Page 82 of An Unholy Affair
He ambled over. ‘Are you talking about your brother and his girlfriend, or your messy desk?’
‘This isn’t a mess,’ she retorted. ‘It’s a highly organised visual representation of my brain.’
Jack glanced across at Henry’s desk. It held a laptop, a pad of paper, a pen and a picture of Libby. Each item was placed so precisely, Jack wondered if he’d used a ruler and set square.
Henry brought an extra chair to his side of the room. ‘Why don’t we sit here?’
Estelle folded her arms. ‘This is it, Jack. Time to decide between me and my brother.’
He grinned. ‘Stelle, I’m scared to go anywhere near—’ he waved his hand at her desk ‘—that… I’m worried I’ll accidentally touch something and get buried under a landslide of paper. Or a half-eaten sandwich from five years ago might crawl out and attack me.’
Henry snorted.
‘Rude!’ Estelle picked up something from her desk and threw it towards her brother.
Jack caught it mid-flight. It was a squishy Friesian cow with an angry expression on its face. ‘What’s this?’
‘My Moody Cow. It’s a stress ball Eveline got me.’
Jack squeezed, and the cow’s head bulged. ‘Does it work?’
Estelle hesitated, then said ‘yes’ at the same time her brother said ‘no’.
‘Stelle, you know I love you, but I’m going to sit at Henry’s desk.’
She threw her hands in the air. ‘Fine!’ she huffed, then stomped to get her chair, accidentally nudging a stack of papers with her bottom and sending them sliding to the floor. ‘That was meant to happen,’ she said defiantly. ‘It’s called a brain dump.’
‘Dumpbeing the operative word,’ Henry said under his breath. He went to a tall table at the side of the room, on which stood a coffee machine and kettle. ‘Tea? Coffee?’
‘Thanks, black coffee would be great.’
‘Cappuccino for your older sister,’ Estelle said, dragging her chair to Henry’s desk. ‘And make it a double shot.’
As the Foxbrooke twins bickered amiably, Jack reflected on how different Henry was since finding Libby and coming home. It wasn’t just that he smiled more often and made jokes. He just seemed happier in his own skin.
Spending time with Estelle, Henry, Finn and Connor had made Jack realise how much he’d missed them. He’d been so fixated on keeping distance between himself and his parents that he’d lost sight of the other side of Foxbrooke, and the good times he’d had with his friends.
It didn’t matter that they’d hardly seen each other over the last decade, or how their lives had changed since they left school. They knew each other on a fundamental level and clicked back together effortlessly.
Over the last ten years, Jack had always seen Foxbrooke as a black and white painting of a prison, and his life in France as a glamorous riot of colour and freedom. But now his flat in Monaco seemed cold and empty. There wasn’t a single piece of well-used crockery or an item of well-loved clothing. Apart from his paintings, it was soulless designer perfection.
His mind flipped through images of his clients in featureless hotel rooms. The endless faces turning over faster and faster until they blurred and made him nauseous. He’d give them all up in a heartbeat for Eveline. The thought shocked him like a bolt of electricity. He’d never had a long-term girlfriend before, but the thought of being with her forever made him excited, not fearful. Could he stay here? Be with her?Loveher?
His stomach rolled. What was he thinking? His sordid past would always hang between them, like a clothesline dripping with his dirty laundry. Years of secrets and lies that would taint everything.
And even if hedidgive it all up, what did he have left? No qualifications. No career. Nothing to offer her.
‘Earth to Jack.’
He blinked at Estelle. ‘Sorry, I was miles away.’
Her face crinkled. ‘How are you holding up?’
Huh?It took a few moments for him to realise she was referring to his dad. ‘Um, not sure, really. It’s a work in progress.’
‘I bet. There’s a lot to process.’
Jack nodded. His father was now just a tiny thought in a mind almost entirely consumed by Eveline.Let her go. Focus on something different.
