Page 65 of Unworthy
“And what am I?” put in Dee. “Chopped liver? I can keep the well-being side running and there are loads of other instructors back from the season who can help while you’re out of action. Okay, so you made a mistake with Bodhi the Dickhead, but the rest of the staff – me included – are pretty awesome.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you, Dee,” Yaz said in a small voice. I hated hearing her voice like that.
Dee shrugged. “He was a convincing git. Chill, okay? I’m not going anywhere. And anyway, those stag-do dickheads paid you a fairly extreme amount of money – enough to buy in help for the next few months if you needed.”
“Wh–”
“I asked Bodhi to leave after Heath carried you off… well, technically I kicked Bodhi in the balls and got some of the guys to drag him away, but same diff. Those London dickheads couldn’t wait to pay after I suggested it might not look too good if it came out that they essentially stole your equipment and then necessitated you to risk your life saving their ungrateful arses. Plus, that idiot lost your kite in the end, anyway. This is the figure we agreed on – I gave them your business account details and then made them send me proof of transfer.” She held out her phone to me with a photo of the transaction.
“Bloody hell, Dee,” whispered Yaz, “That’s insane. Thank you so much.”
Dee shrugged. “That prick Bodhi’s not the only one who can negotiate, you know.” Yaz reached for Dee’s hand and gave it a squeeze.
“I should have made you a partner and not Bodhi.”
“Yaz, that’s not why I–”
“I hope you’ll consider it now?” Dee’s eyes went wide and her mouth fell open.
“Of course I will,” she sputtered. “But let’s get you back to fighting fit before you make any big decisions.”
Yaz’s dad cleared his throat and shuffled around to the end of the bed. “Listen, love, I think now’s a good time to let you know that your mum and I have decided we need to make things fair. We’ve worked out how much money we spent supporting your brother through his architecture degree, and we want you to have the same amount.”
Yaz’s gaze shot from her mum to her dad, her expression bewildered.
“What? But I thought that money was only for if I was in full-time education and that– ”
“We were wrong,” Fern said, cutting her off. Not a woman prone to outward displays of emotion, she straightened her blouse and cleared her throat before carrying on – but her eyes were a little too bright and her voice carried a very slight shake. “There’s nowt wrong with the way you did things. Your Dad and I are stubborn old buggers and we’re sorry, love.”
Yaz blinked, and I nearly choked on the shocked breath I took in. I didn’t think I’d ever heard Fern apologise to a living soul before. I wasn’t even sure I would have said it was possible if I hadn’t heard it with my own ears.
“Well, don’t all stand around with your mouths open,” she snapped, no shake in her voice now, just annoyance. “When I’m wrong, I admit it.”
“Er… Gran,” said Teddy hesitantly. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you say you’re wrong before.”
“Well, that’s likely because I’ve notbeenwrong about owt before. Now then, young lady, I’ll pack up your stuff and you can come stay wi’ me and yer dad tonight.”
“But Mum, I need to be at home at the moment. It’s not like it’s the first–”
“You need the sea,” I said with such conviction that everyone looked at me, including Yaz. “You might not needme, but you need the sea, Please, baby,” my voice dropped to a softer tone as I leaned into her like she had a gravity all of her own I could not resist. “I love you so much. Please, let me give you the sea. At least let me give you that. Just for a little while. I won’t ask anything of you. I know I’ve screwed up any chance of–”
Her lips on mine cut me off, and the room melted away. By the time Yaz’s dad cleared his throat and I snapped back to reality with a jerk, I’d pulled Yaz halfway into my lap and my hands were tangled in her hair. Yaz and I smiled at each other, but it only lasted a moment before I was yanked up onto my feet by a furious Max, who then punched me in the face.
“Max!” screamed Yaz as I staggered back, clutching my jaw.
“That’s for snogging my little sister,” Max said. “And also, fornotsnogging her for years, and treating her like crap.”
“You’re punching me for both snogging and not snogging your sister?”
He shrugged.
“You know, you didn’t exactly treat Yaz with respect for a long while either, Max. Maybe you should punch yourself in the face.”
“Ah, quit yer mitherin’, pretty boy. You’d punch me yerself if you’ve owt backbone.”
Mia stepped in between us, pushing Max back with one hand and me with the other. “There’ll be none of that,” she said. Her voice was tight and her face pale.
“Ah, shit, sorry, love,” Max said. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”
