Page 67 of Cosy & Chill
Scars and Fears
Leo left extra early on Monday morning and caught the first available train into London. He’d dressed in his smartest jeans and wore a white shirt with a grey jumper to ward off the chill. The jumper Finn was knitting for him was nearly done, but even had it been finished Leo wouldn’t have worn it. He had no intention of tainting it.
He hadn’t seen his family since his grandma’s death. Knowing he would do so today made his scars burn with remembered pain.
Or maybe with the cold.
He’d noticed they did that sometimes. Most often when he was nervous. Hewasnervous now. He circled the square a couple of times, clutching a cup of coffee he was unable to drink. In the end, he dropped it into the nearest bin, straightened his shoulders and marched up to the door of Griffin & Heilbronn.
Mr Griffin must have watched him screw his courage to the sticking place. He wrapped an arm around Leo’s shoulders as soon as he stepped through the door.
“Well done, Leo,” he murmured in the comforting lilt Leo had become familiar with over the last year. “She would be ever so proud of you.”
During Mr Griffin’s call the previous Wednesday, Leo had finally told him about his new venture, had admitted that he’d traded his dreams of Borough Market for a shared store in Richmond High Street. The solicitor hadn’t called him flighty, undecided, or muddle-headed or any of the other things he could have said. He’d asked to see the rental agreement instead and had even promised to make a call to Mr Tienfield to introduce himself as Leo’s legal counsel.
He’d been like that from the very beginning, and the only time Leo had acted against his advice was when Mr Griffin had encouraged him to contact the police. Leo hadn’t been ready for it then. He wasn’t ready for it now. He might never be ready for it.
“Are they here?” Leo hated himself for the fact that his voice shook as much as his hands.
“They’re in the conference room with their solicitor. Who is, if I may say so, not at all impressed with their stance. While he’s legally required to attend and follow their instructions, you may find him supportive.”
Leo couldn’t imagine that. His parents had always been good at getting their way and covering up what they didn’t want known.
“Is…she… here?”
Mr Griffin’s arm came around his shoulders again and, in that gesture, Leo had his answer. His elder sister was vicious, vindictive, and violent, and in their parents’ eyes she could do no wrong. Leo had spent his childhood hiding from her. He’d even believed what his parents told him over and over: that every bruise, cut, and burn was his own fault, because he’d provoked Miriam.
His grandma had eventually stepped in and insisted he’d come live with her, keeping him out of his sister’s way.
“Grandma knew I’d go back eventually, didn’t she? That’s why she outed me in her will. To make it impossible.”
“I’ve always thought so,” Mr Griffin agreed. “You were grieving. You had nowhere to go. She was afraid your parents would force you back home.”
“Did she expect my father to contest the will?” he asked, thinking of the very large sum of money Mr Griffin had advanced him on his grandma’s order only days after her death.
“She would have liked for you to live in her house, that much I know. She didn’t think your parents would accept the will without argument, so giving you the chance to find a place of your own… it was all she worried about the last time we spoke.”
“Do you think she’d mind that I’m trying to compromise?”
“Imind,” Griffin said. “You deserve every penny your grandmother left you, while your parents should be thanking the Lord on bent knee for getting off so lightly.” A harsh, glittering rage had taken over his stance and his face.
Leo shivered. If it had been left to people like his grandma and Mr Griffin, his parents would’ve been in jail and his sister would either have been keeping them company behind bars, or be locked up in a mental institution, where Leo had always thought she belonged.
Leo wasn’t built the same way. He put on a brave, cheerful face for outsiders, even when he was scared or hurting, but he wasn’t vengeful. More than anything, he wanted to end that chapter of his life and close the book on it.
He had Cosy & Chill now, and Finn, and a fresh start. He wanted no part of his old life marring his new one.
And if wishes were horses, beggars would ride.
He straightened his shoulders, took a deep breath, and lied through his teeth. “I’m ready to see them.”
Finn had a half-finished blanket in his lap that he wasn’t making much progress on. As soon as he picked up the needles and started to work, he set them down again to check his phone. He hadn’t heard from Leo since he’d snuck out this morning to catch his train. Call after call had gone to voicemail, and text after text went unanswered. It was driving Finn’s anxiety through the roof.
“I don’t mind if he doesn’t want to talk to me. But can’t he just ping me a single word to say he’s fine?”
“I couldn’t answer that one the last eleven times ye asked,” Roisin said patiently from the other side of the room where she sat with a sketchpad and colour swatches, doing whatever it was a fae interior designer did in the evenings. “I still can’t answer it the twelfth time.”
Since she’d revealed her secret, Roisin spent more time in the house talking to them. Finn found her no-nonsense manner a comfort, and today especially he was glad for her presence. “I know. I’m sorry I keep harping on about it.” He picked up his phone again, but of course there was no new text. Or any text at all. “It’s just not like him. Can’t you do anything to help? Being supernatural and all?”
