Broken Silence (Silence, #2)(25)

I sighed and sat back in the seat. There was nothing I could do right now. I didn’t want to push it.

“What are you thinking? Your face has gone all serious.”

“I wasn’t thinking anything.”

“Of course you weren’t,” she said sarcastically. “It’s fine, don’t tell me.”

“You’re so dramatic. Anyway I’m getting the keys to the house one day this week so I can measure for carpet quotes and stuff. Wanna come?”

“Are you going to carpet shops after?” she asked, smiling hopefully. I wasn’t going to. I couldn’t think of anything more boring. I was just gonna call them up and get a quote, but her pleading eyes worked on me again.

I sighed. “Yes.”

“Then I’m there. Oh, do you know what colours you want yet?”

“Something neutral? I couldn’t care less really.”

Oakley shook her head. “We can have a look in a couple of places.”

“Great,” I responded with fake enthusiasm. I think I would actually rather play golf than shop for carpets, and man, golf was boring.

“You have to buy everything, don’t you? Like a washing machine, cooker and all the other appliances.”

“Did you think I was joking when I said I was taking it to my mum?”

“You’re twenty-two years old, Cole! You’re doing your own washing.”

She held her hand up as I was about to say something. “Don’t even think about using I don’t know how to as an excuse. I’m going to show you.”

“You just wanna touch my dirty clothes.”

She rolled her eyes.

“Kinky,” I added, wanting some proper reaction.

“Yeah, I’m having a really hard time not jumping you and having wild sex on the table.”

I leant further back, holding my arms out.

“I’m not stopping ya. In fact, I actively encourage it.”

Oakley rolled her beautiful blue eyes again.

“Of course you do.”

I looked down at my milkshake and then back at Oakley. Her eyes widened as she knew exactly what I was thinking. Hmm it had been a while.

“You’re a grown up now, Cole!” She giggled and grabbed her straw too, ready to flick it back at me if I started it.

I slowly stirred the milkshake with the straw, watching her the whole time. Her smile grew wider as she waited for the inevitable. I was just about to flick the straw at her when cold milkshake hit my face. My mouth dropped open.

“Too slow,” she sang.

Quickly recovering from the shock, I dunked my whole hand in the glass, ready to wipe it across her pretty little face but she was already on her feet, heading towards the half open door.

She couldn’t move very fast as she had to weave around all the junk Mum insisted on keeping, so I quickly caught up with her. I wrapped my arm around her waist and pulled her against my chest.

She grabbed my arm, holding it away from her and wriggled to get out of my grip.

“Stop struggling, Oakley. It’s happening.”

“No! Cole!”

“I’ll give up if you say sorry.”

“Not a chance,” she mumbled, laughing. I managed to get my arm closer to her face. “No, no, no! I only flicked a little on you.”

“Fine, I’ll only wipe one finger across your face.”

Again, she started laughing and struggling harder. She was a lot stronger than she used to be. I almost had to try.

“No, Cole!”

Five minutes later, I gave up. We sat back down to finish eating, well, drinking, our melted ice cream. She made me feel like a teenager again.

“Jasper wants to go,” she blurted out. Okay…

She had done that a lot recently, slipping serious stuff into conversation. She’d be joking one minute, and then something she obviously found difficult to say would slip out.

“To the trial?”

“Yes. I tried to talk him out of it but he told me he’s made his decision and he’s going.”

I wanted to be there when they were both found guilty and sent down too.

“Why would he want to hear what happened?” she asked, ‘What Dad had done?”

“Probably for the same reason as you. He wants closure, Oakley.”

She sighed and rested her chin on her hands. I knew what she was thinking.

“I feel guilty.”

For a few seconds I was speechless; it was so hard to know what to say. But then I replied, “Why do you feel guilty?”

“Jasper lost his dad, and as much as he says he hates him there must be some part of him that still cares.”

“Some part?” What the hell is she thinking?

“Yes! The part that remembers Dad teaching him to ride a bike and drive a car. Every Christmas where Dad would make a fort out of the empty boxes. When he took him to the park and helped with his homework-”

“Okay, stop. That man wasn’t real.”

Her eyes glazed over, and I felt the temperature drop.

“But that’s not true. He was real to Jasper.”

I moved quickly, sliding in beside her and wrapping my arms around her tiny body.

“The guilt shouldn’t be with you. It’s not your fault. Jasper may have lost his dad, but that’s not because of you.”