Page 66 of Loving Jemima

“It’s early, give me time,” Jem muttered.

Ellie reached out for her hand again, caught it between both of her own. “I’m serious, Jem. Serious that this had to happen. Okay, maybe not the greatest timing, but there’s nothing more important than the truth.”

“You and my father have a lot in common.”

“Jem, I know this is all a bit shit, I know it’s hard to deal with and fresh and raw. But you’ve finally told the truth, you can finally be yourself. And we…” Ellie let the thought trail off because she didn’t want to come on too strong.

“And we can do this,” Jem finished for her, looking up.

“If you want,” said Ellie carefully.

“It’s fast,” Jem said. “I know that. I don’t want to push you into anything.”

“Like you pushed me into that armchair this afternoon?”

Ellie saw a ghost of a smile on Jem’s face. “Alright, maybe there are some small advantages to all this.”

“It’s a shitty situation,” said Ellie. “But we have to make the best of it. And to be honest, we don’t really know the consequences yet, do we? I mean, your father might be ecstatic at having a gay daughter and a party planner in the family.”

“Already inviting yourself into the family, are you?” asked Jem, picking up a poppadom and snapping it in half. “Sadly, you don’t know my father.”

“I don’t, not really. But I do know that often this sort of thing is a shock, a surprise, and like with most things in life, people sort of settle into living with something that they would have thought unthinkable.”

“Says the person who doesn’t contact their family,” observed Jem.

Ellie shrugged. “Not everything in life has to have a happy ending. You aren’t the first person to come out. We do what we have to do. And when our birth families aren’t interested or disregard us, then we build our own families. If there’s one thing that the LGBTQ community is good at, it’s building families.”

“Like Mo and Carys.”

“Like Mo and Carys,” Ellie said, suddenly remembering the momentous news that Carys had told her that morning.

“Alright then,” Jem said. She pulled her phone out of her bag. “I suppose it’s time to bite the bullet.”

“Call your father, you mean?”

Jem nodded and Ellie practically crushed her hand she squeezed it so tightly. “I’ll be here for you.”

“I know that.”

Jem pushed her chair back and went outside to make her call. Ellie could only watch through the restaurant window, hoping that things went better than either of them expected.

Chapter Twenty Seven

Jem wasn’t sure she’d ever been so anxious in her life. Even being shipped off to boarding school at aged eight hadn’t been as overwhelming as this was. She stood in front of the office building, not at all sure that she had the strength to walk into it.

“It’s going to be unpleasant, but it’s a bit like going to the dentist,” Rolly said, hooking his arm through hers. “In that you’ll feel better once it’s over.”

“I’m not sure that destroying my life is quite equivalent to going to the dentist,” said Jem, stomach churning. She hadn’t eaten a thing this morning. Even Ellie had refused breakfast, looking pale as Jem had ushered her off to work.

Sending her to work had been the best thing to do in the end. There was nothing Ellie could do here, and having her here would probably just make things worse.

Rolly squeezed her arm. “Do you want me to come in with you?”

Jem shook her head. He’s been kind enough to ring to check on her, but she had to handle this herself, had to handle her father herself. Even if it made her feel sick and achy and tired and horrible.

“I should have kept my mouth shut,” she said. “I don’t knowwhy I said anything.”

“Because the secret gets too big to keep,” Rolly said quietly. “It fights its own way out eventually.” He turned so that they were face to face. “And because she’s worth it, isn’t she?”

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