16. Jackson
16
JACKSON
‘ T hat should be everything!’ Glenda, the lady who apparently ran the B&B, smiled as she swept up the last of the shattered glass on the floor.
‘Looks as good as new,’ Edwin said. Theo told me that he was the guy who used to own the building.
I couldn’t believe how quickly everything had happened.
Within fifteen minutes of Theo calling Edwin, about half a dozen local residents rushed over to the library, armed with brooms, vacuum cleaners and other cleaning products, asking what they could do to help get the cafe ready for the evening opening celebrations.
And less than an hour later, the cafe was almost as good as new.
The local glazier couldn’t fix the window straight away as he was out of town, so once me and Theo had boarded up the window, Jane and I found some thick card and some colouring pens, then made some bookish signs to make it look pretty .
The police also came quickly, which blew my mind. If this was London or even another town like Shamwick, we’d be lucky to see them by the next day. But I supposed crime happened so rarely in Sunshine Bay that they had to come and see how such an anomaly had happened.
Jane seemed better too, thank God.
I was on my way back from the toilets when I heard the loud smash, and when I saw the window, then the brick, and realised that Jane was in the cafe all alone when it happened and could’ve been hurt, it felt like I’d been stabbed in the gut.
It was crazy, considering we’d only started talking again a few weeks ago after being apart for years, but the thought of anything bad happening to her made me feel physically sick.
I should’ve stayed to help her. Maybe if I was there this wouldn’t have happened, or I could’ve protected her somehow?
I didn’t know who had done this, but when I found out, they’d pay for putting her in danger.
One thing I knew for sure was there was no way she’d be walking home alone tonight. Yeah, maybe Theo and Jess were right: it could be Theo’s dad targeting the library. But what if it was someone trying to hurt Jane?
I couldn’t see how, though. It was impossible not to like her. But I wasn’t taking any chances.
‘Thanks so much for your help.’ Jess gave Glenda, Edwin and the other residents whose names I hadn’t memorised yet hugs and kisses.
‘I still can’t believe it,’ Maddie said. ‘Stuff like this doesn’t happen in Sunshine Bay.’
‘And we’ll all be on high alert to make sure it doesn’t happen again,’ Edwin said. ‘When one business is attacked, they attack us all.’
‘Too right!’ Glenda said defiantly.
‘The police are investigating and I’ll be doing my own investigation too,’ Theo said. ‘In the meantime we’ll have cameras installed outside tomorrow. Don’t worry. We’ll do everything we can to keep everyone here safe.’
‘Okay.’ Maddie nodded. ‘Well, now that everything’s tidied up, shall we get the second celebration started?’
As the last guest left the library and I locked the main door, I breathed a sigh of relief.
We did it.
There was an even bigger turnout than at lunchtime and everyone was safe.
‘All clear outside, Big T,’ Theo’s brother Ben said as he entered the cafe. ‘Well, hello …’ He walked over to Jane and stretched out his hand. ‘I don’t believe we’ve had the pleasure of being introduced. I’m Ben. Although, the ladies like to call me Big Ben.’ He smirked at her, and I ground my jaw.
‘Oh!’ Jane smiled and my chest tightened. ‘You’re Theo’s brother, right?’
In the end, I didn’t have to keep watch outside. Ben was over from the US, so he’d come to help out instead.
I’d only spoken to him briefly, and although he seemed decent, I could tell that he was a massive flirt. Like Theo, he was a handsome motherfucker, so the last thing I wanted was him coming on to Jane .
Not that I had any claim to her, but didn’t mean I had to like it.
‘I sure am.’ He ran a hand through his short dark hair. ‘I’m the youngest Eaves brother. And the hottest.’ He grinned.
‘And clearly the most modest.’ Jane raised an eyebrow.
‘Just speaking the truth. I can tell you with absolute certainty that out of all my brothers, I’m the most experienced. But I can see you’re a woman who likes scientific proof to back up bold claims, so anytime you’d like to find out more about my skills, just say the word.’
‘Thanks, but I’m okay,’ Jane said, her gaze flicking in my direction. As she flashed me a warm smile, I exhaled, relieved that she didn’t seem to be falling for his charms.
‘Suit yourself,’ he shrugged, clearly unbothered, then went to stand with Theo.
‘That seemed to go well,’ Jane said as she walked towards me.
‘It went brilliantly!’ Maddie said. ‘We sold out of all of the cupcakes and literally have three biscuits left!’
‘We sold a lot of books too,’ Theo added. Celeste had gone back to uni, so he’d helped man the bookshop. ‘We’ll need to do a new order on Monday.’
