Page 13 of The Girlfriend’s Secret

‘There’s no need to rush. Take your time and think about it, the money’s not going anywhere,’ Frederik advises his youngest son. ‘Although don’t take too long either because we don’t want you living with us forever.’

Frederik and Scott laugh as Joel rolls his eyes.

‘Don’t worry, I’m sure we won’t be with you for too long now,’ Haven suddenly speaks up. ‘We can get ourselves an apartment, can’t we, Joel? In the city, like we talked about.’

‘Like you talked about?’ I reply. ‘So you discussed my mother’s inheritance money before you even knew how much you were getting?’

‘No, that’s not what I mean. I was just saying that Joel and I have talked about living in the city, and we always liked the idea of an apartment in one of those complexes with a pool and a gym, so we might do that.’

‘With my mother’s money,’ I add.

Haven doesn’t say anything to that, but she doesn’t need to because I’ve made my point very clear.

‘Is there a problem here?’ Joel asks me then, his question directed only at me, not at his girlfriend.

‘A problem? Oh, I don’t know. Maybe the fact that my mother’s body has barely had time to go cold in the ground and your new girlfriend here is talking about using her money to buy a swanky apartment in the city so she can use the pool and gym facilities.’

‘I didn’t say anything about buying,’ Haven corrects me. ‘We would rent, wouldn’t we, Joel? And I would only do it if Joel wanted to. It is his grandma’s money, after all.’

‘Yes, it is,’ I say firmly.

‘What’s going on here?’ Joel asks me again. ‘If you have a problem with Haven then you need to tell us what it is.’

That question puts me on the spot and everyone around the table is quiet as they wait for my response. I realise that if I say the wrong thing here, it could result in my youngest son falling out with me, and I don’t want that.

‘There is no problem,’ I lie.

‘Your face says otherwise,’ Haven replies.

‘Excuse me?’ I snap.

‘You’re looking at me like you hate me, so tell me what the problem is,’ Haven demands.

She asked for it.

‘I don’t know, maybe the fact that you have suddenly come into a lot of money by being with my son and it seems very convenient for you considering you have no job or place to live without him.’

‘What are you saying? That I’m only with him for this money?’ Haven asks.

‘Maybe I am,’ I say, which feels like a very foolish thing to admit when I don’t actually have any evidence, but it’s too late because I’ve already gone and said it now.

‘How dare you?’ Haven cries, but how else could she respond to that?

‘Forget about lunch,’ Joel says, suddenly standing up. ‘We’re leaving.’

‘Wait, what?’ Frederik cries as Haven stands up too. ‘We’ve ordered our food. Sit down, let’s try and enjoy it.’

‘How can we enjoy it when Mum clearly has a problem with me and Haven?’ Joel says.

‘I don’t have a problem with you,’ I reply to my son.

‘So just me then?’ Haven asks.

I don’t answer that question quickly enough to prevent Joel shaking his head at me before he leads his girlfriend towards the door.

As Frederik calls after them and Scott looks around for that beer he ordered, I realise I have made a total mess of this. It’s not as if I won’t get the chance to see them again soon though. They live with us, for now at least, until they sort out whatever apartment they want to move into.

That means I will have the chance to rectify this issue with them.