AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Lizzie got off the bed, looking unsure again. ‘I don’t know if Trey’ll want to speak to me now. Not after what Dad did.’
‘What your father did wasn’t your fault, sweetheart.’
‘Actually, it probably was, a little bit.’
Halle sat next to Aldo, let him cling to her. ‘How so?’ she asked, surprised again by her daughter’s new-found maturity. It wasn’t like Lizzie to take the blame for anything.
‘Dad doesn’t know about Liam. I never told him. I think he still thinks I’m—’ she shrugged, the movement stiff and uncomfortable ‘—like, thirteen when it comes to boys. That’s probably why he freaked out when he saw Trey and me kissing.’
The explanation was so practical and forthright, it stunned Halle. Had Lizzie already forgiven her father for that punch?
‘You were kissing Trey?’ Aldo’s face screwed up as if he’d just been force-fed a can of lugworms. ‘Yuck!’
Both she and Lizzie laughed, Aldo’s horrified reaction breaking the tension.
‘That’s so gross,’ he added to reiterate the point.
‘No, it’s not. Trey’s a really good kisser, actually,’ Lizzie said, obviously enjoying her brother’s discomfort.
Aldo placed his hands over his ears. ‘Yuck! Yuck! Yuck!’
Lizzie began making kissy noises, inciting a louder and more vociferous chorus of yucks.
‘All right, both of you, stop it,’ Halle cut in, assuming her role as peacemaker, oddly moved by the exchange. Neither of her children could be that badly traumatised by this morning’s events if they could still start a sibling spat over nothing.
‘Fine, I’m leaving,’ Lizzie announced, but the look she sent Halle was one of uncertainty. ‘If I can’t get in touch with Trey, what are we going to do?’
‘Don’t worry, we’ll figure something out,’ Halle said, surprised but also gratified to have her daughter look to her for reassurance. What exactly she was going to say to Trey, and Lizzie, about that clinch on the couch when they did locate Trey would have to be another problem for Future Halle to solve.
Lizzie nodded and left the room, apparently satisfied with Halle’s answer.
‘Does Lizzie’s dad hate me now, too?’ Aldo’s question threw Halle’s emotions straight back into turmoil as soon as the door had closed behind her daughter.
She slung her arm round her son’s shoulders, wishing—as she had so often before—that she could simply take all his insecurities away. ‘Of course not, honey. He doesn’t even know you.’ The surge of anger at Luke for his insane behaviour went some way to quelling the ever-present guilt.
‘But I kicked him.’
‘Yes, I know, but he punched Trey and you were just defending your friend. Now, I’m not saying violence is ever the answer, but …’
Aldo slanted her his get-real-Mum look, forcing her to abandon her standard ‘non-violence’ message.
‘But, in this case, Luke knows he shouldn’t have hit Trey.’ Sometimes, honesty was more important than platitudes when it came to peace and reconciliation. ‘And he asked me to tell you how sorry he is for doing that.’
‘He did?’ Aldo’s eyes popped wide, but beneath his surprise she could see genuine pleasure. ‘Then he doesn’t hate me?’
‘No, he definitely doesn’t hate you.’
Aldo smiled, the same boyish, untroubled smile she’d seen on his face only recently when he was hanging out with Trey.
OK, now I’m confused. Has Aldo forgiven Luke already, too?
‘I think Luke’s more worried that you might hate him,’ she added. And he had good reason to be as far as she could see.
‘Why would I hate him?’
‘Um, because he punched Trey.’
‘Trey’s tough. I bet he could take Lizzie’s dad in a fight if he wanted to.’