‘Amazing!’ Jess said. ‘If only every day could be like this. Thanks for all of your help, everyone.’
‘I second that,’ Theo said. ‘I know we were all a bit shaken up after the incident earlier, so I appreciate you staying to help the show go on.’
‘No worries!’ I said. ‘We’re a team. Do you want some help clearing up?’
‘Most of it’s done,’ Maddie said.
‘Yeah,’ Jess added. ‘Go home and get some rest. Same for you, Jane. Enjoy the rest of your weekend and see you on Monday.’
‘Okay, thanks, you too. I’ll head off now, then,’ she said.
‘Wait!’ I called out as she went towards the door. ‘I’ll walk you home,’ I said quickly. ‘See you on Monday, everyone.’
‘Night, Jackson,’ they chorused.
I stepped out into the corridor with Jane.
‘It’s okay. You don’t need to,’ she said.
‘Jane.’ I stood in front of her. ‘If there’s someone throwing bricks through the window, it means it’s not safe. We need to take extra precautions.’
‘I don’t want to put you out.’
‘You’re not. We both live in the same town, so it’s on my way. Even if it wasn’t, I’d still do it. I’d feel better knowing you’re safe. You don’t want me to be up all night worrying about you, do you?’
‘Course not.’
‘So I’m walking you home, okay?’
‘Okay.’
After we’d got our stuff from the office, we set off to the station.
‘I still can’t believe what happened,’ she said.
‘I know. This is the kind of shit I’d expect in Shamwick. Not in Sunshine Bay.’
‘Exactly. I hate living in Shamwick.’ She wrinkled her nose.
‘Same.’
‘At least you got to escape for years before you had to come back. Apart from the summers I worked at a library in Hastings and the year I was at the bookstore in London, I’ve been stuck there my whole life.’
‘Huh?’ I frowned. ‘What about when you went to uni? Didn’t you move out then?’
‘Never went to uni.’ She lowered her voice.
‘What?’ I stopped in my tracks. ‘But you always wanted to go to UCL. Studying English lit there was your dream.’
We used to spend hours talking about the day we’d get to escape to uni. Jane always knew what she wanted to study. She loved books, so always said that it’d be more like doing what she loved every day rather than actually studying.
She even researched the books that she’d heard the undergraduates studied as part of the curriculum and started reading them in her spare time so that she could get a head start. That was when we were fifteen, so three years before she’d even be able to go to uni. That was how passionate she was about it.
‘Well, dreams don’t always come true.’ She sighed heavily.
‘What happened?’ I said as we continued walking.
‘I couldn’t go. Dad decided to take over the corner shop and said I had to stay and help. Of course I was upset, but he made it sound like it’d only be a short-term thing and I didn’t want to let him down, so I just thought I’d go the next year instead, but then my parents refused to help.’
‘You’re joking?’
‘No.’ She hung her head. ‘Said they weren’t going to waste money on me studying rubbish. That university was for toffs and I was getting ideas above my station.’
‘But they knew how much you wanted to go!’ I said, anger bubbling in my chest. ‘How much you loved studying and reading.’
‘They didn’t care.’ She shrugged. ‘And they only gave me a pittance for working in the shop all day. Told me I should be grateful because I got a roof over my head and food in my belly for “free”, so working at the shop was the least I could do. So I stayed.’
Hearing that made me feel sick. I always knew her family was toxic and her dad was an arsehole, but what he’d done was plain evil.
Parents should want to support their child’s ambitions, not stifle them.
Dad was a professor of mathematics at a top London university and when he was alive, he’d done everything he could to help me grow and succeed. Even when he was busy, in the evenings he’d sit and help me with my homework, or teach me something new.
He bought me every book I ever needed and more. I never wanted for anything. But he wasn’t a pushy parent that was only interested in me becoming top of the class. He showered me with love and at the weekends I used to like riding my bike in the park with him at my side.
And even when we lost him, despite having to work multiple jobs to keep a roof over our heads, Mum still took an interest in me and how I was getting on at school. She encouraged me to apply for the scholarship which led to me securing a coveted place at Cambridge to study economics.
My parents were always my biggest cheerleaders. So to hear how shitty Jane’s parents were to her made me so fucking mad.
‘I’m so sorry you had to go through that. But you know, if you’re still interested, it’s never too late. You could still get your degree. There are options. You could do it part-time, for example.’
‘Can’t,’ she said quickly. ‘Dad’s going to… my family’s going to need me, so I won’t have time. And anyway, I’m working at the library now, which is a dream, so I don’t need the degree.’
I was going to add that she didn’t need to do it as a means to get a job. Because it’d always been her dream, she could do it to give her that sense of achievement. But I didn’t want to push her. At the end of the day it was her life.
