Page 92 of Save You
I look at him as he sits in one of the armchairs opposite the sofa, flicking through a travel magazine.
“His hair always looked pretty much like it does now,” Lydia says, tearing me away from my thoughts.
I lean closer, to get a better look at the picture.“He’s always had that serious expression too,” I remark.
Lydia snorts and turns the page.On the next page, there’s a glowering mini-James, holding an empty ice-cream cone.
“He dropped the ice cream out of the cone,” Lydia explains with a grin.
“Poor baby James,” I murmur, grinning too.When I glance over at him, his only response is to raise an eyebrow.
“Lydia, don’t act like you were sorry for me.I still remember the way you laughed,” he says dryly.
“That’s not true!”
“Isn’t it?You didn’t laugh at me?”he retorts.
“OK, I did.But then I let you share my ice cream.”
“Yours was banana.What kind of a person likes banana ice cream?”
“Not me,” I say.
James points at me.“There, you see.”
“You’re both nuts.”Lydia shakes her head and flicks on.In the next few pages, the twins are six or seven, and now Alistair, Wren, Cyril, or Keshav turn up more and more often.
“It’s mad that you’ve all known each other so long,” I say in amazement.
“Yeah, isn’t it?Sometimes I feel like we’re brothers.”
I nod and look at a picture of a chubby-cheeked Alistair, his golden curls sticking up all over the place.Then my eyes are caught by a younger version of James with mini-Wren in a headlock.
“Did you and Wren ever talk?”I ask James quietly.
“We discussed one or two things.”He hesitates.“He’s got a lot on his mind.”
“Bad stuff?”Lydia asks at once.
James shrugs his shoulders.“I promised not to tell anyone.”
Lydia frowns with concern.I can see that she still has a lot of questions, but after an internal struggle, she just nods.“OK.But do you think it’s going to work out in the end?”
James nods.“Wren’s going to be fine.After all, he’s got us.”
Lydia and I exchange skeptical glances.
All the same, I’m relieved that James and Wren seem to havemade up.During that long phone call on my birthday night, James told me how important it is to him to enjoy this last year of school together with his friends.He wanted to make the most of it and not worry about what will come next.His mum dying changed things, but that makes it all the more important to have friends he can count on.And vice versa.
A little later, I say goodbye to Lydia, and James drives me home.Or rather, Percy drives me home, but James comes along for the ride in the Rolls-Royce.We’re quiet as we leave their property and head for Gormsey.
However little I like it, it feels as though the run-in with Mortimer Beaufort is a shadow hanging over us.I’ve met the man on three occasions in my life, and he’s tried to come between James and me every time.I so hope that James won’t let him do that again.That the thing we have now is stronger than his father’s influence.
“What are you thinking?”he asks suddenly, his voice deep and warm.
I look up and meet his turquoise eyes.My stomach starts to tingle.
I take a deep breath.“That I’d like to spend more weekends like that with you.”
