It was a cruel kind of torture, to see a person everywhere while knowing you’d never actually see them again.
So he’d taken up residence at Skye’s place for the next little while, sleeping in her spare room. Her little girl was over the moon, since “Uncle Trent” was the fun uncle, and he was more than happy to listen to her babble for hours about whatever her latest obsession was—yesterday it was asteroids and space. Today, unicorn battles.
However, sleeping at other people’s houses couldn’t be a permanent setup. Not only did he not expect Skye to give him space forever, but now the couch surfing thing felt a whole lot less appealing than it had in the past. Instead of making him feel free and spontaneous, it had the opposite effect—caging him to a life that was without roots and direction. Without purpose.
Trent shook the thoughts from his head as he walked up the driveway to his parents’ house. Nick’s Merc was parked there, followed by Liv’s little hatchback. Jace’s car—the same one he’d had since forever—was on the street. It looked like Adam and Soraya hadn’t arrived yet.
Trent sucked in a lungful of air to try and pep himself up. But it was useless; he was miserable without Cora. Every day felt like it had a great big gaping hole in it. He missed her sunny smile, her deep and insightful thoughts; he missed the way she read to him in that husky, sultry voice. He missed seeing her eyes light up when she told him about a change she’d made to her manuscript, or when she’d read a sentence that took her breath away.
He jabbed at the doorbell as though the small button had personally offended him. All his actions were like that lately—jerky, filled with bristling frustration.
The door swung open, and Trent’s dad stood there, a beaming smile on his face. He was dressed in a white T-shirt and beige cargo pants with white runners—typical dad attire.
Frank embraced him in a warm hug, because his family was never shy in doling out affection. “Son! Come on in.”
“Hi, Dad. Happy anniversary.”
“Thank you. It means so much that you kids want to celebrate it with us.” He smiled, and it caused his bushy mustache to bob. Sound floated through from the back of the house, Liv’s laughter like a sparkling bell and Nick’s groan at something she’d said.
“I was hoping I could talk to you before we go out back,” Frank said, scrubbing a hand over his jaw.
Trent raised an eyebrow. “Everything okay?”
“Yes, everything is fine. It’s about that book you sent me.”
Cora’s book. Trent’s heart clenched on her behalf…not that it would matter what anyone in his family thought now. It’s not like he was going to contact her to pass on the feedback. “Okay…”
“It was…marvelous.”
In spite of knowing that it meant nothing, Trent’s heart soared for Cora. He knew she was talented, and his dad was a fussy reader. He also wasn’t the kind of guy to blow smoke up someone’s ass if he didn’t truly mean it.
“Her writing is very crisp, and the way she wove that relationship into the story…” Trent’s father shook his head. “Beautiful.”
“I’m really glad you liked it. Cora would be thrilled.”
There was a strange pause in the conversation, the kind of pregnant pause that Trent immediately knew meant there was something more going on than what his dad was saying.
“So…” The older man bobbed his head. “I did something.”
Oh shit. “What?”
“Remember Mark, the guy I went to university with who moved to Sydney about ten years ago?”
Trent scanned his memory. He had a vague recollection of a guy with a wide, charming smile and thinning hair.
“Anyway,” his father continued. “He’s an editor now in Sydney.”
Trent’s blood ran colder than a glacier. Oh no. If Cora lost her shit because he’d read her father’s email, then how would she feel knowing that he’d passed her book on to his dad, who’d then passed it on to an editor?
“Dad!”
He offered a sheepish shrug. “The book was so good, and Mark and I bumped into each other at that literary fair in Melbourne a while ago, so we’ve been talking more often and…well, I sent it to him.”
Trent scrubbed a hand over his face. Cora was going to kill him. It was a total violation of her privacy, of her trust. He couldn’t believe he’d ever done something like that, but he’d been so fired up about her dickhead father’s email and…