We walked inside the station. The next train was leaving in seven minutes, so we didn’t have long to wait.
Once we got on the train, Jane sat down and I took the seat opposite.
‘So, I started reading Office Delight ,’ I said, hoping that talking about the book I knew she loved would lift her spirits.
‘Yeah?’ Her face instantly brightened. ‘What do you think so far? Where have you got up to?’
‘I didn’t get to read as much as I would’ve liked because…’ My voice trailed off. ‘I… I had other stuff to do.’
I’d spent the days we’d had off from the library visiting Mum and churning out multiple videos to send to Marcus.
There was no real change with Mum. Both days I’d gone to see her, she didn’t recognise me. I attempted reading some of her favourite books, but I knew she couldn’t follow the story. And everything else I tried to interact with her didn’t work either, so in the end I just sat there and watched her stare out of the window.
When I’d got home in the evening, the last thing I’d wanted to do was start grinding in front of a camera, but I had to. My lack of enthusiasm must’ve come across, though, because not long after I’d sent the first batch of videos to Marcus, he called me back and said I needed to redo them and bring some ‘fire’ to my next attempt.
I called it a night, then banged out three new videos in the morning, which Marcus gave the green light.
Between seeing Mum, making the videos, chasing up the estate agents to see if they had any viewings lined up, cleaning the house and going shopping, I was too exhausted to read.
‘Oh, right. But where did you get up to?’ Jane repeated her question.
‘I think chapter three? Virginia’s just started working for Rocco.’
‘You’re so lucky!’ she sighed. ‘I wish I could read that book for the first time all over again. I can’t wait to see what you think when you get to read more!’
‘I’ll keep you posted. I was hoping to read some more tonight, but I’m not sure if I’ll have the energy.’ I yawned, quickly covering my mouth.
‘I know what you mean. I want to carry on reading my new book, but I’m shattered.’
‘How do you decide what to read? With a whole library and bookshop dedicated to romance, there’s so much choice. I have no idea what I’ll read once I finish Office Delight .’
‘I’m a mood reader,’ Jane said. ‘I have a massive Tbr, so when I’ve finished a book, I just ask myself what I feel like reading. Sometimes I want something short, so I’ll pick up a novella, sometimes I feel like a steamy sports romance and other times I might want some romantic suspense.’
‘What are you reading now?’
‘A cowboy romance.’
For the rest of the journey, Jane told me all about her book and how she’d stayed up way past her bedtime last night devouring it, so she absolutely couldn’t do the same again tonight.
We got off the train and started walking towards her house.
‘I’ll be fine from here,’ she said when we got to the bottom of her road.
‘I said I’d walk you home, so I’m taking you to your door. I need to make sure you get inside safely.’
‘I really appreciate that, but…’ She paused. ‘It’s better if you don’t. It’s my?—’
‘ Your family ,’ I interrupted. ‘If your dad sees me…’
‘I’m sorry.’ She winced.
It may have been over a decade since we’d last seen each other, but it looked like some things hadn’t changed.
When we were at school I was never ‘allowed’ to come to her house or knock at her door, and now, even though we were in our thirties, it was exactly the same.
‘It’s not for me to tell you what to do, but you’re a grown woman, Jane. You can’t let your dad or your family keep controlling your life like this. It’s not right. You should be able to do what you want and be friends with who you want. They can’t keep treating you like a child.’
‘I know, I know. You’re right. It’s just until I save up enough to leave and rent my own room. Until then, I have nowhere else to go, so I have to toe the line.’
My stomach clenched. I hated that she had to live like this.
If the circumstances were different, I’d say that she could rent the spare room at Mum’s house.
It wasn’t exactly a palace, but I knew Jane wouldn’t judge and I’d feel a lot better knowing she was safe and well. But it was too complicated.
Doing that would mean I’d have to tell her about Mum.
Plus now that I had to film these videos, it’d be awkward. And what if somehow she found out? It was too risky. I needed to keep my work and private life separate.
‘Right,’ I said. ‘I get it. I hope you get out of there soon, though. It can’t be healthy to be in an environment like that.’
‘Believe me, I know.’
‘Text me when you get in, okay?’
‘Okay. And, Jackson,’ she said.
‘Yeah?’
‘Thank you.’
‘You’re welcome.’
As I watched her walk to her house, open the front door, then slip inside, my chest tightened.
One day I’d help her get out of that place.
She was too good for that family.
If her dad continued to control her and make her sad, I’d have to do something.
We might not have seen each other for years, but I still cared about Jane.
A lot.
And now that I was back in her life, I wasn’t going to let anyone hurt her.