Page 106 of Dream a Little Dream

Heather sipped her drink.

“Do you want to talk about it?” It was habitual. Instinct. To offer himself in that way. Most people talked to him about their shit, thinking he could solve their problems. He couldn’tsolvethem, but he could offer insight. And Heather looked troubled enough to want to offload, but hesitant enough not to do it outright like his closer friends might. Plus, it might ease her into his more difficult conversation.

She shook her head. “No. No, it’s fine. I don’t want to trouble you with that.”

“It’s no trouble. And you can either tell me as a friend, just talk it through, and I’ll be more than happy to sit here and takeyour side. Or you can talk to me as someone who might help unpick what happened. Why people are feeling the way they are and maybe doing the things they are.”

Heather pursed her lips with a fond smile. “Did your previous girlfriends get upset when you psychoanalysed them?”

That was an opening. He could tell her now. Like Jack had told him he should. It would at least test the waters. “Sometimes, yes. Actually, yes. All the time.”

“Did it lead to your break ups?”

“A couple of them. I’ve learned from those mistakes. So, if you want me to switch that off and blindly be in your corner, I’m there.”

“No. You can keep it on. It’s you, right? Part of you?”

“Afraid so.”

“Then I want to know that part of you.” She smiled. “All parts of you.”

Another opening. Kenny still didn’t walk into it. Why was he hesitating? He knew why. It was the thoughts of Aaron currently with someone else.

Does it hurt?

Yes.

“Urgh.” Heather lolled her head back. “It’s Alice. It’s always about Alice.” She sat straighter. “Dave and I, we have different parenting styles. I seem to always come out as the bad one. Either to her or to him.”

“You need to be on the same page, or she’ll learn to pit you against each other to get what she wants.”

“Exactly. I know that. So I don’t understand why he’s gone all nuts about her new boyfriend when it’s usually me as the militant and he the laissez-faire one. But now he saysI’mirresponsible for letting her have a boyfriend. She’s fourteen. I’m pretty sure I had boyfriends at fourteen and it was harmless. But he’s saying she shouldn’t be talking to boys. And he won’t let hergo to this Halloween party with him. But I think she needs a little independence. To know I trust her implicitly.”

“I can see the issue.”

“He’s a sweet kid. He’s having a Halloween party at his house with his parents tonight, and invited her. Dave won’t let her go. She’s at his now, crying about it and texting me to change his mind. So I called him to talk him into letting her go. As long as he takes her, then picks her up, there can’t be any harm in it, can there? But he yelled at me, saying horrible things. That I was undermining him.”

Kenny saw his point. And he didn’t want to tell her that rape can take minutes. Because that might be too much for this conversation, despite it always being on his mind. Jessica had gone to the shop a ten-minute walk from their house to buy sprinkles for the cupcakes she’d been baking. She never returned. The cupcakes burned. Her body found hours later, violated and discarded. If he’d gone with her instead of staying glued to the television watchingGladiators,wondering which one he preferred out of Hunter or Jet, she’d still be alive.

“Do you know the boy?” Kenny asked.

“I’ve not met him, no. But I’ve not met many of her friends. Things are different these days. They all talk via phone. They no longer need to come to the house to knock anymore. She started a new school last year and with the whole divorce, I’ve not really had time to meet the other parents.”

She was making a lot of excuses, and they were valid. But there was an undercurrent there of whether she felt as though she were making therightdecision.

“Can I make an observation? One you might not like?” Kenny clutched his glass, ready to have the difficult conversation when this was only their fourth date.

“It’s why I told you, I guess.” She winced. “Go on.”

“Could it be that you’re adopting a more permissive stance on this one because, on some level, it serves as a bridge to reconnect with Alice?”

“How do you mean?”

“You mentioned how things have been strained with Alice since the divorce, especially with her gravitating toward her father because he’s more easy-going while you’ve had to be the stricter parent. This serves as a chance for you to reconnect. By supporting her perspective, especially when it clashes with Dave’s, you’re building trust and strengthening your bond. Do you think prioritising her needs here might also be your way of reinforcing that connection?”

Heather stayed quiet, swirling her drink, processing. Then finally, she looked up and said, “You’re good.”

Kenny chuckled. “Just careful observation. And years of behaviour research.”

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