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‘Sure.’
‘Even back then, you never told me what was on your mind.’ He wasn’t confused now, just bewildered that Abe hadn’t been able to come to him. That he’d had to hear from the nanny what was going on in his own home. ‘You could have told me, Abe...’
‘I know now.’
‘Why didn’t you?’ Jobe said, and then he gave a wry laugh. ‘I know, even back then you trusted no one.’
* * *
He stayed a few hours, doing work when his father dozed then making small talk when he woke up.
And then it moved from small talk to more serious matters as Jobe tried to tie the loose ends in his life. ‘I don’t like this business with Candice.’
‘Don’t worry about that now.’
‘But I do.’
‘Well, you don’t have to. I ended it this afternoon.’
‘How did she take it?’
He should possibly soothe his father and assure him everything was fine, but that would make him a liar. ‘Not very well.’
‘I don’t trust her, Abe.’
‘You’re a Devereux and, as you just pointed out, we don’t trust anyone,’ Abe quipped. ‘Don’t worry about it.’
And Jobe stopped worrying about Candice and lay back on his pillows and saw the foil from his pretzel and he was back to the days of his sons’ childhoods again and reminiscing.
‘Nice girl,’ Jobe said, just before he dozed off again.
‘Yes, she is,’ he admitted this time.
And for Abe, that was the problem.
She was so nice that now he would never be able to eat a pretzel again without thinking of not just long-ago times with his father but the day he and Naomi had spent, and now the gift she had given him and his father tonight...
The memories both evoked and made.
CHAPTER SEVEN
THATNICEGIRLsat feeling blue and alone in a packed theatre.
Well, not alone. The seat had been available because, after all, few people go to the theatre alone, so Naomi found herself on the end seat beside one huge, happy family, and Naomi listened to their plans for Christmas and New Year. And, yes, this one she’d be spending with her dear friend and the person she was closest to in the world.
Yet it was Merida and Ethan’s first family Christmas and Ava’s first.
Naomi knew that, no matter how kind and welcoming they were, she’d feel a bit of a spare part.
Oh, Merida would do her best to make sure that Naomi was included but tonight that was how Naomi felt—like a spare part in a two by two, loved-up world.
It was a relief when the lights finally dimmed and she could lose herself in another world.
The production was breath-taking, so much so that Naomi forgot that the birds were actors, but when Belladonna came on, Naomi knew this had been Merida’s part. When she heard Sabine singing and realised the complexity of the role it hit home just how talented and accomplished Merida truly was.
And she was so proud of Merida, but tonight, as she stood next to the very large family for the standing ovation and applauded the cast, Naomi felt very small.
Well,not-small Naomi was well aware that she could lose the equivalent weight of three Avas and still have more to go, but tonight she felt insignificant and more than a little alone in this world.
