Page 31 of Could It Be Magic?
‘What do you mean?’
Pulling out her phone, Annabelle tapped the WhatsApp icon and scrolled to Thea’s name. ‘I probably shouldn’t be showing you this, but if it helps you to make up your mind…’
Nick’s breath hitched in his throat as he read the exchange.
‘Shit…’ he murmured. ‘I mean, we sort of talked things through after it happened, but I didn’t know she was quite so pissed off about it.’
‘Well, now you do.’
Annabelle looked him square in the face again. ‘And, just because I think I really need to spell this out for you, don’t you think, if she was that upset, you might not have much to lose if you just fronted up to her and told her how you really feel?’
Before he had the chance to reply, Annabelle had slipped her phone back in her pocket and was heading for the front door. ‘Don’t forget to put the till drawer in the safe before you go,’ she called to him. ‘I’ll see you in the morning.’
Nick shook his head. When he and Thea had talked about the mistletoe incident, she’d seemed more upset about it than someone who wanted just to be friends would be. And, there had been a few times since then, especially after the walk in the woods on Sunday, that had made him think. Perhaps he had been missing the signs after all. There was only one thing to do; he’d have to level with Thea. He didn’t know when, and he wasn’t sure how, but Annabelle was right: he certainly couldn’t go on like this.
It was time to lock up for the evening. He closed the front doors and headed into the back office to deposit the till drawer in the safe. As he was heading out of the back door, he glanced at the pile of post on the desk. There wasn’t anything that demanded his immediate attention, but there was something he’d been happily ignoring for the past couple of weeks. The fancy, cream coloured envelope contained an invitation that usually he’d just pass onto Annabelle, but he knew for a fact that she’d had her own invite and so had their parents. He hadn’t bothered to do anything about it, since Annabelle had ’fessed up she’d RSVP’d on behalf of the whole family a couple of weeks back, so he was obliged to put in an appearance. He’d have to dig out his dinner suit, since the event was black tie, but at least it should still fit him.
Switching off the lights in the back office, he headed home to his cottage. He tried not to think about when he might see Thea again; now Annabelle was back, she’d finished working at the shop, which he felt sad about. He hadn’t spoken to Annabelle yet about potentially employing Thea after Christmas on a more permanent basis, and he made up his mind to discuss it with her and the rest of the family during the break. As he drew up outside his house, he realised he’d been on autopilot all the time he’d been driving home; he had absolutely no memory of getting there at all.
26
‘Hey Gran!’
Thea let herself in through the utility room door of Nightshade Cottage and headed through to the kitchen. Lorelai called back from the living room, and after making them both a cuppa, Thea mooched on through.
‘How did the nativity play go?’ Lorelai asked as Thea kicked off her shoes and got comfy on the sofa.
‘Really well.’ Thea smiled. ‘Only one member of Reception class forgot their lines and the angels’ haloes all stayed on, so I count that as a win.’
‘Oh, I remember seeing you and Tristan in your tea towels and tunics, back in the day,’ Lorelai said, a faint trace of nostalgia in her voice. ‘Tristan hated every minute of it, but you were a natural star. I could have sworn you were bound for the stage, from that moment on!’
Thea laughed. ‘I’ve still got the picture the school took of the two of us. Tris looked like he was going to rip the head off the Baby Jesus doll, and I was blowing kisses to you and Uncle Phillip in the audience.’ She was tickled that her gran remembered the event differently, having recently laughed, herself, with Nick about her brother’s melodramatic tendencies.
They chatted amiably about the children and firmed up a few Christmas plans before Thea worked up the courage to broach the subject she’d come to talk about with Lorelai. She’d been flummoxed by Cora’s admission last night, and while she’d assured Cora that they’d find a way through, she really needed to talk to her grandmother about what that way might be.
‘So, you know I let Cora finally set up some social media accounts on her birthday?’ she began.
Lorelai looked briefly concerned. ‘Are you sure that was wise, dear? I hear such terrible things about social media these days. I know it’s a part of life, but she seems awfully young at the moment to have an account of her own.’
‘All of her friends have them, Gran, and I’m still policing her every move on that phone of hers, so hopefully it’ll be all right.’ Thea paused. ‘The thing is, someone’s got in touch with her, and I’m not quite sure what to do about it.’
‘Who is it?’
It was crunch time. Thea took a deep breath. ‘Her half-brother.’
Lorelai put the mug she was holding down on the coffee table with a thud. ‘Come again?’
‘Her ten-year-old half-brother. And you’d better believe that I was just as flabbergasted as you were when she told me that.’
‘But… how? When?’
‘Pretty bloody soon after Ed and I split, it would seem.’
‘Oh, darling.’ Lorelai went to hug Thea, but she shook her head.
‘It’s fine, Gran. I mean, it’s not like we haven’t been separated for years. It’s just a bit of a shock that he’s chosen to get in touch now. That he’s aware that he has a half-sister. That bloody, frigging Ed never saw fit to tell me he’s started a whole new family!’ Thea felt a spark of anger. It wasn’t that she wanted Ed back – he was a destructive influence, and she knew she was far better off without him in her life; it was more that he hadn’t had the courtesy to let her know that there was now at least one more child to consider in their complicated family dynamic.
‘What do you intend to do about this… connection?’ Lorelai asked as Thea paused.
