Page 59 of Moonlight Kisses at Willow Tree Hall

‘Rubbish!’ laughed Alex. ‘Arthur’s as fit as a fiddle.’

‘If you say so,’ said Will, sounding gloomy.

Jack heard the concern in his voice. As if the Harris family didn’t have enough to deal with.

‘I think Aunt Rose is going to have a word with him,’ said Sam, getting up. ‘Sorry, but I think I’ll go and check on my wife. It’s been a long day.’

‘Night, bro,’ said Will, standing up to give his brother a quick hug.

‘Night, all,’ said Sam, giving everyone a nod before going through the French doors and into the main house.

There was a short silence after he’d gone whilst everyone sipped their drinks, deep in thought.

‘Well, this is a gloomy old evening considering it was such a good day,’ said Mick.

‘I agree,’ said Will. ‘Jack’s probably wishing he hadn’t bothered staying.’

‘It’s fine,’ said Jack, looking down at his glass. ‘Besides, I never would have been able to taste this whiskey otherwise.’

‘So, are you lot old friends?’ asked Mick, looking around at them.

‘We all went to the same school,’ said Alex. ‘Jack was mean and moody. Sam and Will were the good guys. I was the cool, fashionable one, obviously.’

Jack didn’t remember it quite like that. He recalled Alex struggling with his sexuality and being bullied quite a bit for being different. But he just laughed and said, ‘Mean and moody?’

‘God, yeah!’ said Alex, nodding. ‘You were always fighting.’

‘I suppose.’ Jack thought hard. Had he been like that?

‘You were,’ said Will, with a nod. ‘You did love a good scrap.’

‘Most of them deserved a good hiding,’ said Jack, with a grimace.

‘Yes, they did,’ agreed Alex, with a shudder. ‘They were so snotty, some of those boys. All privileged class, and God forbid you should wear anything different. I was glad to get out of there.’

‘Me too,’ said Jack.

It was the truth. Jack had excelled in his exams but none of that mattered in the eyes of his school colleagues, who were only interested in where you came from and which bank you would end up working for.

‘So, what have you been up to since then?’ asked Mick.

‘I originally qualified as an electrician,’ Jack told him. ‘But I’ve been a property developer salesman for the last ten or so years.’

He shifted in his chair, uncomfortable at where that had led him.

Will studied Jack. ‘Out of interest, have you got all your electrician certificates up to date?’

Jack was surprised at the question. ‘More or less. I’m missing a couple of years, but I’m still qualified.’

He had always maintained his training in case he ever needed a plan B. If his world ever fell in, he needed to know that he had a safety net.

Like now, he realised, as he was out of a job. He had treated the past couple of weeks like a well-earned holiday, but it was time he thought about where his future lay.

‘I suppose you’re out of work now that you’ve walked away from your job,’ said Will, tapping his chin in thought.

Jack nodded. ‘I’m out of property developing, that’s for sure.’

He was pretty certain that Eric would put the word out about him and he would be unlikely to get another job in that field of work. He waited for the pang of regret but it didn’t come. Maybe he hadn’t enjoyed it as much as he’d thought.