Page 25 of Wish You Once More
We chatted amiably over breakfast, both Jonny and I telling Dad he needed to take it easy and get some more help in, so he didn’t have to do everything himself. He vehemently disagreed with us, saying he needed things doing properly and didn’t trust anyone else.
“Why would I want to get someone else involved when Jonny’s doing a cracking job?” He sipped his coffee.
“You can’t do it forever,” reasoned Melinda. “Even now, you won’t let Jonny do everything.”
Dad looked down at the table. “I don’t want to feel useless,” he half-whispered. “I don’t have anything else.”
The sadness in his voice hit me hard. Ever since I’d swanned off to be a famous rock star, I’d assumed everything back at home was going well. Not for one moment did I think Dad felt like this.
The doorbell rang for the second time that morning, breaking into the melancholy silence which had descended.
“That’ll be Chris. He said he’d bring the van.” Jonny jumped up and escaped.
Tentatively, I stood up as well. The unexpected pang of guilt which punched me in the gut increased. How had I not known this was going on? Why hadn’t Jonny told me? Clearly it wasn’t only our father’s physical health we had to worry about. I vowed that once the festival was over, we’d sit down as a family and come up with a plan.
“Mat, where’s your bass?” Jonny’s voice floated through from the hallway.
“I’ll get it.” I placed a hand on my Dad’s shoulder. “See you later, Dad.”
Chris, Jonny’s band mate and best friend since school waited at the front door. “All right, Mat? Long time, no see. You up for this gig then?”
I forced a grin. “Wouldn’t be here otherwise. Gimme a minute to get the guitar.” I trudged up the stairs to my room and grabbed my toothbrush. Quickly, I brushed my teeth, then went back to get the bass.
Melinda was waiting at the foot of the stairs. “I really think you and Jonny need some time with your Dad tomorrow and have a sensible discussion about the business.” She folded her arms across her chest. “Jonny does his best, but if there’s two of you on the same side, maybe your dad will see sense.”
I kissed her on the cheek, loving how much she cherished being a part of our family. “We will, Melinda, I promise.”
The van hooted outside, Jonny yelling for me to get my arse into gear.
She gave me a gentle push, a smile pulling at her lips. “Go. I’ll see you this afternoon.”
As I got into the front of the van with Jonny and Chris, I realised I hadn’t thought about Bree for at least two hours. I hoped she’d be around for the show this afternoon too.
12
Bree
Ibarely slept a wink.
My mind wouldn’t rest, going over and over the exchange with Mat.
Andthatkiss.
He’d finally shared his reasons for leaving all those years ago, and I knew I couldn’t hold that against him any longer. But then he’d kissed me, and I didn’t know what it meant.
I didn’t know what Iwantedit to mean.
All I knew was that this afternoon would be utter hell.
I dragged my sorry arse out of bed and into the living room. Callie curled up on the sofa alone, watching some magazine show while she stuffed handfuls of cereal into her mouth straight from the box. Thank God she hadn’t brought anyone home last night, or if she had, he’d clearly already gone.
“We’re out of milk,” she mumbled through mouthfuls of wheat puffs.
“Good. I’m going to need strong black coffee to wake me up this morning.” I dropped down beside her.
“Where did you get to last night?”
There was no way in the world I could tell her what had happened with Mat. For one, I was struggling to process it myself, and having her fire off a million questions wouldn’t help.
