left, maybe he felt excluded from our little group.â
âNot at all, you all had fun together, I saw it,â Tori protested. âYou guys did all the picnics and camping and stuff that any other family does. But Graham was never bloody happy, was he? He was always grumpy about something.â
Jess slapped at a mosquito that was humming around her legs. âYou know, I reckon he has a real nasty streak â well, in fact Iâve discovered just how nasty in the past year, but back then Iâd only see it every now and then. He would occasionally tease the boys, but not good-naturedly, you know, almost like he enjoyed upsetting them.â
âReally, how do you mean?â Tori replied. She sat upright with surprise.
âOh, nothing abusive or anything, just things like saying, in a sing-song manner, âLiamâs got a girlfriend,â and you know how sensitive little Liam is, he hated it. Heâd beg his dad to stop until he was in tears. But Graham kept doing it. Sometimes he acted just like an annoying little brother, not a father at all.â
âThatâs just plain strange,â Tori said.
âYeah, I know,â Jess said âHey, this marinated capsicum is gorgeous. Whereâd you get it from? It might even be better than mine.â
Tori threw her head back with laughter. âThatâs because it is yours, darling! I had the store send me some up for the season and I threw it on the platter with some other bits from The Essential Ingredient.â
Jess cracked up with laughter. âThank God I didnât say it was awful then,â she cried. âOh god, that feels good,â she said and wiped tears from her cheeks. âItâs nice to laugh.â
âWe both need it,â Tori said, raising her glass. âItâs been a tough year.â
âIt sure has,â Jess said. Her laughter turned to seriousness again. âI tried so hard to make it work with Graham. I wish it hadnât ended, especially not the way it did. It was so ugly, so cruel.â
âThe man is a creep,â Tori said, patting Jessâs knee.
âYouâre right,â Jessica admitted, âand he got worse so subtly, so slowly that I barely noticed. It crept up on me until suddenly I looked at him one day and thought, I donât even like you. But the boys made it worth putting up with his crap; well, to a point anyway. I always thought if we broke up Iâd have joint custody of the boys.â
âYeah, whatâs up with that?â Tori asked. âNo joy there at all?â
âThe lawyers tell me I canât fight for the kids. I was just a girlfriend in the eye of the law as we didnât officially live together.â
âThatâs insane! He and his kids lived in your house for more than three years! You housed him! He owes you rent at least.â
âBut thereâs no proof of that, can you believe it? He owned, and still owns, a house in Williamstown that heâd been renting out for cash â heâs so dodgy â so he told the courts that it had always been his principal place of residence. We never had any formal documentation about rent or mortgage or anything. Iâm such an idiot,â she said as she put her head in her hands.
âNo, not an idiot; just trusting and too generous â beautiful traits,â said Tori, grabbing her friend by the hand.
âIâve spent a fortune on lawyers but apparently the only option is to keep the relationship civil and appeal to him as a human being and try to make arrangements to see the boys privately, which I donât see happening any time soon. Heâs doing his best to just delete me from their lives, like I never existed.â Her face creased with pain. âI get to speak to them once a month when their Aunty Samantha has them for the afternoon, so thatâs a blessing. But it breaks my heart when Liam cries and asks why he