Page 17 of Chasing Blue
Her perfectly arched eyebrows pull together as she frowns while thinking about her answer.
“It was a woman . . . Milly. I told you that before you left. Said we’d been recommended to them by Lauren Wild. That’s the third bit of work she’s put our way. We need to thank her properly, send some flowers, or bubbly, or something. Why, what’s the problem?”
I stare at her as I process all of this.
“Milly’s not the client. She works for the client and made the booking.”
I watch as Zoe’s eyes widen. “Please tell me it wasn’t Matt, pulling a stunt to get you on your own?”
“Not Matt. Worse, much worse.”
“Worse than Matt?” I watch as she screws up her nose. “What could be worse than Matt?”
“The JMC.”
My nose tingles just admitting this to her. I blame the wine. Day drinking makes me emotional.
“What?”
“The client is Jack Cole.”
“Whadya mean the client’s, Jack Cole?” She pulls a face as she asks the question. With her pinched brows and screwed-up nose, her expression is a mix of confusion and like she’s just tasted something nasty.
“Jack Motherfucking Cole lives here. He’s converted a couple of coffee huts into a bar and restaurant in Portsea. Jack Cole is our client.”
I don’t mean to sound angry, it’s not Zoe’s fault, but I’m aware of the aggression in my voice as I explain.
Her head tilts to the side, and her mouth falls open. I watch as she blinks a few times before asking, “So wait, he lives here? Where here? In Melbourne or on the peninsula?”
“Right here, on the peninsula.”
“So he was there? You’veseenThe JMC today? You’ve spoken to him?”
I nod. My skin feels tingly just remembering the experience, and I have pins and needles in my fingertips.
“Saw him, spoke to him, met his son,” I tell her.
Her mouth and eyes both open wide as she sinks back into the corner of my sofa.
“His son? Holy fuck, Scar.Theson, the boy? The baby?”
“Yep. He’s seventeen now and the image of his dad.”
“Of course he is.”
“And her? Was she there?”
“No.” My response carries the incredulity I felt when Jack first explained the situation to me. “Can you believe he never got back with her? He supported her, but they never got back together, and he’s raised Finn himself since he was little. His mum met someone else and moved up to Far North Queensland, then to America and then back here, but I don’t know where she is now,” I ramble without taking a breath.
“You’re shitting me?”
“That’s what he told me today.”
“So, is he with someone now?”
My scalp tightens at that thought, and I wonder what Milly, the girl who made the appointment with us, is to him.
“I’ve no idea. Milly, maybe? She might be his girlfriend.”
