Sera
Juliette surprised them all. Four weeks after the wedding and it seemed she was a little stronger. Being married was agreeing with her and had given her a new lease on life.
A small selfish part of Sera wanted to believe that Juliette would get better, but of course that was just wishful thinking. The cancer had metastasised; there would be no miraculous recovery no matter how much any of them wished it. It wasn’t a matter of if but when. Still, Sera thought as she added the finishing touches to the Christmas tree, she was so grateful to have her friend alive and well enough to spend Christmas together.
Our last Christmas. Our last summer with Juliette.
Her heart sank with sadness as she looked at the beautifully decorated lush pine. They’d gone for a live tree. She, Anna and Juliette had driven out to a Christmas tree farm that was over an hour south of Ellesmere and made a day of picking the right tree. On the way back they’d stopped at Doyle’s Beach and sat on the wharf eating fish and chips. It’d been a great day and it was a memory that Sera would cherish forever.
She finished sweeping up the loose pine needles off the floorboards and headed into the kitchen. The house was quiet this morning. Anna was at The Bookworm and Noah had driven Juliette to Coffs Hospital. An empty house had been a rare occasion since the wedding, as nearly every night they would gather for dinner – Noah, Juliette, Anna and Jack (finally!), Patrick, and Levi when he was in town. Having them all together made Juliette happy, and Sera had to admit that she wasn’t opposed to it either. It was the first time in years, since her parent’s divorce, that she’d felt a part of a family. For the first time since that summer, she had both her friends back.
Since the day she and Anna drove past Bonnie View on the way to Noah’s they’d both made an effort on rebuilding their friendship. She knew Anna was a lawyer, but it hadn’t surprised her just how successful she had become. Anna was always destined for success – she was a geek, always had been.
Letting Anna back into her life reminded Sera why they’d become friends in the first place. In the absence of siblings, the three of them had found each other.
Anna was the eldest so she was like the first-born – an overachiever. Juliette, the middle child, was always breaking up tiffs between Anna and herself and there was no doubt with her conciliatory powers that she was the peacemaker. Which meant that being the youngest, Sera was supposedly the life of the party. Acting had been a natural step for her. But acting also gave her the ability to escape into another world, to pretend to be someone else, to hide behind the make-up and costumes of another person or character.
One of the best reviews she’d received when Wicked premiered noted her ability to seduce the crowd with her charm and likeability. She loved how in the play, the Ozians thought Elphaba was evil when really she was the exact opposite. Sera, too, had a public image that didn’t match her true self. She was perceived to be a confident, sexy bombshell who could have any man she wanted. The reality was that Sera Di Maggio hid behind the image the media had built for her. That’s why playing Elphaba was perfect. All that green make-up and that black dress – she had identified with her character more than she cared to admit.
Since then she’d been hinting to her agent that she wanted to make the move to musicals on a more permanent basis, maybe even leave Our House. Of course it was a risk. What if she bombed? Musicals were hit and miss, and she’d never been out of work since she had joined Our House in her late teens; now she was the highest paid female actor on Australian television. She was an Aussie equivalent of Sofia Vergara – minus the accent and voluptuous assets. When her agent highlighted what she’d be giving up she agreed to drop it. But the idea had never completely left her thoughts.
When Juliette had called her three months ago and told her about the cancer, Sera had no qualms about asking the show’s producers for some open-ended leave. When they made noise about the time frame she used some of her charms, dropping hints about how valuable she was and how they practically owed her the time off. Of course she got exactly what she’d asked for in the end but she fully expected she would miss waking up every morning and heading into the studio.
But she didn’t, which only strengthened the feeling that it was time to move on.
Move on to what?
Three months ago before coming back to Ellesmere she would’ve said musicals. But now there was another option in the mix, or rather someone by the name of Patrick Shepherd.
It’d been nearly two months and they were going strong. Sera had to admit that she was waiting for the feeling of lust to dull, for the shine to wear off, but the only thing that had changed was the intensity of her feelings.
They had dived head first into their relationship, neither one really sure what was going on. For them both it was all new territory. For Sera it was the first time she had been in a relationship where she felt comfortable being herself and it was also the first time she had dated someone with a child. Not that Levi was a problem in any way – she adored him and was quite chuffed that the feeling seemed to be mutual – but in the last few days, something had shifted for Sera. From the beginning, they both knew it wasn’t long term. Patrick knew Sera would need to go back to Sydney and that in a way gave her some security. She could enjoy the relationship without it becoming too complicated and messy. Problem was, the longer it went on, the more comfortable she became with him and the more her feelings for Patrick, as well as Levi, grew.
