Page 40 of Seal of Approval

Jack blew out a breath. “You can watch the road from the chair next to Lily.”

I nodded. I was being silly. There were a million reasons why Ethan hadn’t arrived yet. A million reasons other than Max. I took a seat half listening to the conversation.

“Is Sara making us fish and chips?” Rose asked.

“She’s heating up the fryers as we speak,” Lily said.

Rose clapped.

There was movement from the road.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Ethan

As I approached the bonfire, Jack came over to greet me. I still had the shakes.

“Fuck me. The spider was bigger than my hand,” I said to Jack with a shiver.

Jack guffawed. “Small then.”

“Small my ass. And it just stood there in the doorway, blocking my path.”

“What’d you do? Stare it down?” Jack was still laughing.

“What else was I going to do?”

Everyone was watching the interaction now, even the campers and house guests.

“Ah, move it.”

“I wasn’t going near the thing. It was so big I could see the hair on its legs.”

Jack turned to Jasmine. “Seems like he needed you to save him, after all.”

Bailey stood beside Jasmine and put his arm across her shoulders. “Mum’s not scared of spiders. She picks them up and takes them outside.”

Rose stood on the other side of Jasmine and put her arm on top of Bailey’s. “Mum’s not scared of anything.”

Jasmine caught my eye and then looked at each of the children. “It’s OK to be scared.”

“Even adults?” Rose asked.

“Even adults.”

Rose came over to me and put her small hand in mine. “We’re a team, Ethan. Mum will protect you from the spiders. And you will protect us.”

I crouched down. “The spiders are pretty scary.”

She patted my shoulder. “So are storms.”

I held out my hand to her. “Team?”

She gave it a hard shake. “Team.”

Until the crisis passed. Then I could go back to my life where I didn’t need to be scared of being like my father. And after that, I would return home.

Jack led me over to Ross and Jay who were handing out drinks. I took a beer, and we stood together in a small huddle.

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