Page 31 of Wish You Once More
She shook her head. “Probably not. Will you join us later?”
“If Darla allows, yes.”
“You’re going to watch The JRs right? Wouldn’t be fair for Mat to have come all this way and for you to miss them?”
“You remember what he did to me?” I snapped. “Why would I want to do that?”
“Hey, I only asked. I know you had to be in touch with him for this thing, so I wondered, that’s all.”
“I think I massaged his ego enough.” Flashes of last night came back to me. “He’s here, isn’t he?”
A family with a youngster who appeared to have grazed his forehead pushed past Callie to get to me. “Excuse me, is there a first aid tent? Joseph fell off the swings.”
“Of course, it’s over there.” I pointed in the direction of the tent which had a big red cross above it, the universal sign of first aid. Why they couldn’t see it themselves was beyond me.
“Thank you.” The mother smiled. “You’re doing a great job; the Dart Sundowner is always our favourite thing to do here.”
Small crumbs of comfort given what I was currently wrestling.
My ex, his new girlfriend, and a whole heap of confused feelings I didn’t know what to do with.
15
Mat
“This is such a lovely place.” Ellie reached for my hand underneath the table.
Immediately, I recoiled, not easy to do, crammed in next to her at one of the tables in Angelo’s restaurant. It was the town’s most sophisticated eatery, which also did an awesome Sunday brunch. Even more crowded because of the Dart Sundowner, we’d been able to get the next available table, thanks to the manager recognising me as Oliver Redmond’s son. I think Scott and Rosie were a little put out it wasn’t their infamy which got us the seats. The other waiting diners had huffed and puffed but we ignored them, although I did experience a tiny pang of guilt.
“I’m just glad we were able to get a table.” I slid my hands underneath my thighs, unwilling to give Ellie the wrong impression.
“I can’t wait to see you play,” she said, placing a palm on my knee instead. “I really want to come to another Trash Gun gig soon too.”
Scott laughed. “Yeah, you need to see him in his usual habitat, not some two-bit charity gig.”
Rosie elbowed him in the ribs. “Don’t diss charity gigs. That was how we got together, remember?”
He leaned over and kissed her forehead. “How could I forget? One of the best nights of my life.”
I pretended to stick my fingers down my throat. “Enough you guys, there are children present.”
They laughed at me. Ellie smiled and tried to reach for my hand a second time.
I couldn’t do it to her.
I couldn’t pretend to be interested when I wasn’t.
I needed to find a way to let her down gently, before she totally got the wrong idea.
“Did you speak to Bree again after we saw her yesterday?” asked Scott.
It was an innocent enough question, one which drew daggers from Ellie.
Now Bree knew the truth about why I’d left, surely she’d be able to give Scott a second chance too. Four years ago, after I’d told her I was going away, she’d had screaming match with him, calling him all the names under the sun, and accusing him of deliberately trying to split us up.
At the time, he’d stood there and taken it. He’d let her have her say, the words washing over him like water off a duck’s back. But after she’d left, he’d told me she was bad news and I should never have got so involved with her in the first place.
“No.” I shook my head, taking a sip of my shandy to deflect the question. “Me and Jonny had a few beers and met up with a few old mates.” Pretending to see someone outside I recognised, I lifted a hand and waved, feeling Ellie seethe beside me.