Sera placed the kettle on the stove and made some toast with butter and Vegemite. Her phone rang right as the kettle came to boil and she wedged it between her ear and shoulder as she made her tea.
‘Hello.’
‘Hello yourself, Ms DiMaggio.’ Patrick’s husky voice came down the line and a delicious shiver flooded through her body. It never ceased to amaze her how this man could have such a profound effect on her and all he did was utter the word Hello.
‘Good morning, Mayor Shepherd.’ Sera could sense him breaking out his grin. ‘What can I do for you?’
‘You can start by helping me erase the image of what we did in my bed this morning.’
That did it. Her insides were going ballistic. Sera felt the need to fan herself as she recalled the hot and steamy love-making session that was followed by a just as steamy shower.
She let out an exaggerated sigh. ‘The only way to rid your mind of this morning’s shenanigans is for me to come over to your office and replace it with an entirely new image.’
Sera’s cheekiness was rewarded with a sexy chuckle. ‘I dare you.’
Sera fumbled the teacup slightly and only narrowly escaped pouring the hot liquid all over her hand. ‘Don’t tempt me,’ she whispered back, every nerve in her body cracked up to full arousal. ‘And I’m sure Maurice Moody would love it if I rocked up to council chambers wearing a trench coat.’
‘What’s wrong with that?’
‘A trench coat? In the middle of summer?’ Sera questioned. ‘Nothing strange about that?’
‘Okay then, tonight.’
‘Tonight? Isn’t Levi arriving this afternoon?’
The Christmas carol concert was a couple of days away and Patrick had negotiated with Catherine for Levi to stay up until Christmas Eve. They’d agreed that while Levi was in town, Sera wouldn’t spend the night and it was something they’d stuck to for the past couple of months. Had something happened? Had Catherine reneged on her agreement? It wouldn’t surprise her considering all that she’d come to learn about Patrick’s ex-wife.
‘Yes, he is…’ He cleared his throat before continuing, ‘…but it’s time, don’t you think?’
‘Time for what?’ Was Patrick saying what she thought he was saying? And did she detect a hint of nervousness in his voice? Her brain was buzzing and she didn’t trust it not to leap to conclusions. She needed clarity, needed him to spell it out for her.
‘Time for you to consider a sleepover.’ She imagined him shifting anxiously in his chair.
‘A sleepover, huh?’ Sera replied, a little tongue in cheek, figuring she could stretch his awkwardness out a little longer. ‘Haven’t I had more than one of those before? What is so special about this one?’
‘You know damn well what’s special about this one.’ His voice was so husky and she almost took him up on his earlier dare.
‘Does Levi know about this?’
‘Know?’ Patrick snorted. ‘It was his idea.’
The euphoric bubble burst and Sera swallowed her disappointment. ‘It was Levi’s idea?’
‘You’ve met my son,’ Patrick chuckled. ‘He’s not your average five-year-old.’
No, he wasn’t, and while she adored Levi dearly, she questioned Patrick making decisions about their relationship based on ideas from a five-year-old. She may be overreacting, but it hurt a little that the idea hadn’t come from Patrick.
‘So what do you say, Sera?’
Sera thought carefully about her response. She didn’t want to pick a fight with Patrick just as Levi was about to arrive. And she knew Patrick had a lot on his plate with the carols only days away.
‘I’ll think about it.’ She hoped she managed to keep her voice even.
‘If you’re not ready, I don’t want to pressure you, okay?’
Sera let out a low sigh. He had taken her ambivalence as stemming from being unsure and she didn’t correct him. ‘Thanks, okay,’ she managed. ‘I’ll see you tonight.’ Whether or not she would be taking a change of clothes was yet to be decided.
‘Yes. Levi’s looking forward to decorating the tree.’
Sera was almost tempted to ask if Patrick was looking forward to decorating the tree as well, but stopped short. ‘Me too, bye.’
She ended the call and sat down with her breakfast, mulling over the conversation. She was over wondering if she was making something out of nothing. Did it really matter how the idea had come to Patrick? The fact was he’d asked her because he wanted to. The whole reason Sera hadn’t stayed overnight before was because they didn’t want to overwhelm Levi. Catherine had moved on and remarried at breakneck speed and Patrick wanted to minimise the change in Levi’s life. Sera respected and agreed with the arrangement. But now Patrick was ready for the next step, so shouldn’t she be ready too?
