Again, all I could do was nod. I was sure my eyes were just two big round saucers at that stage.

“Where is he?” Jay asked, running a hand anxiously through his hair. He seemed pumped, full of nervous energy. “Where is my brother?”

“Jay,” said the woman, turning in his arms and placing her hands to his chest. Her voice was gentle, soothing. “Relax. Take a breath. We don’t even know if this is real.”

Jay closed his eyes and took a deep breath as instructed before speaking again. “That’s why I came here. I need to find out. I need to know if he’s alive.”

Whoa, hold up a second, what? Jay thought Jack was dead? I had no clue what was going on, but I did know that I needed to push back my nerves and deal with this situation. Jack had always been clear that he had no desire to see his brother ever again, but here he was, and it was all my doing. If I didn’t get a handle on it quickly, then this whole thing was likely to blow up in my face. Jack was going to hate me when he found out what I’d done. Why on earth had I done it again? Oh, yeah, because I’m a sentimental idiot.

I quickly left the refreshments stand and went around to meet them, calling over my shoulder, “Lola, can we go to Violet’s for a little bit?”

Lola seemed confused. “You want to take these two to Violet’s? Why?”

“I’ll explain everything later. But right now I need to take care of something really important.”

She shrugged. “Yeah, okay, go ahead. Violet won’t be back until later after the show anyway.”

I gave her a thankful look before turning to Jay. “Can you come with me, please? I need to talk with you. Jack can’t know you’re here, not yet.”

There was suspicion in his eyes, but after a moment he nodded and gestured for me to lead the way, taking the woman’s hand in his and following me. I quietly led them both to Violet’s camper and opened the door, standing back and gesturing for them to go inside.

They sat down in the lounge, and I stood there for a second, not knowing what to do. I moved my feet one after the other and went to put on the kettle. Then I went to sit across from them. The woman was smiling at me in a friendly manner while Jay continued to regard me with suspicion.

“I’m Matilda, by the way,” she said, holding out her hand. “Jay’s wife.”

I noticed she was wearing a beautiful engagement ring and wedding band before I took her hand and shook it.

“I’m Lille, Lille Baker, but you already know that,” I replied, my voice shaky. I stared at my hands. “So, um, as I said in my letter, Jack has no idea I wrote to you. In fact, well, I don’t know how else to say this, but he doesn’t want to see you. I apologise for being blunt, but he kind of hates you.”

Jay leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees as he tilted his head at me. “He hates me?”

“Well, yes, you see, it’s because your uncle told him you didn’t want to see him. And he was all alone for so long, and people treated him so badly, and he was just hurting so much. He’s still hurting, but he pretends he doesn’t care. As you can tell from the letter, he does care — he just doesn’t want to admit it.” I was rambling, but I couldn’t seem to stop.

Jay sat back, like it all suddenly made sense to him, and I wondered what I’d said that explained things. I didn’t have to wait long before a dark look came over his face, and he began shaking his head back and forth. “My uncle. My fucking dipshit of an uncle.” A silence elapsed before he turned to his wife. “Can you fucking believe this?”

“Jay, calm down,” she whispered, but her plea only seemed to set him off worse. He turned to her, furious.

“Calm down!? Calm fucking down? Not only did that evil bastard rob me of a decent childhood, but he also robbed me of my only brother. He told me Jack was dead, Matilda. Dead! What kind of sick fuck does something like that?” He punched his fist into the sofa, and it all quickly started to make sense. All of my misgivings about Jack’s story were not unfounded. I’d been right. Something fishy had been going on. Jay didn’t abandon Jack — he’d thought he was dead because that’s what his uncle had told him.

Once Jay had relaxed a little, Matilda pulled him into her arms. His body shook and I knew instinctively that he was crying. I thought I should have been more stunned by such a big, handsome, confident man crying, but I wasn’t. I felt his pain, his loss. I felt it all through my connection with Jack.

Matilda looked at me over Jay’s shoulder, and we exchanged concerned glances. I had no idea where to go from here. I mean, how would I explain all this to Jack? I wasn’t sure I was brave enough to just go right up to him and be all, Hey, Jack, funny story, but I stole the letter you wrote to your brother and sent it to him. Now he’s here, and, well, you’re welcome. Yeah, I could see that conversation going down like a lead balloon.

My eyes went to the clock on the wall, and I noticed it was almost time for Jack’s performance. Perhaps that was the way I could get around this. If I brought Jay into the audience, he’d be able to see Jack, have proof that he was alive from a distance, and then I could figure out where to go from there.

After a minute, Jay pulled away from his wife and turned to study me again. His eyes were a little blotchy, and his face stern. It was clear that he still didn’t trust me. I was wearing my summer dress and a loose cardigan, my battered converse on my feet. My hair was up in a dishevelled bun that I’d secured with a wooden paintbrush, in lieu of a proper hair tie. I was forever losing those things. I desperately wanted to know what he thought of me, and deep down I wanted him to like me because he was Jack’s brother and I was in love with Jack.

“How do you know my brother?” Jay asked, sitting up straight now and levelling me with his full attention. And whoa, the full attention of Jay Fields was more than a little intense. My skin was prickling slightly, and I felt like I was on trial.

I glanced away for a second and nervously scratched at my wrist. “I’m, well, I’m kind of his girlfriend.”

Jay’s eyebrow shot up, and for the first time something that resembled a smile shaped his lips. “Only kind of?”

My throat felt tight. “Well, yeah, I’m head over heels in love with him, but it’s all very new.”

Now he gave me a proper smile, and there must have been something in the way I said it that rang true, because all his suspicions melted away.

“Yeah, it looks like you are, darlin.” His eyes moved over my form. “My brother has good taste.” At this his wife elbowed him in the side, but she was smirking. “Stop flirting with your brother’s girlfriend, Jason,” she scolded playfully, and he raised his hands in surrender. “What? She’s cute. I’m just noticing that my brother has a cute girl, no harm in that.” He went quiet for a second, and some of his tension returned as he ran his hand down his face. “My brother,” he whispered to himself. “Fuck, this is crazy.”

“Would you like to see him now?” I asked gently, and his response was fervent.

“Hell, yes.”

Standing and smoothing down the skirt of my dress, I said, “Come on, then. He should be on stage right about now.”

As I led them both out of the camper and towards the tent, Jay asked, “So, you mentioned in your letter that Jack’s a performer, but you never said what kind?”

We were almost at the tent now, and I could hear Marina’s voice echoing through the sound system as she introduced Jack’s act. When we reached the side entrance, I took a deep breath and turned to face him. “I think I’ll let you see for yourself.”

Jay and Matilda stepped in ahead of me just as the music began to play and Jack made his entrance onto the stage, the flame-tipped metal wheels spinning on his bare, muscular arms. The audience cheered wildly, and I found my attention wandering to Jay as he stood there, frozen. His jaw was tight, his hands clenching into fists, and I could see his Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed. His eyes blazed fiercely as his attention fixed on Jack, and I desperately wanted to know what he was thinking. Did he recognise him after all this time? What was he feeling right now to see his brother? A brother who for years he thought was dead but was in fact very much alive. And man, was Jack alive. As he moved about the stage, his very being practically pulsated with life and vitality.