Page 12 of Wistful Whispers

“Thanks,” Olivia replies with a big smile on her face. She sits back down and curls up in Rob’s arms.

“Oh, your friend Grant asked me to give this to you,” Hannah says and holds out a business card. “He said it would be great to catch up and you should call him.” I stare at the small piece of paper like it’s a ticking bomb.Fuck! So it was him.

“What else did he say?” I bark. All three of them look shocked.

“Are you okay, Jake?” Hannah gently places her hand on my forearm.No, I am not fucking okay. I don’t want him in my life,but more importantly I don’t want him anywhere near Hannah and our princess.

I take the business card with a shaking hand. It’s a simple card, looks just like any other business card. Not sure what I had expected. It’s not like it would say “I sell drugs” on it.

“Did he say anything else?” I ask again, trying to keep my tone neutral. I’m not sure if I’m successful though because Hannah still looks worried.

“Just that he saw us outside. I told him where you were but he said he was late for an appointment and to just give you the card. Who is he?”

“A friend of my brother’s.” Hannah knows that I had a brother and that both he and my mum are dead, but she didn’t ask questions and so I never had to make the choice between sharing the terrible secret or lying.

But now I need to talk to her. I owe her the truth and then I need to… I don’t know what I need to do. Leave Fellside? Talk to Grant? Maybe he wants to make peace, maybe he’s turned his life around. Or maybe I’m just a fucking idiot who doesn’t want to face the truth that I might have to walk away from the most important person in my life in order to protect her. But I’ll do anything to keep her safe, anything, even if it kills me.

Chapter 6

Hannah

The sound of theshower is the only thing that breaks the silence. Jake’s shut himself in there but he may as well be miles away with how he’s been acting. I’ve been going over everything from this afternoon in my head to try to make sense of the change in him. The second I handed him that business card, something in him switched off. He just… shut down, quiet and broody, barely making eye contact for the rest of the afternoon. He’s never like this with me.

I rest a hand on my belly, almost without thinking. Jake’s always been the one watching out for me, making sure I’m alright—he’s got that fierce, protective streak that’s sometimes a bit much but usually kind of comforting. But tonight he looked like he was the one who needed protecting. And I still have no idea why.

I hear the water stop and my heart skips. He can’t dodge me this time. I’m not leaving this alone until he tells me what’s going on. I get up from the bed, cross my arms, and wait by the bathroom door, listening to him moving around inside.

The door opens and Jake steps out, rubbing a towel over his hair. He freezes when he sees me standing there, then tries to step past me like I’ll just let him go off to bed without a word.

“We need to talk,” I say, trying to keep my voice steady.

“There’s nothing to talk about Hanny-bee.” His voice is low, guarded. He won’t even look at me.

“There clearly is. You’ve been acting weird ever since I handed you that business card. What’s wrong? Is it because he reminded you of your brother?” I’ve never asked him what happened to his brother and how he died so young. Jake didn’t want to talk about his past and I respected that. But now it’s affecting him, and what kind of friend would I be if I didn’t try to help him?

Jake hesitates, his jaw tight. For a second, I see something in his eyes—pain, maybe? But he looks away just as quickly, his face hardening.

“It’s… complicated, alright?” He brushes past me, heading toward the nursery where he sleeps on that stupid camp bed.

“Jake, I’m not leaving you alone until you tell me what’s going on.”

He turns around sharply and for a moment he glares at me. “Why can’t you just drop it?” His voice cracks a bit but he covers it up quickly, looking down at the floor.

I’m stunned. He never raises his voice at me, not like this.

“Because you’re my best friend. You’re always there for me: for a change let me be there for you. Something’s obviously eating at you and I just… I don’t understand why you won’t tell me.”

“Hanny-bee—” He takes a step closer and leans his forehead against mine. “I want to protect you, you and our princess.” His hand lands on my belly and there is a little kick from her as if our princess knows who is there and wants to say hi.

“It’s… not something I wanted you mixed up in. But I should tell you. I owe you that before I leave.”

“Leave? What do you mean leave?” My heart starts racing.He can’t leave us, we need him… I need him! I can’t be without him.

“If I want to protect you the safest option is to walk away and lead Grant away from you.” A mix of pain, frustration and fear is written all over his face.

That only makes me more anxious. “Who is this fucking guy?”

He finally looks at me after a long silence and there’s something dark in his eyes, a weight I’ve never seen before.

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