The Spark - Jules Wake Page 0,55
says it’s too soon.’
‘Ha! She’s been listening to my mother, although I played the he’s-a-cricketer card and it appears to be a get-out-of-jail-free card. Her eyes positively lit up when she heard you were a batter. You are a batter, aren’t you?’
Sam laughed. ‘I am.’
‘And she seemed terribly impressed when I told her you were a centurion yesterday.’
‘I scored a century.’ He laughed and shook his head, pulling my hand up to his face and rubbing my knuckles against his smiling cheeks.
‘I figure that makes you a centurion.’
‘Never been called that before, but I’ll take it.’
‘In that case I don’t suppose you’d like to come with me next weekend to see her? She’s a bit miffed that Aunty Lynn has met you before her.’
He frowned, not understanding why that would be the case, and I didn’t have the heart to explain the whole, sorry, complicated mess that was a hangover from my childhood.
‘Sure.’ He still seemed distracted. ‘I’m sorry about my mum.’
‘It’s not your fault. She’s never met me. You can’t blame her.’ I shrugged. I might not like it, but I did understand. ‘She and Victoria are friends and have been for a long time.’
Sam’s mouth pursed, making him resemble a mutinous turtle and I burst out laughing. Being grumpy really didn’t suit him.
‘Why are you so lovely?’ he asked lifting a hand to cup my chin. ‘You should be insulted. It’s not on.’
I lifted my shoulders. ‘There’s not a lot I can do, and I certainly don’t want to cause trouble between you and your parents.’
‘It’s going to be embarrassing with your aunt and uncle, if they see Vic’s there and you aren’t.’
‘Don’t worry about that.’
‘I’m not. I’m just cross with Mum.’
‘How did you leave it with her?’
He faltered. ‘We’re … erm, not speaking.’
‘Oh, Sam, no.’ From everything I’d heard about his mum and the pictures I’d seen, I had a rosy view of her. My mum might drive me distracted but I tried to avoid falling out with her, mainly because I knew that if I upset her, she was completely on her own. That desire to protect her had been there throughout my childhood. From the day she took to her bed, when my dad left, I’d been terrified of making things worse. For a couple of weeks, I’d attempted to fend for myself without telling anyone at school how bad things were. As soon as I was awake I’d dress in my uniform, dash between the kitchen and the lounge window to get my breakfast, so that I would see when other people started walking to school and I’d know it was the right time to leave. Some mornings that wait had felt like hours.
‘Ring her. Say you’re sorry. It doesn’t matter. I don’t mind about not being there.’
‘But I do,’ he looked fierce. ‘Victoria should be the one to duck out. I feel like she’s taking advantage of Mum by accepting the invitation.’
He definitely had a point there. ‘It’s still early days for her too, I guess. It’s a lot to lose. Not just her boyfriend but everything else that goes with it.’
‘Jess. You’re too flipping nice. She’s not doing badly. She’s kept all of our friends and my name is mud.’
‘Yes, but,’ I gave him a deliberately winsome smile, ‘you’ve got me.’
He snaked an arm around my waist and pulled me down on to his lap. ‘I certainly do.’
‘And I’ve got you,’ I said, leaning into his solid chest. ‘And I understand she’s hurting.’ I’d only been known Sam for a few weeks; Victoria had known him for four years. Losing that left a very big hole in someone’s life. ‘Call your mum. I can see it’s troubling you.’
‘Do you always try and fix people?’ he asked, his fingers tracing the sensitive skin on the back of my neck.
‘I wish I could,’ I said, thinking of some of the women at the refuge, and of all the ones that hadn’t made it to a refuge yet.
‘You’re a good person, Jess Harper.’
‘And so are you. Don’t fall out with your mum over me, please.’
‘For the love of God, Jess, will you just leave.’ Holly wrested the empty coffee cups from my hand. ‘I’ll wash these up.’ It was Thursday evening and I was due to meet Sam and his work friends, and suddenly seemed to have acquired some kind of compulsive cleaning disorder.
‘It’s OK,’ I said, snatching them back and skirting her desk to march into the kitchen with her trailing after me. I