Olivia smiled sadly at me. ‘Thanks, Jo. I mean that. You’ve been really cool about me being here, and I know that can’t be easy. I can tell by the way you look at Dad that he’s important to you, and after seeing what your mom is like, I kind of hate myself for taking him away from you when you so obviously needed him.’
‘Don’t ever feel that way. You’re his daughter. And he needed you. I understand that. “Teen Me” didn’t, but “Adult Me” gets it. And “Adult Me” is finally all right with it.’ I watched Mick laugh at something Cole said. ‘But it’s nice to have him back for a while.’
‘Cameron must really care about you to have gone to all the trouble of finding us?’
There was a question within her question, and I knew Olivia realized that whatever was troubling me was about Cam. I felt the need to confide in her forcing its way to the fore. I’d spent so long bottling everything up and keeping it to myself, I guess I was kind of tired of shouldering every little problem in silence. ‘Cam and I bumped into his ex-girlfriend yesterday.’
Olivia sighed heavily. ‘Ah.’
‘He told me a while back he’d been in love with this girl Blair. They broke up because she left to work at a university in France, not because they fell out of love. Now she’s back and they’re already exchanging text messages. You must have seen how subdued and weird Cam was yesterday after it, and then you saw how bloody drunk he got – and he never gets drunk. So now I’m thinking the worst. Blair’s back and Cam’s head is all messed up because he still loves her.’
‘Whoa, okay, that’s a lot.’ Olivia threw her shoulders back and began counting down her points on her fingers. ‘One: you don’t know he still loves her. Two: bumping into an ex you have real history with will mess with anyone’s head. Three: he doesn’t get to just start up a friendship with this woman without discussing it with you, which brings me to four: you have to talk to him about it. Otherwise the uncertainty is just going to eat away at your relationship like a virus.’
I nodded. ‘You’re right. You are good at this.’
‘I know. So are you going to take my advice?’
‘I have a little insecurity problem, so it might take me a while to gather the nerve to approach him about it.’
‘In other words you’re afraid he’s going to turn around and say that he’s in love with this Blair person.’
I frowned. ‘You might want to add mind reader to your résumé.’
‘Yeah, I think we’ve established that I am awesome.’ She grinned cheekily.
I smiled back. ‘Agreed.’
Just as quickly as her grin had appeared, Olivia grew serious again. ‘Find the courage to talk to him, Jo, or it’ll blow out of proportion.’
‘Courage?’ I furrowed my brow. ‘Do you think I can download that from the Internet?’
‘It wouldn’t surprise me. But it’ll probably come with strings attached and a whole host of nasty ramifications.’
‘So I’m going to have to steal it from someone else, then?’
‘What do you mean steal courage? Johanna Walker, you’re one of the bravest, strongest people I’ve ever met, and that’s saying something – I come from Arizona, where about six million people willingly live in torturous heat between May and September.’
‘Cam says he thinks I’m strong, too,’ I murmured disbelievingly.
‘Girl, talk to him. I cannot believe that a man who looks at you in a way that actually makes me think that being in a relationship might be pretty sweet could possibly be in love with someone else.’
I sucked in a deep breath. ‘Okay. I’ll talk to him.’
Olivia smacked me on the back, making me wince. ‘That a girl!’
A few hours later I said goodbye to Uncle Mick and Olivia on Princes Street with plans to meet them for dinner during the week, and then I dropped Cole off at the Omni Centre, where he was meeting up with his friends. Before I left, he grabbed my arm.
‘Jo, you okay?’ he asked, his eyebrows drawn together in concern.
I marvelled that I was now looking my brother in the eye. I wished he wasn’t so tall for his age; it would at least allow me to pretend he wasn’t growing up if he still looked like a wee boy. However, height or no height, nothing could diminish his intuitiveness. It was a part of who he was, it was a part of our relationship – he knew me too well. I shrugged. ‘I’m okay.’
Cole stuck his hands in his jeans, hunching over, his head bowed towards me, his eyes searching mine. ‘Is there something I should know?’
‘I’m just feeling a little off. It’s a girl thing,’ I reassured him with a soft smile. ‘Now go. Hang out with your friends and be immature. Responsible,’ I added hurriedly, ‘but immature.’
He made a face. ‘Do those two go hand in hand?’
‘If your immaturity can lead to consequences, then it’s irresponsible.’
Cole grunted. ‘You should write that shi– stuff down.’
‘I heard the “shit” in there, baby boy, and I’m stealing the last Pop-Tart as punishment.’
‘Harsh, Jo.’ He shook his head, backing off with a smile. ‘Harsh.’