Page 70 of Too Good to Be True
Then the kids, Emily’s crying; Mason’s desperate screams, Logan and Seth’s embrace… I can’t erase those images from my mind, or those screams. I know they don’t belong to me, and yet I feel them on me as if they were my own.
“What now? What are you going to do?” Paul asks, his tone sympathetic. “I guess the judge demands a real commitment.”
“Something like that.”
“You won’t actually get to marry him?”
“By then, I will have convinced the judge of Seth’s suitability.”
Paul looks at me doubtfully.
“Trust me.”
“You don’t have to sell me this trust crap. It’s not my life that depends on you.”
“You are an arsehole.”
“But I am also the only friend you have. So you have to keep me as I am.”
“You are not the only friend I have.”
Paul looks at me condescendingly.
I snort. “Are you going to give me a hand or not?”
“Why? Do you have someone else to call?”
“Fuck off, Paul.”
“I love you, too.”
“I’ll be ready to go by six. Don’t be late.”
Rowan
When I arrive at Seth’s house that evening, it is Mr Yang who welcomes me. Seth had to work at the club.
“Mr Yang,” I greet him with a nod. “I hope you don’t mind, but I’ve brought my friend Paul. Do you remember Paul?”
“Of course I remember. It’s not like I’m senile. Paul. The other lawyer.”
Paul overtakes me, still standing in the doorway, and makes his way into the house. “Hey, how are you?” He greets the children sitting on the floor of the living room. They seem to be doing their homework.
“I’m here to…”
“I know exactly why you’re here.” He finally lets me in. “You can put your things in that corner.” He points to the space between the sofa and the armchair. “I’m cooking,” he says. “Noodles with fried vegetables and spring rolls.”
“You shouldn’t have bothered.”
He looks at me sideways and I realise I have to shut up.
“I love noodles.”
He shrugs, then turns to Paul. “You can stay too.”
“I never turn down a dinner invitation. In fact, if there’s anything I can do…”
“Wash your hands and then join me.”
