uncle goes public with those photos, it’ll be the end of my career.’ She watched Jack shrug on his jacket. ‘My boss, Bonnie, is understanding but she’s running a business, she has an image to portray. We’re exhibiting at three major expos next year, right here in New York.’
‘That’s fantastic.’ He zipped up his jacket.
‘Not if these photographs get out it won’t be. Buyers, sponsors, industry professionals … they’ll all see them and I’d be ruined. I’d lose my job, this apartment, not to mention putting my dreams on hold for anything else to do with my career that I’ve built from scratch.’ She rubbed her eyes with the heels of her hands. ‘You know, one of the worst things about living on the streets was the way people looked at me. They’d scramble past a bench or a doorway where I was huddled, but not before they’d glance at me with a look of pity, sometimes disgust, but always an I-hope-it-never-happens-to-me look.’
‘So what are you going to do?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘What I don’t understand,’ said Jack, ‘is what your uncle has to gain now from putting those photographs out there. Is it just vindictive satisfaction for him?’
Evie shook her head, recounting the night her uncle had cornered her on the street, the night Jack had come to her rescue. ‘He wants money. He has no job, my auntie left him, the house has been repossessed. He’s at rock bottom. He says I owe him. He put a roof over my head for a long time, took me in when Dad left and Mum died.’ Tears sprang to her eyes. ‘He told me there were other things I could do if I didn’t want to part with cash.’
Jack reached out and touched a hand to her arm. ‘He’s one sick bastard.’
‘He wants to know where my father is too, and won’t believe me when I say I have no idea.’
‘Would you tell him if you knew?’
Evie shrugged. ‘Kind of a moot point really. And do you want to know the worst thing?’ She didn’t wait for an answer. ‘If these photographs get out, I’ll lose Nicole’s respect and that matters to me more than anything. And I know Dad left without a backwards glance, but it’d break me if he ever saw these pictures.’ Her voice faltered for a second. ‘He walked out on us but … I can’t help wondering why I was never enough for him. Kids are supposed to be the ones who make mistakes, the ones who are forgiven no matter what. Was I really so terrible?’ Her voice echoed around the walls as the lights twinkled back at her.
When Jack reached out again with his hand and gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze, she knew she’d been just as guilty of misjudging him as he had of her. Nicole was right. Beneath the brash exterior, his heart really was in a good place.
She moved to the door and slid off the chain, unlocked it with the key. ‘Thanks for listening to me, Jack.’
He stepped outside, turned back and smiled. The snow was falling onto the concrete and the steps leading up from the basement.
‘The city will look beautiful in the morning,’ she said, her head leaning against the doorjamb.
‘It certainly will.’ He zipped the collar of his jacket right up to his chin, made a face to show he felt the chill on the New York air. ‘Goodnight, Evie.’
‘Goodnight, Jack.’
