Page 50 of A Wish For Jo
'So you know your cover's been blown, Harvey. Or should I say Harley? Not terribly creative on the name-changing front, are you?' Jo headed for the lounge, Harvey trailing in her wake.
'Jo, you probably hate me right now, although I doubt you could hate me more than I hate myself. I never meant to hurt you: I just didn't want to drag you into the shitshow of my previous life.'
Before Jo could reply, Harvey approached the open laptop. He faced his younger self, beaming at the camera, and his shoulders drooped. 'Seems like an eternity ago,' he mumbled. 'How easy it is to lose everything you cherished and worked hard for. Gone, just like that' — he snapped his fingers — 'with no chance of getting it back.'
Jo sat down and gestured to the chair opposite. Weariness shrouded Harvey's entire being, his face a crumpled mockery of the image on the screen.
'Did you do it?' Whatever Jo had meant to say next, her directness took her by surprise.
'Did I stalk and sexually harass Abby? No, I didn't. I thought she was a friend, nothing more, but she twisted things. She saw it as a way to get her name in the press and amp up her profile.' Harvey gave Jo a crooked smile. 'I loved my job inChasing Shadows, but grief still occupied my every waking thought. Abby was so kind at first, and I didn't have anyone else I could confide in. A real Billy No-Mates.’
Jo laughed, torn between wanting to slap him and give him a hug. 'Why didn't you stand up for yourself and tell the world the truth? If you did nothing wrong, why sit back and let her spread malicious lies?'
Harvey slumped down further in the chair, hands draped limply over his knees. 'Because I'd felt like a dead person masquerading as a living one for so long. When Abby took the time to talk to me — listen to me — I felt a glimmer of hope. That turned to despair when she turned against me, and I just didn't have the energy or strength to fight back.'
Jo reached out and squeezed Harvey's hand. She wished she could say or do something to ease Harvey's pain, but the right words eluded her. His touch stirred up a vortex of emotions. Compassion was in the lead, laced with a hint of lust. Totally incompatible, like herself and Harvey.
She withdrew her hand and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. 'I understand, I think. It's hard to fight back when you feel the world's against you, but there must be a way forward. If I can help in any way—'
Harvey bit his lower lip. A wash of red swept over his face, the silvery scar more pronounced than usual. Some scars were more visible than others, but the ones kept hidden inflicted the most pain. 'Jo, meeting you has been the best thing to happen to me in a very long time. I came to apologise, but I don't expect you to fall into my arms again. Friendship would do, if you'll have me.'
Aaliyah's nagging voice scratched at Jo's ear:You have one wish left. One chance to do something good, to make a difference.
'Harvey, of course I'll be your friend. And friends do nice things for each other, don't they?'
CHAPTER48
'Let me get this clear.Lover boy repeatedly lied to you, pines for his dead wife, and freaks out when a mug gets broken. And you want to waste your last wish on him?'
Aaliyah smoothed a layer of caramel over the millionaire's shortbread she'd prepped earlier, while Dhassim stirred chunks of chocolate over a double boiler. Two genies, working in perfect culinary harmony. It would have been a camera-worthy moment, if Jo hadn't left her phone at home when she'd legged it back to the café.
'It's not a wasted wish: I really want to do something for him. My other wishes were about pleasing me, but now I can make a real difference to someone else's life.'
'And how exactly do you propose we do that? Wish for a personality transplant, or whisk him off to a remote island where no one gives a stuff about his dodgy past?' Aaliyah poured the molten chocolate over the calorie-laden shortbread and spread it evenly with a spatula.
'I don't know.' Jo slapped Dhassim's hand as he swirled a finger through the remnants in the bowl. 'I've given it some thought, but my head's in a guddle.'
Dhassim licked his finger in a manner befitting Nigella Lawson at her minxiest. 'Hmm. I am not sure what "guddle" means, but I guess you are confused. Do you love this man, Jo?'
Did she?If you looked up 'loveable' in a dictionary, Harvey's often-grouchy face and prickly demeanour wouldn't command the top of the page. And yet he'd got under her skin and reached a part of her that she hadn't known needed reaching. 'I don't know. I like him when he's not being a miserable sod. Maybe, given time, love might grow.'
'Jo, love isn't a pot plant. When it's right, it hits you like a thunderbolt. Like it did for us, ma petite saucisse.' Dhassim waggled his chocolatey finger at Aaliyah.
Aaliyah sniffed and pulled a face. 'Being called a sausage isn't exactly romantic, Dhassim, and we both know I needed a little persuasion.'
'You were putty in my hands from the moment you set eyes on me,' retorted Dhassim, going in for another swipe of congealing chocolate.
Jo resisted the urge to bang their heads together. She needed genie wisdom, not the pair of them arguing over whom Cupid's arrow had struck first. 'If we could focus for a minute on Harvey, that would be great—'
'Jo, are you there?' Jinnie's familiar voice echoed through the café, followed by a louder voice recognisable as her gran, Wilma.
'Sorry, love, I was just having a chat with the team. How are you both?' Jo greeted Jinnie and Wilma with a smile and the tray of gooey millionaire's shortbread.
'All the better for seeing that,' said Wilma, parking her trademark trolley and hefting herself into a chair. 'Two slices, please, and a pot of tea. Or would you rather a coffee, sweetie?'
Jinnie shook her head, shuddering. 'I don't know why, but lately the smell of coffee makes me heave. Sam gets through gallons a day and I usually join him, but now… I'll share the tea, thanks. And do you have one of your fab tuna rolls, Jo?'
Jo dealt with the order. She was still no further forward with Operation Harvey, as she'd mentally dubbed it moments before. That sounded exciting and covert, like something that might feature inChasing Shadows. A show she intended to watch at some point, regardless of what happened with Harvey.
