AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Amina straightened in her chair. ‘No. This may cause Ava to become a talking point. I cannot allow it.’
He could feel Thea’s gaze on him. Urging him to do what was right. ‘One of the most valuable lessons I can teach my daughter is to stand up for her friends and to do what’s right. It’s not my place to deny her that and, respectfully, it’s not yours either.’
He saw Thea’s eyes widen. Had he done this for her? Or for Ava? The certain knowledge dawned on Lucas that he’d done this for himself. Because it was the right thing to do, and if he stood by and watched while another family was ostracised because of ignorance, he’d be as bad as the scare-mongers. Worse, because he knew better.
Amina nodded slowly. ‘I will convey your invitation to Safiyah.’
‘I doubt that’s necessary.’ Lucas quirked his lips downwards. ‘I imagine that Ava and Safiyah are already way ahead of us. I’d be surprised if the whole school doesn’t know about it by now.’
Finally Amina laughed. ‘Perhaps so. When the other parents see that you have made Safiyah your guest, they may change their minds.’
That had occurred to Lucas too. ‘I hope so. When they do it’ll make my life easier in two areas. Professionally I need to spread the message that there’s no stigma involved with TB.’
Thea chuckled. ‘And personally he’s got a teenage daughter.’
Amina laughed with her. ‘Enough said.’
CHAPTER TWELVE
IT HAD BEEN a busy week again. Thea had called Mariam’s doctor and he had co-operated completely. Mariam had been seen and was indeed suffering from active pulmonary tuberculosis. In one way it made things much clearer, since Mariam had spent the previous summer with her cousins in Birmingham, and Lucas had been able to confirm contact with one of the cases there. But how the infection had travelled six miles, from one school to another, was still a mystery.
He wasn’t thinking about any of that at the moment, though. This was the one weekend of the year that had to be remembered. He and Ava usually went away with his parents to their cottage in Cornwall, but this time he’d stayed behind. The memories, which had become less painful over the years, weren’t enough any more.
Sam’s birthday. Exactly a week before Lucas’s own, and when they’d been kids it had been the best week of the year. Now Lucas was sitting on a bench, opposite Sam’s grave, thinking about how his big brother had taught him to ride his new bike.
Tears sprang to his eyes and Lucas went to wipe them away, even though there was no one there to see them. ‘You were always there to pick me up. What am I going to do now?’ Addressing his brother like this seemed a little weird, but it felt good.
The gravestone didn’t answer. Of course it didn’t. But somewhere in his head Lucas knew what the answer would be. ‘Don’t look at the ground, or you’ll fall. Keep your eyes on where you want to go.’
Lucas ventured another observation. ‘I worry about Ava all the time. It’s hard.’
The gravestone stared back at him blankly. Suddenly Lucas remembered something Sam had said just before he’d died. ‘She’s growing up. That’s not supposed to be easy.’
Lucas grinned. ‘You and me both, eh, Sam?’
This was stupid. But he couldn’t move away from this quiet place, surrounded by trees and flowers. And as he was there, he may as well give Sam the whole story.
‘I’m working with Thea—you remember Thea. Ava loves her and she makes me want so much more out of life.’
He waited for an answer. Maybe here was none.
‘You need to live your life, Lucas. We may not be breathing the same air, but we’ll always be brothers.’
Sam’s retort, when Lucas had first told him of his plans to go to Bangladesh and his fears that parting might change everything between them. It occurred to Lucas that this was the last place that Sam would have wanted to see him. That he wouldn’t have wanted Lucas to put his own life on hold any longer.
‘I hurt her, Sam.’
Nothing. Maybe he had to come up with the solution to that one all on his own. The one thing Lucas did know was that it was his responsibility to make sure that Thea wasn’t hurt again.
He wiped the tears from his face. He should go, before someone found him here, talking to ghosts and voices in his head. But he couldn’t move. And if someone found him crying, who cared? This was between him and his brother.
* * *
Two hours later, Lucas said his farewells to Sam and Claire and walked away. He supposed that he should feel better, but he wasn’t quite sure how he felt. Lighter, perhaps. It was difficult to tell. Maybe it was just the sunshine and the quietness, which had cleared his mind a little.
He got into his car and stared at his phone. Without consciously making a decision about what he was going to do next, he dialled.
‘What’s up?’
