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Chapter 19
‘Jake?’ Ron tapped on the door to the boys’ room, hoping he was inside. He’d already checked the games room and the TV room, and there was no sign of him, although Sam was sitting on the sofa, watching something on the screen, his little mouth in a straight line. He clearly knew that something was up, but Ron hoped he had no idea what.
The situation was ugly. It was bad enough that Jake and Izzie were involved, without involving Sam as well.
‘Jake?’ Ron tapped again, and heard a muffled ‘What?’
Relieved, he said, ‘It’s me, Ron. Can I come in?’
‘I suppose.’
The curtains were drawn and the room was gloomy when Ron opened the door and stepped inside. Jake was on the bottom bunk, scrunched up in the corner between the wall and the headboard, the duvet pulled up to his chin. He was trembling, and his face was streaked with dirty tears.
Ron rested his backside against a chest of drawers and folded his arms. ‘Are you OK, mate?’
Jake didn’t answer and Ron felt stupid. Of course he wasn’t OK. He couldn’t be expected to be. ‘Do you want to talk about it?’
Jake’s jaw jutted out and he stared at the pattern on the duvet, refusing to meet Ron’s eyes.
‘It might help,’ Ron persisted.
Jake shrugged. ‘Won’t,’ he grunted.
Ron tried a different tack. ‘Your mum is only trying to do what she thinks is best,’ he said.
‘No, she isn’t. She hates my dad, and she doesn’t want me to see him.’
‘I’m sure that’s not the case. I know that she worries about you.’
‘Not true. She’s only worried about herself. Dad wants us to go back. She doesn’t.’
Ron took a steadying breath. Should he really get involved in this? It was none of his business. Despite how he felt about Annabelle and how much he cared for her children, he was no relation and had no say in the matter. But Jake was hurting, and Ron wanted to try to alleviate some of the boy’s pain.
Ron could understand that they loved their father, and were heartbroken about being so far away from him. However, from the little that Annabelle had told him, the guy was a waste of space. But the heart wants what the heart wants, and Jake wanted his dad.
‘Your mum loves you very much,’ Ron said. ‘More than anything else in the world.’
‘What would you know about it?’
‘I know your mum.’
‘Yeah, I saw how well you know her. My dad will punch your lights out when he finds out you’ve been kissing my mum.’
Ron blinked. ‘I doubt that,’ he replied mildly. ‘Your mum and your dad haven’t been together for a long time, so your dad understands that your mum is entitled to kiss anyone she wants.’
‘If it wasn’t for you, she’d go back to Dad.’
Ron was astounded. ‘You don’treallythink that?’
‘It’s true,’ Jake insisted. ‘She looks at you like this.’ He pulled an exaggerated dreamy-eyed expression, before his face snapped back into a scowl. ‘I’m not stupid, I know what’s going on.’
‘I never thought you were stupid,’ Ron said. He unfolded his arms and stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jeans. ‘Me and your mum…’ He ground to a halt, not knowing how to explain it. He couldn’t really explain it to himself, so how could he explain it to Jake. All he knew was that he had fallen in love with Annabelle, and that she was possibly falling in love with him, too.
‘I hate her.’ Jake glowered at him. ‘And I hateyou. It’s your fault she told my dad to go away. I wish you were dead.’
Ron was horrified. The boy had gone from telling his mother he hated her, to saying the exact same thing to Ron, and was now blaming him for his mum and dad not getting back together. It was ridiculous and unrealistic, but Jake was just a child. He couldn’t be expected to understand the intricacies of adult relationships. All Jake knew was that his mum had taken him away from his dad, and she was now playing kissy-face with Ron. And when his dad had eventually turned up wanting to take them back home, his mum had told his father to sling his hook.
‘Leave me alone,’ Jake added sullenly, his chin wobbling. ‘I want you to go away.’