Yes, she was ready, and she should be jumping at the chance to take their relationship to the next level, but one glaring problem presented itself. She was falling in love with Patrick.
Yes, Sera, that’s what happens when you let someone see the real you. You go and fall in love, you stupid girl.
Stupid because she was leaving to go back to Sydney, stupid because the closer she got to them both, the harder her heart would break when it came time to go.
You could tell him you’re not ready to stay…
Yes, she could, and Patrick would understand, then when the time was right, after Christmas Eve when Levi was back in Sydney, she would find a way of creating some distance between them. Just so she could make it easier for when the time came to leave.
She picked up her phone ready to call Patrick and tell him she couldn’t stay the night when it started ringing. Sera stared at the caller ID and knew there were two possible reasons her agent was calling her.
One. Our House had enough of waiting for her to return and she was fired.
Or two. Wicked was starting up again and they wanted her to reprise her role as Elphaba.
She knew these were the only possibilities because she’d instructed Derrick Sully that they were the only two reasons he was permitted to call her while she was in Ellesmere. Sera closed her eyes and accepted the call.
‘Derrick. One or two?’
‘Two…’ Derrick’s voice came down the line and Sera thought of Juliette immediately. First and foremost she was here for her friend. If she had to say no to the musical so be it. ‘It’s not a good time, Derrick.’
‘I know, I know, but it’s not for now, it’s for the middle of next year.’
Sera frowned. ‘But that makes no sense, that’s after it’s due to open.’
‘We’re not talking about Sydney.’
Sera could tell that by the way he said it there was something more. Something big.
‘Derrick, what are you talking about?’
Her agent made some excitable noises on the other side as if he were barely containing his excitement. ‘How does New York in summer sound to you?’
Sera felt her jaw drop. ‘No!’ It was a good thing she was sitting down because had she been standing, she would’ve fallen down.
‘Yes!’ Derrick exclaimed. ‘You’re heading to Broadway, baby!’
In a state of shock, she listened silently as Derrick unloaded all the details. It was an understudy role, but that didn’t diminish from the excitement. It was only for about six months, maybe a year, but then who knows, maybe longer. One of the New York directors had seen her performance last year and loved her.
‘I also fed him the DiMaggio story. I think he bought it. This is a no brainer, Sera.’
Yes, it should be a no brainer, but…
‘When do they need to know by?’ Sera couldn’t believe she wasn’t saying yes straight away, but there were things to consider.
‘What?’ The disbelief in Derrick’s voice was clear. ‘I can’t believe you’re saying no.’
‘I’m not saying no, I’m just not saying yes right now. There are some things I need to think about.’
‘What’s there to think about? You’re the one that was busting my chops about this for ages.’
Derrick was right. Sera wasn’t sure why she was stalling. By June she’d be back in Sydney anyway.
‘Okay, yes, tell them yes.’
He let out a whoop from the other side. ‘Sera, this is going to be huge!’
‘Tell Our House I’ll come back for a couple of months, then I want out.’
‘The end of one chapter and the beginning of another. You won’t regret this.’
* * *
For a while after his separation Patrick personalised the ringtone so every time Catherine called him the music from the shower scene from Psycho would play. It was, in his humble opinion, the most apt way to describe his ex-wife. He’d changed it now; Levi was always curious and he didn’t want to become one of those men who forever sledged their ex. Catherine hadn’t made it easy for him, and today he was a whisker away from reinstating the ringtone.
He should’ve known when the message came through that something big was coming. Catherine always used a text as a prelude to the slaughter call. She’d done it when she told him about Jeffrey moving in, then about the wedding, and now this.
I have something of great importance to discuss. Call me.
The text had come though and he grabbed it, certain that it was Sera because they’d just spoken, but instead he’d gotten a rude shock.
Catherine’s texts always touted she had something of great importance to discuss and they always had a great impact on their son. He had no idea what the latest one was, but he hoped to god his gut was wrong and it was something small and trivial like pick-up and drop-off arrangements for Levi’s visit. Maybe Catherine wanted Levi to spend some time with her parents in Coffs before he headed back to Sydney.
So he called her. Whatever it was, it was probably going to concern their son.
‘Patrick. Hello.’ Catherine’s clipped tone was enough to raise his hackles. How was it that he once thought of her voice as sexy?
