Page 44 of Lie For Me

‘Sure.’ Jack gave a hollow laugh. ‘Except this one.’

They were quiet for a moment and floated side by side. Then Lucy plucked up the courage to ask.

‘And…’ she cleared her throat. ‘Your half-brother and sister…do you have any contact with them?’

‘No,’ he said after a moment. ‘I just...’ he shrugged, ‘I don’t know them. We didn’t grow up together. Simon and Therese and I, we’re blood-related, sure, but there’s more to family than that, isn’t there? I don’t resent them or anything. They’ve just never been a part of my life, and I don’t feel the urge to change that. That’s why, as far as I am concerned, I don’t have a brother or sister. My life was with Dad, and I know he never really got over the split. He took down all the pictures of her when she left, and I thought he’d thrown them all out. But after he died, and I had to clear out the house, I found he’d kept them all. He had a little book of pictures of her in his bedside table and,’ his voice cracked, ‘their wedding photo, still in the silver frame. They looked so happy. He had all this hope, you see.’ His voice was shaky now. ‘It was for nothing. I thought he hated her because he never spoke about her and didn’t seem to want me to, but after he’d gone and I found the pictures, I realised he didn’t hate her—he just had all this frustrated love and grief, and there was nothing he could do about it.’

Lucy’s eyes were streaming, and she sniffed and wiped her nose on her arm.

‘Thank you for telling me,’ she said, aiming her words up at the endless blue sky.

‘S’okay,’ came the softly gruff reply floating across the water. ‘Good to tell someone, I suppose. It’s not that I truly hate weddings. They just seem…futile. Like an exercise in hope over reality.’ He was speaking in jerky half-thoughts. ‘Sort of, it all starts out well, but then…after some time…it’s hard to stay in love like that…isn’t it? So it seems completely pointless to have that big fuss and get everyone there when in a few years or so…they might split. It’s hard to go along and be excited about something that you just fundamentally don’t see the point of. Relationships don’t last.’

He let out a shuddery breath.

Lucy had so many questions. This explained so much. Not just Jack’s dislike of weddings but also his avoidance when it came to close relationships. Lucy couldn’t remember the last time one of Jack’s relationships had made it to the three-month mark. She rarely even got to meet his girlfriends—there was so little time between him meeting someone and then deciding to call it quits. He always blamed work, saying his job took the best of him and there wasn’t time or energy for a relationship. She was deeply touched that Jack had chosen to share this with her and felt their relationship had shifted to a new and deeper level. And she was moved that he was doing this for her despite his aversion to weddings.

Lucy suddenly realised that, for all their messing about and petty banter, he might not understand just how grateful she was. And she hadn’t understood what she was asking of him, when she nagged him to come with her that day in the cafe. She didn’t want to leave the lake without telling him. She opened her mouth to speak when a shout drifted across the water.

‘Oi!’

Neither of them moved.

Then again, ‘Oi, Lucy!’

Lucy peered out across the glare of the water. It was Ollie, waving and pointing.

‘Time to go in!’ he yelled.

The rest of the wedding party was slowly making their way back towards the shore. Ollie was out in front, with Greg just behind him. Greg shouted something at Ollie as he drew alongside, and then both leaned into their oars and started sprinting for the shore, a race to see who could make it back first. Sophie was leisurely paddling along in the main group, chatting to her bridesmaids, Hannah and Abbie, both of whom appeared not to have a hair or false eyelash out of place. Georgia, no longer going in circles but still going more sideways than forwards, brought up the rear with Ollie’s best man, Dave, who had sweetly hung back to encourage her. Georgia, rather red in the face and puffing, seemed torn between the kindness of the gesture and the company, and a deep wish that no one should see her like that.

Lucy wiped her damp hair from her head and urged her heat-tired arms to drag her back to shore.

‘Jack,’ she said tentatively as they steered themselves back toward the shore. ‘I know it didn’t work out for your mum and dad.’ His jaw tensed. ‘But what if it can work out for some people? What if all that hope and love does get rewarded? Sometimes?’

‘It’s a risky business,’ came the reply, floating on the air.

‘Weddings?’

‘Love.’

14

Lucy stood in the bathroom and stared at herself in the mirror. She dragged a towel across the steamed-up surface, trying to see more clearly, twisting her head this way and that, examining her face. She slapped moisturiser on and started vigorously rubbing, hoping to smooth out the combined effects of a lack of sleep and an afternoon on the lake.

There was a knock on the bathroom door.

‘Luce? You done in there? I need to shower.’

She wrapped the towel firmly around her and opened the door, steam billowing into the bedroom. Jack stepped back, wafting his hands dramatically.

‘All yours,’ she said, tripping deftly past him. She spun back. ‘And knock before you come back into the bedroom. I might be getting dressed,’ she added primly.

‘Oh, don’t worry,’ he ran a hand through his hair and grinned, ‘your mother is expecting me at my handsome best. I don’t want to rush perfection.’

He disappeared into the bathroom and slammed the door.

Lucy chuckled and flicked on the hair dryer.

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