“Oh you’ve got to be kidding me.” I groaned. This had to be a joke.
“Nope.” She pushed herself off me. “They’re back.”
“Someone up there hates me.”
Oakley laughed and threw a cushion at me, which I used to cover my lap just in time for the front door to open.
Chapter Eleven
Oakley
I grinned as Cole’s scowl quickly turned into a warm smile, just in time for Jasper, Mum, and Ali to walk in the house. I was just as annoyed that they came back at the worst possible time but thankfully, I hid it much better than him.
Jasper’s glared at Cole for a second. It was as if he knew what had almost happened. Back home he wouldn’t leave me alone with anyone. Cole was different to anyone else though. He was the one who saved me. He was the only man I felt comfortable with and the only person I wanted near me. If it hadn’t been for him, I would still be that silent girl hiding a terrible secret.
“Hi love, hi Cole,” Mum said.
“Hey. How are Nan and Grandad?”
“Good. They miss you. We’ll have to go over there again soon.” I nodded in agreement. It wasn’t actually that long ago that I saw them, but I suppose they hadn’t gotten their fix since we came back. “You two had a good evening?”
“It was great,” Cole replied, putting a little too much emphasis on the word ‘was’.
“Where’s Lizzie?” I asked before anyone could pick up on his tone.
“Staying at a friend’s,” Ali replied.
“Guess who we ran into outside Nan’s?” Mum whispered as Jasper went to the bathroom.
Cole smirked. “Angelina Jolie?”
“How did you know?” Mum replied sarcastically. “Abby.”
“Jasper’s cheating ex?” Cole asked.
I slapped his arm. Thankfully, Jasper wasn’t in the room to hear that.
“How is she?”
“She’s doing well. Working at your old school full-time now. She lives just along the way from Nan, in the house where that crazy old man used to live.”
Mr Johnson, the crazy, but harmless, old man. He used to walk around the village asking if anyone had seen his turnips. He was a farmer before he became too frail to work. I heard he died of a heart attack a couple years after we left.
“Was Jasper okay seeing her again?”
Mum shrugged. “Must’ve been, they’re going for a drink tomorrow night.”
“What?!”
Jasper walked back in the room, ending that conversation, and Mum walked into the kitchen. Jasper and Abby were sort of okay just before we left, so I guess it was good he was making an effort to catch up with her. I’d spent a lot of time hating Abby on Jasper’s behalf, but the past four years had taught me not to hold a grudge. Life throws too much crap at us as it is, so why hold onto something negative if we don’t have to?
I snuggled back into the sofa, pressing my side against Cole’s. The brief conversation with my family had made it possible for this gesture to be comforting, rather than electrically-charged. Just how far would we have gone if they hadn’t have come home?
I didn’t want something to happen if it would just end up the same way it did four years ago. Breaking up with Cole was the hardest thing I had ever done, and that was saying something. Neither of us could go through that again. Even knowing all that, I didn’t feel fully in control. I knew if he kissed me, there was no way I could stop.
“So how’re you doing?” Jasper asked.
“I’m okay,” I replied, trying not to get irritated by the question.
He sat forward in the seat. “Have you heard anything from Linda yet?”
“No.”
Jasper’s mouth cracked open, probably to ask me why, but Cole shook his head, effectively shutting him up. The truth was, I couldn’t deal with it. It was already too much that my dad’s trial was starting today. I didn’t want to keep hearing about it too.
“You wanna come out tomorrow night?” Cole asked Jasper, changing the subject.
“Err, I have plans.” Of course. Plans with Abby.
“You can bring Abby too,” he said.
Jasper glared at Mum through the door. Obviously she wasn’t supposed to tell anyone. Cole’s jaw snapped shut as he saw the look on Jasper’s face. “Oops,” he whispered to me.
Jasper sighed. “I might meet you lot after.”
I turned to my brother and smiled. “Are you going to bring Abby too? It would be nice to see her again.”
“Maybe.”
“Okay.” I didn’t push it further; he looked almost sad talking about her. Jasper had carried on sleeping around in Australia and didn’t date anyone. I had a feeling he still liked Abby.
Soon after they arrived home, Mum and Ali excused themselves and went to bed, while me, Cole and Jasper continued watching TV.
“What are you guys doing tomorrow?” Jasper asked, filling the silence.
Cole shrugged. “Working. Some of us do that, you know!”
I stifled a laugh. “If you can call what you do work!” Cole’s mouth dropped open in protest.