AllFreeNovel
Share Us
But Jack’s laugh cuts me off. “I walked right into that one, didn’t I?”
I sigh in relief, tugging at the fingers of my gloves as we walk. “What about you?” I ask. “Do you read?”
Nina laughs. “Does he do anything else? That’s the real question.”
“What sort of books?”
“All kinds. Including audiobooks.” He shoots me a grin. “I listen to them when I close the pub.”
“He about killed Oliver when they closed together last week,” Nina says.
“Nothing like hooking up my phone to the overhead speakers and a sex scene blasting out of nowhere at full volume to traumatize my big brother.”
I spit out a laugh, because even though I’ve known Jack and Ollie for only a few hours, I can totally picture it. “You did it on purpose, didn’t you?”
He sighs. “Am I that easy to read?”
“Not easy to read,” Nina says. “Just predictable.”
“I’m not predictable,” he says.
“I wish he weremorepredictable to tell you the truth,” I say.
“You only think that because you don’t know him well enough yet,” Nina says. “It’s true,” she adds at the dark look Jack gives her. “If you’re not at the pub or our place, you’re holed up in your apartment reading with that cat. You need to live a little, Jack.”
“Sounds like a pretty good life to me,” I say, and Jack sends me a grateful smile.
“Well, at the very least, you ought to start tattooing again.” Nina slows her pace to fall in line with me and Jack. “He always says he’ll look into it, but he never does.”
“Why don’t you?”
“Things changed,” Jack says. “And I don’t need tolive a little.Work. Family. Cats. Books. What else do I need?”
“Dreams. Adventure.Love,” Nina says.
“Not all of us can spend our twenties falling in love on superyachts,” he says, something like a warning in his tone.
Nina is quiet for a moment. “Fair enough.”
There’s an awkward silence as we continue down the road. I’m not sure what the context is here, and I don’t plan on asking. But I hate silence, so when we pass a series of little houses all squashed beside each other, I say, “I’ve never seen so many colorful houses. It’s like walking around in a candy store.”
“Those are called the Deck of Cards,” Jack says. “And they’re themost Instagrammable landmark in Cobh. The secret to getting a good photo is to go around the block behind this park,” he says, pointing to a small green area on the opposite side of the street. “Hold your phone above the wall, and you’ll get a great shot of the houses and the cathedral too.”
“Why’re they called that?” I ask.
“Because if the bottom house fell down, so would all the rest. Like a house of cards,” he says.
“I can’t tell if you’re joking or not.”
“It’s a joke, but I’m not joking. They’re really called that. Haven’t you heard? They say the people of County Cork are the cleverest in all of Ireland.”
“Bythey,” Nina says, “he means the people of County Cork.”
When we arrive at a small but charming mid-terrace home a few minutes later, Nina unlocks the door, and I follow her inside. For the past year, I’ve slept mostly in hostels or on trains. It’s been a long time since I’ve been in someone’s home. Shoes are lined up at a small bench in the entryway. Candid family photos of Nina and Ollie and their two daughters (whose names escape me but both begin with the letter J) decorate the walls. In the living room, a basket of toys is tipped onto its side. Giant building blocks spill out onto the carpet.
When I see homes like this—imperfect but clearly loved—it makes my chest ache. I want to have a place like this. Somewhere to belong. A place that’s mine, where I can be myself with people who understand me and like me just the way I am. People who don’t wish I was someone else.
“Make yourself at home,” Nina says once the babysitter leaves. “I’m going to check on the girls.”
