Page 29 of Be More Octopus

'Most likely not. Don’t worry about that now. '

Em tried to edge back up the slope of the hollow without turning her back on it.

Jack started waving his arms and walking towards the ram. It looked at him impassively for a second or two, then decided they weren't worth the effort. As it ambled off towards the next hill, Em breathed a sigh of relief. Get a grip, woman. Jack's going to think you're flaky.

'It's gone now. Come here.' He helped her upright. 'You're shaking.'

'Sorry, it surprised me, that's all. '

He pulled her into a hug, stroking her back. She buried her head in his chest, the few chest hairs sticking over the top of his shirt tickling her forehead. She felt safe now and ever so slightly turned on.

'You're still breathing fast,' he said.

'It takes me a while to get back to normal when I've had a shock.' Especially with you in close proximity. She started to pull away from him. 'I'll be fine now.'

Their eyes met. She felt a desperate urge to kiss him. Stop it - friends only, remember!

'Shall we head for the coast? No sheep there,' he smiled reassuringly.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Em ordered roast beef for her pub lunch.

'You're not tempted by the lamb, then?' Jack asked with a mischievous look.

'I wouldn't worry about that demonic ram ending up on the butcher's slab, but I prefer beef.' She changed the subject. 'Nancy said your mother's visiting us for a few days next week.' Nancy had been excited about the prospect of her best friend coming to stay.

'Yes, that will seem odd. It's been years since we were both here together.'

'Do you get on with your mum?'

'Yes, she's brilliant. Always on the go. She got bored when she retired, so she's taken up loads of new hobbies and good causes. I barely see her. She was a great mother when my sister and I were growing up. She still is.'

Em was slightly nervous at the prospect of meeting Olivia. She's not going to be your mother-in-law, so why do you care?

‘Do you see much of your sister?’ Jack hadn’t mentioned having a sibling before.

’Not now. She lives in Edinburgh with her husband and children. I’ve not had a chance to see her for a long time. But we were really close when we were teenagers. We supported one another when my father left us.’

'I didn’t realise.' Nancy had only ever mentioned Olivia and nothing about Jack’s dad, so Em had assumed he’d passed away.

Jack went quiet for a moment. ‘He had an affair when I was 12. I have a feeling it wasn't the first time, either. My mother kicked him out.'

'That must've been difficult.'

'It was, and it wasn't. He used to be a barrister. He worked long hours. We never saw him in the week. He left for work before we got up every morning, and he came home after we'd gone to bed. Then he was out on the golf course at weekends. So I wasn't that close to him. My mother was upset, obviously. That was the hardest part. Seeing her cry and not being able to do anything about it. Though she hid it well most of the time.' He looked so sad for a moment that Em thought he was going to cry. 'My father lives in France now with the woman he ran off with. He bought himself a rundown chateau to do up. The last time I saw him was at my wedding. What about your parents?'

Em wasn't sure what to say. 'My dad's a swinger, and my mum was a controlling narcissistic bitch' would be an accurate description, but she felt she needed to know Jack better before she revealed all the skeletons in the family cupboard.

She settled on, 'They stayed together until my mum passed away two years ago.'

'I'm so sorry. I didn't realise you'd lost your mother. Was it sudden?'

Normally Em brushed the subject away. But she wanted Jack to understand what it had been like.

'She had a stroke out of the blue. I suppose they usually are.' It was hard finding the right words. 'I was working in London at the time. I'd been there since uni. But it was unfair to expect Dad to cope with her alone. I'm an only child. She refused to have a carer. She was a difficult woman at the best of times, so I moved back to Birmingham to help him. And then a year later, she had another stroke, and that was that.' She stopped herself from admitting that that final stroke had been a relief, that she'd cried at her mother's bedside in the hospital, but they were tears of relief, not grief. Anyone who hadn't been subjected to years of mental abuse had difficulty understanding that.

'How did you feel about moving back home?'