Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 105756 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105756 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
So, he was the kind of man who gave his family members jobs. I tried not to let that fact soften me towards him. He’d still cut his mother from his life for too many years, not to mention gave me an ultimatum about moving out of Leonora’s house.
Jonathan’s eyes met mine and held. There was a strange question in his gaze I couldn’t decipher.
“Ada? Are you even listening to me?” Mam asked, and I turned to her, a pit in my stomach. I just wanted this day over with.
“Yes, I’m listening. We should go join Frances and Glen and head inside. It’s almost time for the mass to begin.”
Later that day, after Dad and Leonora were laid to rest, we arrived at a nearby pub for the funeral reception. I hadn’t expected Jonathan to attend, but just as we stepped into the building, he appeared.
“Who’s that?” Mam whispered in my ear as he approached.
Jonathan reached us before I had a chance to answer and cleared his throat, ignoring everyone, his attention solely on me.
“Miss Rose, might I speak with you a moment?”
His deep, smooth cadence caused something in my stomach to unfurl while I lifted my chin and nodded. I didn’t want to speak to him, but this was our parents’ funeral, and I wasn’t about to cause a scene when everything so far had gone off without a hitch.
“Yes.”
“Please come with me,” he went on, and I followed him to a quiet corner of the bar while hearing my mother continue to pester my sister about Jonathan’s identity in the background.
4.
Ada
Jonathan cleared his throat and motioned to the bar. “Can I get you anything to drink?”
“No, thank you.”
He nodded stiffly before glancing around. He appeared vaguely uncomfortable, which was new. What exactly did he want to talk about? His eyes flashed to mine, some kind of emotion flickering in them. “You spoke beautifully at the church. What you said about Mam … it meant a lot.”
The compliment took me by surprise. “Oh, right, yes, I’m glad it—"
“And I wanted to apologise for my behaviour the other day at the house. I was out of line.”
His icy blue gaze met mine, and I blinked. I certainly hadn’t been expecting an apology. “That’s all right. It’s been a challenging time.”
“The funeral was perfect,” he went on. “You did a great job. I’m sure my mother would’ve been very happy if she could see it. And all the people who turned up. I had no idea there would be so many.”
“She and Dad were very sociable. They had a lot of friends.”
Even I had been taken aback by the amount of people arriving at the church. Lots of Dad’s friends from AA, as well as everyone from Leonora’s ladies’ choir and the various social clubs she was a member of. It made me rather emotional to see all the people whose lives they’d touched. And inevitably, I imagined my own funeral. How many people would there be?
“So, about the house,” Jonathan continued. “I’m happy for you to continue as a tenant until you find somewhere else, and I can lower the rent to seven hundred a month if that better suits your budget.”
My mouth fell open a little, surprised for the second time during our short encounter. Had he undergone a complete personality change? He was being almost … kind. Something told me Therese had had a word with him. Jonathan’s assistant, it appeared, was the one who reminded him to have a heart every once in a while. And seven hundred a month was a generous offer, but unfortunately, it was still far too high for my budget.
For some reason, I was embarrassed to admit this in front of someone like Jonathan. I was a thirty-seven-year-old woman who’d worked all her life. I also had a fairly good job. I should’ve been in a much better financial position, should’ve had secure housing, too, but life hadn’t worked out that way. I couldn’t afford what he was offering, not with my loan repayments, and that was more than a little humiliating.
So, I lied.
“Actually, I’ve already found a new place.”
Jonathan’s eyebrows jumped. “You have? Well, that’s great.” A short, somewhat awkward pause followed while he cleared his throat. “Good for you.”
Unluckily for me, I had no idea that my mother had sidled up behind me. “You’ve found a new place to live?” she interjected. “Why didn’t you say?”
Great, now I had to lie to my family as well. I shot Mam a tight smile. “I just found out, and I won’t be able to move in until after you go back so I didn’t think it mattered.”
At this, the light in her eyes dimmed. No, mother, you won’t be escaping Frances’ couch any time soon.
Mam turned her attention to Jonathan. “Hi, I’m Sharon. Ada and Frances’ mother. Leonora and I never met, but I hear from my daughters that she was a lovely woman.” Frances had clearly filled her in on who exactly Jonathan was while we’d been talking.