Page 84 of Butterfly

“But—”

Maggie shot him a stern look.

“Fine,” Leo relented. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”

“Out of here?”

“Maggie and Asher’s place is a four-hour drive away.”

Ollie frowned. “I’m… I’m going home with you?”

“Of course.” Leo grinned. “Asher’s cleared the garage out for you. I know that sounds bad, but it’s a converted garage, has its own en-suite and everything. It can be your space.”

“If you want it,” Maggie whispered. “There’s no pressure.”

“Where else is he going to go?”

“There are rooms for the newly released,” Maggie said. “Howard told us that.”

“He also told us they were dirty and riddled with drugs.”

Ollie caught Rory in the corner of his eye, hovering close by. He looked at him, which seemed to be what Rory had been waiting for. He strode over, hiding his hands behind his stab vest. His blue eyes were wary, unsure whether he was welcome.

“Actually,” Ollie said, loud enough for Rory to hear. “I’ve arranged to stay with Rory.”

Rory’s steps faltered, but he quickly recovered.

“What?” Leo asked.

Ollie couldn’t look at his brother. “There’s some courses I wanted to check out—”

“There’s courses where we live too,” Leo snapped.

“Leo…” Maggie said.

Rory stopped in front of them. “Is anyone else hungry?”

Everyone stared at him.

“I’ll take that as a yes. There’s a great restaurant around the corner.” He smiled at Ollie. “How about it?”

Ollie looked back at him. He hoped Rory could see his gratitude. “Do they do macaroni cheese?”

“I imagine so.”

14

Themacaronicheesewascreamy with a sprinkling of chives over the top and with an option of bacon lardons. It didn’t taste as good as the macaroni inside Hollybrook. That macaroni came in a huge slab and was cut into slices. The sauce had split, the pasta was hard, and the congealed top layer reminded Ollie of jellyfish.

He didn’t love macaroni, but it was Teddy’s favourite.

Ollie glanced at the clock on the restaurant wall. It was dinner time in Hollybrook. He wondered whether Teddy would be shovelling macaroni down like he normally did or whether he’d be picking at his food with a squirming stomach like Ollie currently was.

Leo wolfed down his burger after passing the accompanying pot of coleslaw to their auntie. She didn’t even glance at him, just tipped it onto her plate to go with her pasta salad.

Ollie hadn’t spoken to Rory in over a year, hadn’t written to him even though a few times he’d been tempted, but he’d turned up when Ollie needed him the most.

It was Rory who led the conversation at the table. It was he who asked Leo and Maggie questions to keep the spotlight from Ollie. And it was he who nudged Ollie’s foot beneath the table whenever he should react.

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