✅ My Cousin's Keeper [NaNoWriMo 2021]

30. My Change of Heart

"Hey!" Ffrances breezed into the kitchen with a smile, and I was so glad to see her. Not just because I had missed her, today. I felt like a big fight with Tess and her predator was coming up, and I wanted another adult here to back me up. Maybe that way Tess would understand that I wasn't just being overprotective.

"Missed you," I answered with a smile. "Tess brought her friend back here."

"Ffrances Jones," she introduced herself, offering a hand to shake. The boy was at least polite, but I didn't want to let him feel any more at home.

"Spike Torrance. Pleased to meet you."

"So are you two..."

"No!" Both of the kids reacted at once this time, and any further comments were cut off short as they each waited for the other to continue. Before they could decide, the phone started to ring. I glanced over at the little blue screen, and saw that it was an international call. Probably somebody with an impenetrable accent trying to sell me something, so I was glad when Ffrances picked the phone up for me and walked through to the other room.

I didn't say anything more, and Tess was quiet as well. They finished eating, while I considered putting a portion in the microwave for Ffrances. I had been expecting her to arrive a little earlier, so there was still enough food in the pot for her if she wanted it. I was still unsure whether to warm some up or not when she came back into the room, still with the phone handset held to her ear.

"Okay, yeah," she said, cheerful enough to let me know it wasn't just a marketing call. "Do you want to talk to Gabby? I think they nearly finished dinner. Oh, okay... Yeah, can do. Thanks, you too."

"Who was it?" I asked, as she put the phone down.

"Tess's mum. Just checking up she's okay, I said you were eating, they didn't have much time."

"Did you tell them he's here?" I nodded towards the young man, sure that Trish Naylor would have had a lot more to say if she had.

"I'd better be going anyhow," he answered with a shrug. "It's a long walk back for me."

"Well, I could give you a lift if you want," Ffrances offered, and I started to worry about her as well. She barely knew this young man; but then I knew she could take care of herself if she had to.

"I wouldn't want to impose," he said, and I said that I was just about to warm up some jambalaya for her.

"No, it's no problem, I said I was going to drop in at work for a few minutes later this evening, just to check up on something. Raybridge isn't far out of my way." Then she turned back to me, and a firm poke to my forehead told me right away that she didn't want to hear my objections. "I didn't see much, but I did see that you're being rather aggressive with Tess's friend. You need to apologise, and get some dinner for me. I'll be back in twenty minutes."

I called after her to be careful, and to make sure that she spoke to the boy's parents about his behaviour. Then I turned back to finish my plate. When I couldn't procrastinate any longer, I confessed to Tess that I might have overreacted, and promised that I would be more welcoming if she wanted to bring some of her other friends around. She didn't say much in response, but did get up to finish washing the dishes when her own plate was clear. I'd just got up to reheat Ffrances's plate when the door opened again. It hadn't been fifteen minutes yet, so I guessed that the boy must have lived closer than we had thought.

I was still stressed, and it was harder to talk to Tess now. Even after my apology and explanation, I didn't think she could see things from my point of view. I went up to her room a little later to ask if she wanted to join us to watch television; maybe to offer her a glass of wine. But her head was buried in her work, and she didn't even acknowledge that I was there.

"I don't know what I can say to her," I said, and Ffrances looked up with a question in her eyes that she didn't need to say aloud. "She's too naïve, like she trusts everything that guy says. I only wanted her to see that she can't blindly trust teen boys. She's going to get hurt one day, but..."

"Shush," she answered. "I spoke to Trish on the phone, and I mentioned that Spike was here. She told me some things that you should probably have asked about before jumping to conclusions. First off, it's reasonable for Tess to invite a friend. You can't expect to isolate her from society. Especially not when the kid has her parents' blessing."

"But he's–"

"He reminds you of Kieran, right? Get over it. Not every guy is your ex. For all you know he might be this shy kid who stepped up to protect the new girl from bullies eighteen months ago. Or the gay best friend who's been the first person she confides in when she has a problem. Or the one who'll take any excuse to visit a friend's house because it lets him avoid an abusive stepfather. Trish suggested that we should offer to let him sleep on the couch if he's scared to go home, but I'd already seen enough to know that your attitude would be a problem. Now, are you going to be polite in future? Because if you can't look past your own prejudices, I think you might not be cut out for parenting after all."

I hesitated, everything that I was going to say dying in my throat. Maybe, just maybe, that kid had reminded me a little too much of an older guy I'd known when I was Tess's age. But I still didn't like to think of someone with that smooth, confident act hanging around with her. Especially not a guy with such a troubled upbringing. I was sure that sooner or later he would show just how that family had raised him.

"I'm being overprotective? I still think she shouldn't be hanging around with older guys."

"You weren't being protective. You were straight up rude. And he's in the year below her. She's not as young as she looks, remember? So get that chip off your shoulder. I'm going to tell her you're sorry, and see if she wants to come down for a movie. I'm also going to mention that I was coming round earlier today, and I found something interesting while I was sorting out all the boxes of junk in your spare room. But I'm not going to show her what it is until tomorrow, give her some time to get over your previous obnoxious behaviour. You're going to have to work to earn that girl's trust again after today."

I nodded, and admitted that I might have been wrong. I still couldn't believe it, but I knew that if Ffrances spoke to me like that, I was going to give in sooner or later. And even if I was unconvinced, I knew it would be a lot harder to push her into her little headspace if she saw me as an enemy. I offered my apology to Ffrances, and hoped that she would be able to pass it on more efficiently than I could myself. And then while she went to console the little one, I was left with my own thoughts again. Perhaps I could have judged her 'friend' too harshly, but she should still have listened more. Feeling a little more childish might be good for helping her to come to terms with that, and would teach her to listen to me sooner or later. I checked on her flask in the fridge, glad that there was one way I could assert my authority without my girlfriend overruling me. And then I went over to the bookshelf, and started looking through the series of DVDs that Ffrances had brought over. There must be something on there that would bring us closer together as a family again.