“Jas?”
“Sorry, what?”
Red laughed again, though it sounded a little strained. “I was asking what kind of mood Kim’s in at the moment. I can wait if you don’t think it’s a good idea to tell him right now.”
“When’s the big day?”
“Tomorrow.”
It was my turn to laugh. “Jesus, Red. You don’t hang around. Last I knew, you were hooking up with that chick in San Francisco. Where are you now?”
“Vegas, baby. And it’s the chick I’m marrying. I love her, Jas.”
And just like that, it all clicked into place. I tipped my head back again and absorbed the starlight. “Then nothing else matters, mate. I’ll tell Kim tonight, and I reckon he’ll be as over the moon for you as I am.”
I wished Red all the love in the world and went back inside. Kim glanced at me, his curiosity clear, but my dad claimed our attention before I could fill him in. He took us into his office and put his offer to us in much the same way Laura had to me just a few hours before, only with added—albeit likely unintentional—guilt laid on. “We need to sell it to repair the roof on this place, but it would mean the world to us to keep it in the family.”
“Let Gaz buy it, then,” I grumbled. “Alan Sugar the second, isn’t he?”
“Your brothers already have homes.”
“So do we.”
“Jasper.”
“Dad.” The echo of my conversation with Laura grated on me, and I was kind of embarrassed that Kim was here to witness it. “Just leave it, okay?”
“Jas.” Kim took my hand. “Hear the man out.”
I glanced at him in surprise. Setting aside the financial issues, buying the cottage would eventually mean moving out of the commune, and it had never occurred to me that Kim would ever want to do that.
Still, I held my tongue as my dad explained his grand plan to Kim. If either of them picked up on the fact that I’d heard it already, they didn’t say, though even a second time around, the penny change that my dad and Laura wanted for the cottage stunned me. Kim too, if his adorably surprised expression was anything to go by.
“That ain’t how much a cottage by the sea is worth.”
“It’s what it’s worth to us,” my dad said. “Besides, we’ve given both our other children property of their own. It’s only Jasper who’s never let us help him.”
“That’s because I don’t need your help, not because I’m ungrateful,” I pointed out.
“We know that, son. That’s why we’re asking a fair price.”
Fairin whose world was apparently subjective. But the discussion, it seemed, was over, at least for now. My dad opened a drawer in his desk and retrieved a set of keys. He tossed them to Kim. “Go and take a look. See if you can’t convince my son to live a little more than he has already.”
Nice. I took a breath to retaliate, but Kim hustled me out of the room before my inner brat could escape. “Don’t be a dick to your dad. You’re lucky to have him, remember?”
Our conversation that morning flooded back to me, and I was ashamed enough to think about retracing my steps to apologise, but Kim was already walking to his car.
I followed him and got in the passenger side. He gunned the comically tiny engine and peeled out of the farmyard. “If you’re worried about the money, don’t be. I can afford half of that price.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
I wasn’t convinced, but the money was only half my concern. “What about the commune?”
“What about it? Me and Lena settled there because I’d forgotten how to live like a normal person . . . how to own things, build things . . . love anything that wasn’t her. Life has changed for me, Jas.I’vechanged. I want a future with you.”
“What about the meetings?”