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‘The answer to both those questions is no.’
‘You should probably join Tinder or something,’ teased Luke, nudging her with his elbow. ‘Do some hook-ups, make up for lost time.’
‘Yeah, that definitely isn’t going to happen, I’m having some time out. And what do you know about hook-ups?’
‘Nothing,’ Luke said quickly. ‘Do you have to sell this place now and give Graham his share?’
‘No. This is my house, I paid for it.’
‘Really? With what?’
‘With the inheritance I got when yia-yia died. It was in trust until I was eighteen, and then I used it as a deposit on this place so Graham and I could get married.’
‘Really? Didn’t he even pay the mortgage?’
‘No, I paid it. Graham never earned much at first; he was either training or trying to get his practice off the ground. He helped out with the bills and stuff, but I finished paying off the mortgage a couple of years ago. It’s all mine.’
‘Shit, I can’t believe yia-yia dying got you a house. Why didn’t I get anything?’
‘Don’t swear,’ said Hannah. ‘You hadn’t even been born yet. Tough luck.’
‘OK, but now you’ve got the chance to make it up to me, by letting me move in.’
Hannah smiled and shook her head. ‘I’ll think about it.’
‘Come on, please. I need to get out of Mum’s.’
‘I said I’ll think about it. But in the meantime, I might be going away soon, so you can house-sit.’
‘How long for?’
‘I’m not sure, maybe three or four weeks. I need to talk to work about it, so I’ll let you know next week.’
‘Can Dan stay over? If I’m living here for a bit?’ He looked at her hopefully, and Hannah had to remind herself that he wasn’t a little boy any more.
‘Yes, but if Mum asks, you need to promise me you won’t lie to her. If you want to be treated like an adult, you need to start taking responsibility.’
Luke looked at his feet and took a deep breath. ‘Yeah, fair enough. Where are you going?’
‘Spain.’ Hannah glanced up at him with the briefest pause. ‘So I might go and see Dad.’
‘Really?’ said Luke, his eyes wide. ‘Again?’
Hannah gave him a look. ‘It’s been three years, Luke. You don’t have to come, but the offer is always there.’
‘I definitely don’t want to see him,’ said Luke, chewing on the end of his little finger like he used to when he was a toddler and feeling anxious.
‘You can’t punish him for ever, Lu. Sometimes marriages don’t work out and people move on.’ She gestured towards the formal photo of her and Graham on the chest of drawers by the dining table, both looking like children playing wedding dress-up.
‘He didn’t move on, he moved AWAY,’ said Luke. ‘He left the fucking country when I was, like, a year old.’
‘I know, but you still don’t need to swear about it,’ Hannah said gently. ‘He’s your dad. Are you really going to shut him out of your life for ever?’
‘I don’t know,’ said Luke. ‘Maybe.’
‘For ever’s a long time. And if there’s one thing that this week has taught me, it’s that everyone makes mistakes.’
‘Yeah. But some are more forgivable than others. So is that why you’re going to Spain? To see Dad?’
