Page 106 of Worth Every Risk

Just then, as if he knows what’s flashing though my mind, he squeezes me tighter, and presses a kiss against my hair causing a sense of calm to flood me.

I smile up at him and extricate myself from his embrace so I can help Mum, who is weakly walking ahead, one hand on the wall for balance. She’s so much frailer than she was when I left and its only been a few weeks.

“Can I use the bathroom?” Matt asks.

I nod towards the stairs.

He raises his eyebrows as if to say, ‘Really? Upstairs?’

“There is no downstairs toilet,” I whisper.

His lips form a quiet ‘oh’ of sudden understanding.Has he ever been in a house that doesn't have a downstairs bathroom?He heads up the stairs, leaving me wondering if this is the smallest house he’s ever been in.

Mum is panting by the time I get her back to the sitting room, where a bed is set up in front of the TV. Lizzie, the carer we interviewed and employed before I left, is fussing over the sheets.

“Aries, so lovely to see you.” She hugs me. “Your mother wanted to answer the door herself. I said not to, but she was having none of it.”

“I’m not dead yet,” Mum says with a laugh that sounds genuinely amused, but it makes me inwardly wince as I help her lower to the sofa and sit next to her. “You should see this man she’s brought with her, Lizzie. Looks like Clark Gable. Just like I suspected.” She winks at me.

“I saw him,” Lizzie says, nodding at the open door we’ve just come though. She must have caught a glimpse of Matt on the way in. “I wouldn’t say Clark Gable though.” She screws up her face as she thinks. “Maybe Gregory Peck. Actually, no—”

I scoff. “Don’t tell me Mum's sucked you into watching those old movies?”

Lizzie smiles, and Mum says, “Those are classics. I’m reliving my youth. They say it keeps you young.” She leans in and winks at me. “Keeps you alive.” Sitting back, she looks me over, lips a tight smile, eyes delighted. “Anyway, doesn’t matter what he looks like when he’s making you look this happy.”

Lizzie and Mum both stare at me, grinning, and my face grows hot. I dip my head and tuck my hair behind my ear. Mum strokes my cheek with the back of her hand, her skin cool against mine. “It’s okay to be happy, Aries.” Out of nowhere a lump expands inmy throat and I try to swallow it down. “I want you to be. I’m not afraid of dying—”

“Mum, please.”

But Mum’s attention is on the door, where Matt is standing, leaning against the frame. Not even the threat of tears pricking my eyes can blind me to how incredibly handsome he is.

“You really should be in the movies,” Mum says to him.

I cover my eyes with my hand and groan.She did not just say that.

Matt frowns. “Thank you… I think. Can I get anyone a cup of tea?” For some unknown reason, we all laugh and he looks at us like we’re a bunch of unruly groupies, which makes it even funnier.

“I like him,” Mum whispers. “He’s got a little anger though…” She waves her hand in the air, indicating Matt’s heart area. “But that can all be released, with a little work.”

Matt gives me a quizzical look, aware Mum is talking about him but clearly unable to hear what she’s saying. I’m glad because he’d think her energy chat is insane. I shrug in a ‘I can’t control my mother, but I love her’ type way.

“Tea for everyone, then,” he says before he turns towards the kitchen. A moment later, I hear him fill the kettle and flip it on, opening cupboards and searching for mugs.

There’s something delightful about a small house. You can walk inside as a total stranger and know your way round in ten steps. And oddly enough, it feels even more like home knowing Matt is in the next room.

30

MATT

After we’ve finished tea and eaten half a packet of cheap biscuits, Aries excuses herself to use the bathroom, leaving me with her mother. Mrs McClennon is younger than I expected, but her illness has drained her. She’s putting on a good show, smiling and laughing, but I can tell she’s already wiped out. I feel a bit bad for having sprung this visit on everyone, but when I called last night, she sounded delighted by the idea.

Lizzie, the carer, is arranging flowers on the table, paying us no attention.

The house smells like a yoga studio, and incense puffs away from a slowly dwindling joss stick on the dining table. There are more crystals in here than have any right to exist in one house. On every table there are little circles of the damn things, like Mrs McClennon has been casting spells with them. I’ve never been in a house like this, but it’s exactly the kind of place I would have imagined for Aries. From the outside, it looks totally ordinary, but inside, it’s bursting with magic.

Mrs McClennon stares at me, saying nothing.

Fuck, this is awkward.I’m tensing up, and not even the heavy scent of incense is calming me. I’m pretty sure the whole point of incense is to put you at ease. Doesn’t fucking work, not when Aries’ Mum is inspecting me like I’m in a display case. A fucking taxidermy of a man.

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