thoughts to resolution. He would talk to Jess about their future, in particular his desire to be a father, before he was too old, or did something really, really stupid.
CHAPTER TEN:
A VISITOR
“Hi.”
The voice was smooth and deep, like rich cream sherry, and instantly sent a familiar, yet long unfelt shiver down her spine. Her mouth bent itself into a smile without her conscious permission. She lifted her face, slowly following up from the casually crossed legs clad in clunky biker boots and almost too tight jeans, to the leather jacket, unzipped over the palest blue shirt.
“Hi,” she said, her eyes finally meeting with his.
“My overly-efficient niece wanted to buzz and tell you I was on my way up, but I successfully persuaded her to let me surprise you.”
“So it would seem,” Jess replied carefully. She’d been here before and it was a dangerous, dangerous place. “To what do I owe this dubious pleasure?”
“Dubious?”
“Hmm.” She motioned for him to come in and he did, sitting on the arm of the chair opposite hers. She sat back and tapped her pencil on her teeth, irritated that she couldn’t get the corners of her mouth to budge. How, she thought, does he still do this to me?
“I felt I should come and explain,” he said, as if this in itself were an explanation. She frowned, mouth still fixed in that stupid grin, and shook her head in confusion.
“About the reunion?”
“Ah. That. Eleanor’s getting married next Saturday.” As soon as she said it, she realised how ridiculously irrelevant it sounded, but he responded before she could elaborate.
“Ah!” he repeated teasingly, “but she’s not getting married this Saturday.”
“What I mean, Rob, is it’s terribly short notice and we’re all so busy with the arrangements.” The second part was a lie, because it had all been taken care of, by Eleanor and her mother, weeks ago.
“Which is why you should allow me to explain.” He slid down into the seat, leaving his leg draped over the arm of the chair, his jeans taut across his thighs. Jess looked away and he laughed, welcoming the compliment served up by her inability to hide her attraction. “I’ve been having tests for the last few weeks. You see, I was getting breathless going upstairs, or even just moving a bike.” He paused to gauge whether he could just come out and say it. Having not seen her for around fifteen years, although they’d spoken on the phone every so often, he wasn’t sure whether he should ease her in before he delivered the blow, if she felt it that way at all, but he saw he had her full attention, so opted for straight-talking. “I’ve been diagnosed with a potentially fatal congenital heart condition.”
Jess nodded slowly, but was lost for a response. There was more he needed to say, thankfully, for it would give her time to come up with something appropriate to reply with.
“It could kill me tomorrow, or I could go on to live a perfectly healthy life and die of something else entirely,” he explained. “But, the thing is, it could kill me tomorrow, though I’m optimistic that it’ll wait until at least Sunday, so I can enjoy this little reunion I’ve thrown together at the last minute. I hope you’re free to come.”
“Under the circumstances, even if I wasn’t I would be, if you know what I mean.”
Rob laughed. “Yeah, I get you. And what about Andy? Is he going to come?”
“Andy’s in Nepal,” Jess told him and his eyes lit up. “I thought that’d please you. Nice invitation, by the way. And no, we didn’t get married. Nor do we have six kids or a cabin in the Swiss Alps.”
Rob nodded, an almost imperceptible grin settling on his lips. This was the long-standing joke between them. Back in school, Jess and Rob had been an item on and off for a year or so, then finally called it quits when they went their separate ways after sixth form, she to university, he to his apprenticeship as a motor-cycle mechanic—the perfect
CHAPTER TEN:
A VISITOR
“Hi.”
The voice was smooth and deep, like rich cream sherry, and instantly sent a familiar, yet long unfelt shiver down her spine. Her mouth bent itself into a smile without her conscious permission. She lifted her face, slowly following up from the casually crossed legs clad in clunky biker boots and almost too tight jeans, to the leather jacket, unzipped over the palest blue shirt.
“Hi,” she said, her eyes finally meeting with his.
“My overly-efficient niece wanted to buzz and tell you I was on my way up, but I successfully persuaded her to let me surprise you.”
“So it would seem,” Jess replied carefully. She’d been here before and it was a dangerous, dangerous place. “To what do I owe this dubious pleasure?”
“Dubious?”
“Hmm.” She motioned for him to come in and he did, sitting on the arm of the chair opposite hers. She sat back and tapped her pencil on her teeth, irritated that she couldn’t get the corners of her mouth to budge. How, she thought, does he still do this to me?
“I felt I should come and explain,” he said, as if this in itself were an explanation. She frowned, mouth still fixed in that stupid grin, and shook her head in confusion.
“About the reunion?”
“Ah. That. Eleanor’s getting married next Saturday.” As soon as she said it, she realised how ridiculously irrelevant it sounded, but he responded before she could elaborate.
“Ah!” he repeated teasingly, “but she’s not getting married this Saturday.”
“What I mean, Rob, is it’s terribly short notice and we’re all so busy with the arrangements.” The second part was a lie, because it had all been taken care of, by Eleanor and her mother, weeks ago.
“Which is why you should allow me to explain.” He slid down into the seat, leaving his leg draped over the arm of the chair, his jeans taut across his thighs. Jess looked away and he laughed, welcoming the compliment served up by her inability to hide her attraction. “I’ve been having tests for the last few weeks. You see, I was getting breathless going upstairs, or even just moving a bike.” He paused to gauge whether he could just come out and say it. Having not seen her for around fifteen years, although they’d spoken on the phone every so often, he wasn’t sure whether he should ease her in before he delivered the blow, if she felt it that way at all, but he saw he had her full attention, so opted for straight-talking. “I’ve been diagnosed with a potentially fatal congenital heart condition.”
Jess nodded slowly, but was lost for a response. There was more he needed to say, thankfully, for it would give her time to come up with something appropriate to reply with.
“It could kill me tomorrow, or I could go on to live a perfectly healthy life and die of something else entirely,” he explained. “But, the thing is, it could kill me tomorrow, though I’m optimistic that it’ll wait until at least Sunday, so I can enjoy this little reunion I’ve thrown together at the last minute. I hope you’re free to come.”
“Under the circumstances, even if I wasn’t I would be, if you know what I mean.”
Rob laughed. “Yeah, I get you. And what about Andy? Is he going to come?”
“Andy’s in Nepal,” Jess told him and his eyes lit up. “I thought that’d please you. Nice invitation, by the way. And no, we didn’t get married. Nor do we have six kids or a cabin in the Swiss Alps.”
Rob nodded, an almost imperceptible grin settling on his lips. This was the long-standing joke between them. Back in school, Jess and Rob had been an item on and off for a year or so, then finally called it quits when they went their separate ways after sixth form, she to university, he to his apprenticeship as a motor-cycle mechanic—the perfect
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