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We study each other quietly. I’m both touched and flabbergasted that it’s me he seems to be worried about. And now I’m concerned at what he’s insinuating.
“What do you mean, complicated?” I ask eventually.
“I don’t think you know everything.”
“We don’t have secrets from one another,” I reply, but I’m not feeling so certain now.
“You know that Kaitlyn pays her university fees,” he says.
“Yeah.”
“It was she who organized the internship in Sydney.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“She’s friends with one of the partners. And they’re going to offer Belle a full-time job when she graduates.”
I have a mouthful of whisky, even though it’s suddenly hard to swallow. “You know she hates law, right?”
His eyebrows rise. He didn’t know.
“And you know how much she loves her kids’ parties?” I continue. “She wants to do it full time.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah.”
“So you’d let her throw away four years of study?” he asks.
“It’s not about me ‘letting’ her do anything,” I say sharply. “If she wants to do it, I’d support her, financially and emotionally.”
He purses his lips. You can’t always tell what Alex is thinking, but I’m pretty sure that comment impressed him.
He stares into his glass for a moment. Then he says, “What do you know about Tom?”
It’s my turn to lift my eyebrows. “Kaitlyn’s partner?”
“Yeah.”
“Uh… she left your dad to be with him. She was with him for about a year, and then they broke up. I don’t know much more. I asked you at the time what happened, but you wouldn’t talk about it.”
“You know that Belle and Gaby used to stay with them on weekends in Wellington.”
“Yeah, and live with your dad and Sherry in Christchurch during the week.”
He finishes off his whisky and puts the glass on the table. “Tom sexually abused Belle during that year, until she finally told Kaitlyn. That’s why she broke up with him.”
My jaw drops. Oh Jesus.
“Belle was twelve,” Alex continues. “To be fair to Kait, as soon as Belle told her, she took the girls and walked out. She went straight to Dad, and he went thermonuclear. He phoned the police immediately, and Tom was put away.”
“Fuck.”
“He used to work at the local sports center, and it turned out he’d also abused several other girls.”
“What about Gaby? Did he…”
“No. He must have thought she’d tell on him. She was fifteen, and she’s always been more outspoken. Belle was an easier target, I guess—younger, gentler, more timid.”
