‘Yes, I know and I truly appreciate the offer. But there are some things I would need to do first. I want to sort out Ben’s leg, and Chloe and Chanel are still having a difficult time in their friendship, and Emma still won’t admit—’
I stopped myself as his eyebrows raised. ‘You’re right, you’re right. The kids would benefit tremendously. But it’s a huge decision, Luke, too big to make on two feet. Can I mull it over for a bit at least?’
He shook his head, but he was chuckling. ‘That’s what I love about you, Nina. Everyone else always comes before you. I’ve never known anyone as selfless as you.’ He kissed me. ‘Okay. Take some time to think about it – but not forever! I want to leave at the end of the month. Now get everyone ready – I’ve booked a restaurant for lunch. I want the kids to know and be part of this decision.’
But there was one thing I had to do first.
As Luke was showering upstairs, I called Jack’s mobile. I needed to tell him in person, before anyone else found out. I owed him that much to say the least. And I needed to make sure he was still on my side.
‘Come on, come on, pick up…’ I begged, but voicemail kicked in. I took a deep breath and said, ‘Hey, Jack, I need to talk to you, Can you call me back? Bye…’
That would at least give me some time to think of how to word it. And beg him to back me up, because I needed my friends.
When the doorbell rang, I was relieved to see it was him, and just in time. With Luke upstairs, minutes away from leaving for the restaurant where we would discuss it with the kids, I still had a tiny and distinct margin to save both Jack’s and my own dignity while trying to do as little damage as possible to our friendship.
‘Hey,’ he said softly, eyeing me, sizing me up, wondering what could be so urgent when I had already told him to stay away in that sense.
I took a deep breath. It was time to make things clear for all of us, so we could hope to go back to the way we were. If that was even possible after that kiss.
‘Luke’s back…’ I stammered, unable to look him in the eye. It was, oddly, as if I’d betrayed him in the worst way possible, when I knew that couldn’t be further from the truth, because Jack had Emma.
He just stood there, dumbfounded. I wrung my hands, helpless. ‘Jack, I told you, you need to – to forget about what happened between us.’
And that was when, like in the cheesiest of movies, Luke came whistling down the stairs. In his bathrobe, to boot, towelling his floppy hair dry.
‘Hi, Jack!’ he said cheerfully as I wanted to bury myself under the floorboards and die. ‘Good to see you again. How are your apples doing?’
Both Jack and I stared at him.
‘Good, thanks,’ Jack answered politely, although I could see his jaw muscle twitching.
‘Nina, did you tell him?’ Luke asked as he threw the towel onto the back of the chair.
I bit my lip and shook my head, my eyes swinging to Jack’s.
‘We were gonna tell the kids tonight at dinner first, but what the hell, you’re like family anyway, right? Can you believe our girl’s agreed to move to California with me?’
Jack’s eyes widened and his jaw tightened. ‘Is this true, Nina?’ he whispered.
‘I haven’t quite decided yet,’ I stammered.
Luke put his arm around my neck and pulled me to him. ‘You know Nina – always thinking about everyone else first,’ he said. ‘Naturally I’ll sell my house and we’ll choose a new one together.’
I could hear, rather than see, Jack’s intake of breath. But his face remained completely impassive. He cleared his throat. ‘Well, then it seems that congratulations are in order.’
‘Thanks, man.’
And then Jack’s eyes swung to me as he murmured, ‘I hope you’ll be happy, Nina…’ And with that, he turned on his heel and marched out the door.
‘Well, that oughta make things clear for him, once and for all,’ Luke said.
‘What?’ I whispered.
‘Oh, come on, Nina, the guy’s gaga over you. All these years and you haven’t noticed? You really are naïve.’
I cleared my throat. ‘Naïve? Yes, it would seem so. There was no need to say anything to Jack yet. I haven’t even made my decision. We were supposed to discuss this over lunch with the kids. Plus there are so many things I want to do first, like finish my renovations with my movie royalties.’
‘Sure, you can renovate your farmhouse and then sell it once you’ve decided to stay in California.’
‘Whoa, what? Sell Cornflower Cottage? Why would I do that?’
He shrugged. ‘Why would you need it? If you ever want to come back, there are tons of beautiful hotels.’
‘But we agreed we’d try it first, for a year, did we not? I told you I don’t know if I could raise the kids there.’
He shrugged. ‘I did.’
‘But I can’t! Chloe and Ben were born and bred here. I can’t just drag them across the world.’
‘But I can do that to Jessica?’
I bristled. ‘No. Of course not. But is it my fault if I prefer Cornwall to California? Holywell Bay to Hollywood?’
He chuckled. ‘You’ll change your mind.’
I moved away. ‘I don’t think so, Luke.’
‘Nina, think of all that they’d be gaining in LA. A mansion, great schools, the best restaurants.’
‘And absolutely no heritage. We both know Hollywood is dubbed Tinseltown. And FYI, we have amazing schools here. Northwood is number one in the Southwest and we have museums, heritage sites, excellent restaurants. And culture, loads of it.’
‘So? Hollywood’s an industry, a business like any other. Which, incidentally, has changed your life.’
Maybe so, but I hadn’t
