“Arielle,” said Mum.
“I said Reee,” said Dad.
“What?”
“Arielle came to see us today.”
“What?” Jake said again, not taking it in. Rie, here at the house, talking to his parents? “What did she want?” he barked, awake now, suspicious and on guard.
“She came to offer us help, money actually, for anything we might need for your father.”
“For me,” said Dad. He rolled his eyes and put his weak right hand slowly up to his heart.
“Money! She came to lord it over us with her rock star money. Unbelievable!”
“No, it wasn’t like that at all. She was very sweet.”
“What did you say?”
“I told her we were fine but we appreciated the offer.”
“She had no right to come here.”
“She said you’d be angry.”
“Yeah, well she’s right.” Jake was on his feet. Mum gave him her ticked off look. What did she have to be ticked off about? That fucking wolf woman had screwed with his life.
“What happened between you two? She said she hurt you.”
“Fuck, Mum. What were you doing, having a cosy fireside chat?”
“Jake!” Dad called him on the swearing, sounding like his old self.
He slid back into his chair. “Well, I’m sorry, but this is just—”
Mum put her hand over Dad’s as it lay on the table. “So that’s what’s wrong with him.”
“There is nothing wrong with me.”
“Bullshit,” said Dad.
“Mick!” Mum pulled her hand back, and Dad grinned, lopsided. He’d gone the power swear word and was happy about it.
“All right, so I got hurt. It happens. It’s no big deal. I’m certainly not going to talk about it. I don’t want anything to do with her.”
“She says the man that went with her, the other singer, he meant nothing to her. It was just so that you’d give her up.”
Jake scowled. “Yeah, well it worked, Mum. I gave her up months ago.” His parents exchanged a look he couldn’t read. “What now?”
“We’re not going to interfere but—”
“If you weren’t going to interfere, Mum, there wouldn’t be a ‘but’ in that sentence.”
“Let her finch,” said Dad, stumbling on the word ‘finish’, shaking his head in frustration.
“We just think if you’re still this angry—and don’t you say you’re not,” said Mum in a rush, holding her hand up to stop him cutting in. “Arielle must still mean something to you.”
“It doesn’t matter what she means to me, Mum. She’s not someone I can trust.”