Page 114 of The Reno
I frowned. I knew money had something to do with the divorce from all the arguments I’d overheard sitting at the top of the stairs. Dad had invested all the money in his garage, including a loan against the house.
“Your dad trusted the wrong bloke. Someone to do the accounts. But he was funnelling money out of the business. Slowly but surely, taking more and more each year. When the financial crash hit in ’08, well, he managed to take it all. He moved abroad with the money.”
I inhaled shakily. “Does that justify going no contact withyour eleven-year-old daughter?”
“It doesn’t. But you should know—your dad was in a bad place.” Brian looked ahead like he was remembering that time. “There were times I wasn’t sure he wanted to be here with us. But he came back home and got some help. He was better a year or two later, and I told him to meet you. If Paula hated the idea, I told him to look into custody agreements. Then, one night, he told me. Your mum had asked him to stay away. You were struggling enough at school as it was. You didn’t need any more stress. You needed stability. ‘She’s better off without me,’ he used to say.” Brian shook his head. “Stupid man. He missed out on so much.”
“I—I don’t know what to say.” Emotions swirled around me, a storm cloud brewing. I craved to march back down south and demand my mum tell me it was a lie. Tell me she would never do anything like that. But another part of me knew it wasn’t impossible. Mum always wanted things to be as straightforward as possible.
“I understand this is hard to wrap your head around. And for the record, as much as I disagree with Paula’s approach, I understand that it was coming from a good place. Routine and stability are so important for kids. But Jim took it to heart. He already blamed himself for the business, almost losing the house. Your mum’s parents had to help dig him out of debt. I think he’d lost his confidence to be a dad. A proper dad. I just thought you should know that it was complicated. And that if I could, I’d strangle him for not making it right. For leaving you in this limbo.”
It was like someone had added more foreground detail to an oil painting. The details added made sense. Suddenly, memories flooded in of my dad being in bed, unable to get up.
“I just wanted you to know that he loved you. I know it wasn’t enough. He knew it wasn’t enough, but he did love you. He just wasn’t strong enough to show it.”
THIRTY-TWO
Liam's To-Do List
Book Franks
Call Olivia at Manchester Art Gallery
Pick up Kat’s dress
“White or grey?” Liam asked, holding up the two bags of grout. My brain swirled, and I was thinking about a million things, and none of them were the grout colour for the bathroom. Liam had fixed a half wall of tiles around the whole bathroom, white subway tiles on the walls and up the shower enclosure. The light from the south-facing window reflected off them, sending white light around the room.
It was too bright.
It was clinical.
More importantly, it was boring.
I chewed at my lip. This had been my choice. I could have donesomething more elaborate, but I didn’t. I chose to be practical, and this bathroom was practical. It was inoffensive.
And I fucking hated it.
“Kat.” Liam frowned.
I shook my head. “Sorry. Yes.”
“Grey or white? Or I can get some other colours if you want.”
As Willa would say, I was fresh out of fucks to give. I was pissed off with the boring white tiles. I was pissed off with my mum. The latter, I had chosen to ignore for the time being. On the drive back on Sunday, I told Liam what Brian had shared. Once we were parked in his driveway, the floodlights illuminating our faces, he’d pulled me into a long hug while a few tears escaped down my cheeks. Since then, three days had passed, and I’d moved through them in a daze. A low level of anxiety hummed. I was unable to concentrate on anything. I was flitting from task to task, each unfinished.
Even when I was at home with Liam, I was somewhere else. Ruminating over what to do about my job, the new career I desperately wanted to explore and the growing feeling that Everly Heath was home. I knew Liam had noticed, but he hadn’t mentioned anything. He showed up with gentle touches to my cheeks, bringing me back into my body, into the present. He cooked me food and kept my water topped up. He pulled me into his chest at night, neither of us mentioning that the annexe was outside, unoccupied.
