Her words cut right to the heart of his guilt. He’d been wondering what it said about him that he didn’t want to see his father’s body. But it was only a body now, right? His soul was gone. He was gone. He pinched the bridge of his nose.
“I wish I’d brought you with me,” he said.
“Oh, honey.”
Matt cleared his throat and stood straight. “I need to go. The twins and Mum are distraught. I need to get them home.”
“Yeah, you do. Call me when you get back. I’ll come over with food. Although I don’t expect anyone feels like eating.”
“I need to call the cousins too. Mum hasn’t told anyone but us.”
“How about I call Magenta and get her to deal with it? She can tell Harry and he can tell everyone else.”
He felt his shoulders sag with relief. “That would be great.” He’d told plenty of people over the years when their loved ones had died. This was different. Harder. He wasn’t ashamed to admit he needed the help.
“He’ll understand. We all understand,” Jena said.
He closed his eyes as tears threatened. He needed this. Touching base with Jena. Keeping himself sane. He needed her.
“I meant what I said, princess,” he said. “I love you and I’m keeping you.”
“Yeah, we’ll talk about that later, you Neanderthal.” There was a smile in her voice, though. It gave him hope.
They said their goodbyes as he pushed the door open to the family room. His eyes hit Claire and he knew he had to say something. He knew it was time to let her go. To let them go. His mum was right. He’d been holding on to his role as their pseudo-parent for far too long. He felt his chest clench as he crouched down in front of Claire. He put his hand on her cheek and almost felt overwhelmed by the love he had for his sisters. Claire gave him a questioning look.
“Grunt.” Matt swallowed hard. “If he’s the one, don’t let him go. He’s a decent guy. He meant well. He’s crazy about you. Give him another chance.”
Her bottom lip trembled as she threw herself into his arms. He hugged her hard as his mother smiled at him through her tears.
“I’ll still kill him if he hurts you,” he told Claire.
“I know,” she whispered. “I’m glad.”
“Always, kiddo—I’ll always be there for you and Megan.”
His other sister tackled him with a hug. Matt fought to hold back his tears. At least one of them had to be in a fit state to drive, and by the looks of it, the job fell on him.
Not that he’d have it any other way.
34
The sad news about Matt’s dad made Jena think about her mom. There was something she needed to do, something she’d been putting off, and the time to do it was now. Jena dressed in her favourite jeans and Snoopy sweatshirt, and cycled to town on the old bike she’d bought second hand. She stopped off to speak to Dougal first, apologised profusely and promised payment for damages. To her surprise, Dougal refused the offer of money.
“You’ve got enough on your plate, lassie,” he said. “How about we just agree you won’t go dancing on any more of my furniture?”
“I promise.” Jena held a hand over her chest to prove how much she meant it.
Dougal seemed suitably impressed by her sincerity.
“And how about you don’t bring any more dates into the pub? It’s costing me a fortune.”
Her face flushed as she tucked her wild hair behind her ear. “I promised Matt I wouldn’t date for a while.” She shuffled her red embroidered wedges on the carpet. “He seems to think we’re in a relationship and doesn’t want me
to say yes to any more men.”
Dougal barked out a loud laugh. “You make sure you call as soon as there’s even a hint at a wedding. I’ve got a whole betting pool running on this.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “Come on, Dougal, you’ve got to stop people betting on me. It’s not on.”