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‘What makes you say that?’
He shrugged. ‘I guess you’re bound to.’ He shuffled from one foot to the other. ‘When you saydisappeared, you mean like he took off and left you and your mum?’
‘And my sister.’ Thea paused, deep in thought. ‘Not exactly. He owned a bookshop. In the school holidays I used to spend time there, helping out. I would sit and watch him bookbinding.’ She smiled at the memory.
‘Bookbinding?’
Thea rolled her eyes.
‘Oh, right.’ He grinned. ‘You mean attaching a load of sheets of paper together.’
She shook her head. ‘You make it sound as though anyone can do it.’
He held up his hands. ‘Hey, don’t bite my head off.’
‘Sorry. I suppose it just irritates me that people assume it’s that easy. You know, not everyone can bind a book. it’s quite a skill. You need to be taught by a skilled artisan, and even then you’ve either got the patience and the aptitude, or you haven’t. Few have. I’ve heard there is quite a shortage. It’s a dying art, which is a shame, but they can command really good money.’
‘Maybe I should change jobs.’
Thea looked at him quizzically. ‘That’s a joke, right? I imagine your job is really well-paid, jetting off to Hong Kong.’
He frowned and shook his head, laughing. ‘Of course it is.’
‘If you admire it so much, why didn’t you continue the tradition, learn from your dad and become one too?’ He stopped abruptly. ‘Shit, sorry. I just remembered you said you were nine when your father left.’
Thea folded her arms. The trouble with Mileswas that he wasn’t a good listener. It seemed that most things she said to him went in one ear and out the other; it was almost impossible to have a serious conversation with him, or any conversation that didn’t revolve around their plans for the evening, where they would dine out, or what takeaway they would have. Sometimes she wanted to talk about other things, rather than always being in the moment. Miles was quite the opposite.
‘Maybe I might have become one if he’d been around long enough to show me. But then even if he had, he was still away a lot.’
‘How come?’
‘He was often away for weeks at a time travelling to bookfairs and book conventions, finding or selling rare books – sometimes to private collectors. I used to hear my dad and Edward talking when I was little. They thought I wasn’t paying attention, but I was.’ Thea had felt at the time like she was spying, which now seemed silly; she had been just a young child. She still felt bad about it all these years later, though, for some bizarre reason she could never quite put her finger on.
‘Edward? The guy out there?’ Miles flicked his finger in the direction of the door.
‘Yes. I told you he was a family friend. They went back years, Mum, Dad and Edward.’
‘Okay.’
Thea said, ‘So, the fact that he was gone for periods of time wasn’t unusual. It’s just that one time he never came back.’
‘So, you never found out what happened to him?’
Thea shook her head.
‘We tried to find him. Edward tried to help us, but with no luck.’
He put an arm around her shoulders. ‘I’m so sorry, Thea.’
Thea stepped back and looked at him. ‘You won’t do that to me, ever, will you? Just disappear and never come back.’
He stared at her.
She frowned at him, thinking he was taking far too long to answer the question – when the door to the kitchen suddenly opened.
‘Oh, I’ve found the two lovebirds,’ said Gracie, grinning at Thea before casting a gaze over her shoulder at Edward, who was peering over her shoulder in the doorway. ‘So you have!’
‘Do you need any help?’ Gracie asked. Her smile faltered when she caught the look on Thea’s face.
