The Unexpected Mess of It All by Gabrielle Tozer

Author:Gabrielle Tozer [Tozer, Gabrielle]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2024-07-15T00:00:00+00:00

24.

The truth tumbles out of me somewhere between the wildflowers and the waterfall. Billy and Daph hurry after me and Margot trails behind in silence.

‘What do you mean they’re splitting up?’ Billy asks.

‘Start at the beginning,’ Daph insists. I catch them exchanging a worried look. ‘The more details the better.’

‘The beginning?’ I grimace. ‘They used to love each other and now all they do is fight. Billy knows. He hears how horrible it gets.’

Daph links her arm through mine. ‘What exactly did they tell you? Word for word.’

‘Nothing,’ I admit. ‘They have no idea that I know.’ I pull out the card from my pocket. ‘See. A lawyer who specialises in divorce. I found it in Mum’s handbag.’

‘Damn.’ Billy grimaces. ‘But we shouldn’t assume.’

‘It’s not a business card for someone who specialises in wedding vow renewals, is it?’

‘Guess not.’

‘Don’t tell Elijah. I mean, it’s not like their fighting is a secret, but I don’t know how he’d take this. He might freak out . . . I’m about to freak out.’ I exhale. ‘Does everything have to go up in flames?’ I let out a line of expletives as I hold my phone to the sky. ‘And how do I still have no reception?’

‘Just breathe, Jam,’ Billy says.

I spin on my heel. ‘You did not just say that.’ I push my finger against his hard chest. ‘Next thing, you’ll be telling me to relax — or that I’m being irrational!’

Even as I’m saying it I know I need to calm down.

‘No plans of saying that.’ Billy holds up his hands as a peace offering. ‘I don’t have a death wish.’

‘Sorry . . . My head’s a little fuzzy and I’m not thinking straight. How do I stop this? What . . . what happens now?’

Billy gives me a gentle smile and, for a moment, it snaps me out of my fury.

I’d forgotten how much his presence can soften me, not that I ever described it like that before. It hits me that two years ago, on a day like today, Billy would’ve pulled me into a warm hug. Words wouldn’t have mattered as I nuzzled against my friend. But, today, we’re back in our own lanes. There’s no hug, yet a warmth radiates from his eyes.

‘No rush to decide anything, Jam,’ Billy reminds me. ‘Day at a time.’

‘We’re here with you,’ Daph adds.

‘Divorce could be the best thing that happens to them,’ Margot calls out from behind us in the bush. ‘It was for my family.’

We stop in our tracks. I notice Billy and Daph trade another concerned expression. ‘Margot . . .’ Daph says in a quiet tone. ‘Maybe not now.’

‘Now’s fine,’ I say. ‘I want to know.’

‘My parents ended it about five years ago,’ Margot says, walking towards me. ‘They’ve never been happier.’

‘For real?’

She nods. ‘It sucked for a while, still does sometimes, but I don’t want them to stay in a bad relationship for me. No way.’

I bite my lip. ‘That makes sense.’

‘They seem to have fun together again, like they’re friends now.

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