Free Chanel Sweethearts by Cate Kendall Page B

left, maybe he felt excluded from our little group.’
    â€˜Not at all, you all had fun together, I saw it,’ Tori protested. ‘You 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.’
    Jess slapped at a mosquito that was humming around her legs. ‘You know, I reckon he has a real nasty streak – well, in fact I’ve discovered just how nasty in the past year, but back then I’d 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€˜Really, how do you mean?’ Tori replied. She sat upright with surprise.
    â€˜Oh, nothing abusive or anything, just things like saying, in a sing-song manner, “Liam’s got a girlfriend,” and you know how sensitive little Liam is, he hated it. He’d 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€˜That’s just plain strange,’ Tori said.
    â€˜Yeah, I know,’ Jess said ‘Hey, this marinated capsicum is gorgeous. Where’d you get it from? It might even be better than mine.’
    Tori threw her head back with laughter. ‘That’s 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.’
    Jess cracked up with laughter. ‘Thank God I didn’t say it was awful then,’ she cried. ‘Oh god, that feels good,’ she said and wiped tears from her cheeks. ‘It’s nice to laugh.’
    â€˜We both need it,’ Tori said, raising her glass. ‘It’s been a tough year.’
    â€˜It sure has,’ Jess said. Her laughter turned to seriousness again. ‘I tried so hard to make it work with Graham. I wish it hadn’t ended, especially not the way it did. It was so ugly, so cruel.’
    â€˜The man is a creep,’ Tori said, patting Jess’s knee.
    â€˜You’re right,’ Jessica admitted, ‘and 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 don’t 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 I’d have joint custody of the boys.’
    â€˜Yeah, what’s up with that?’ Tori asked. ‘No joy there at all?’
    â€˜The lawyers tell me I can’t fight for the kids. I was just a girlfriend in the eye of the law as we didn’t officially live together.’
    â€˜That’s insane! He and his kids lived in your house for more than three years! You housed him! He owes you rent at least.’
    â€˜But there’s no proof of that, can you believe it? He owned, and still owns, a house in Williamstown that he’d been renting out for cash – he’s so dodgy – 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. I’m such an idiot,’ she said as she put her head in her hands.
    â€˜No, not an idiot; just trusting and too generous – beautiful traits,’ said Tori, grabbing her friend by the hand.
    â€˜I’ve 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 don’t see happening any time soon. He’s doing his best to just delete me from their lives, like I never existed.’ Her face creased with pain. ‘I get to speak to them once a month when their Aunty Samantha has them for the afternoon, so that’s a blessing. But it breaks my heart when Liam cries and asks why he