‘I got your message Catherine, what’s up?’
‘I have something important to discuss.’
Patrick rolled his eyes. ‘Yes, so your text stated. What is it, Catherine?’
‘I’d rather discuss it in person. We can do that when I drop Levi off at your house tonight.’
Patrick was confused. ‘You’re coming to Ellesmere? With Levi?’ Since moving to Sydney, Catherine had never once flown up with Levi. Alarm bells began ringing in his head. If she was flying up it must be something big.
‘I’m already in Coffs. I’m staying at my parents’ place for a few days, then I’ll fly home with Levi on Christmas Eve.’
Patrick was taken aback. ‘And Jeffrey?’
‘He’s in Sydney. Pre Christmas is a very busy period for him.’
Patrick found it interesting that Catherine would fly up and spend time with her parents. She always made them go to her. Could there be trouble in paradise already? Was that what the something of great importance was? Had Catherine left Jeffrey?
‘So I’ll see you at six,’ Catherine stated.
‘Sure,’ he answered.
He hung up and felt the tension in his body loosen slightly. Maybe, just maybe, his gut was wrong on this one. Maybe it wasn’t all doom and gloom.
The rest of the day was taken up with last-minute organisation for the carols night. It was shaping up to be a great event and it looked like the weather was going to hold. The forecast was for a mild night with only a light breeze. Perfect. Levi was going to love it. Not spending Christmas with his little boy was going to be hard, but he did have a heap of special things planned for the next few days, starting with decorating the Christmas tree with Sera.
Just thinking of her made his heart swell. He had to admit that starting a relationship with her was the last thing he’d expected, but the last couple of months had been unbelievable.
Shit.
It had slipped his mind when he agreed to let Catherine come over that Sera would be there.
And that matters because?
It didn’t matter. Catherine was aware he was seeing someone; it wasn’t like Sera was a secret. It was a little hard to conceal a relationship with a celebrity. Patrick had nothing to hide. If Sera was there when Catherine arrived, so be it.
He stopped by the IGA on the way home and grabbed a few supplies. Made sure he got the café raisin toast that Levi was into and some Earl Grey tea for Sera. He grabbed some wine from the bottle shop and as he was heading to his car, he noticed the florist was still open so he grabbed a bunch of red roses for Sera. In addition to coming over to help decorate the tree she was making them dinner, spaghetti bolognaise, a recipe that apparently had been in the DiMaggio family for generations.
Sera was already there when he arrived home. From the moment he walked in the delectable aroma of Italian cooking assaulted his sense of smell.
‘Hi,’ she greeted him, with a smile that wrecked him inside. It didn’t escape his attention that her lips were bare and her face was unmade up and natural; it reminded him of the night she’d taken Levi trick or treating, the night they’d first made love, not far from where she was standing right now.
He walked up and encircled her waist as she busily stirred the bolognaise sauce.
‘Mmmm, something smells good.’ He nuzzled her neck and let her sweet perfume float through him like a drug. He could easily get used to this. Coming home and having her here. But Sera had a job and he couldn’t kid himself to think she was going to give up her acting gig and stay in Ellesmere. It went against every rule he’d set out about dating after his divorce. But that didn’t stop him from enjoying the here and now. He knew that one day he would need to let her go, he just didn’t want that day to come any time soon.
‘Dinner will be about a half hour.’
‘I was talking about you.’ He nipped at her earlobe and felt her body mould into his and heard a small moan escape her lips.
‘I really need to finish this sauce,’ she protested, somewhat feebly.
‘Leave the sauce,’ he said, spinning her around and claiming her lips hungrily.
‘But…’
‘No buts,’ he stated firmly and carried her to the counter nearby. They had less than an hour until Catherine arrived with Levi. He could be quick – when he had to. Patrick slid his hands along her long smooth legs, up under the skirt of her loose summer dress and hooked his thumbs under either side of her undies. Her pupils dilated.
‘You’re incorrigible, Mr Mayor,’ Sera gasped breathlessly and started undoing the button on his trousers.
‘You’d better believe it.’ He pulled the scrap of cotton down and off, then pulled a condom out off his wallet. He watched her as he ripped the foil packet open. Her rich coffee eyes were beautiful when she was aroused. Hell, was there a part of her that wasn’t beautiful?
He was just about to protect them both, when a knock on the door made them freeze.
‘You expecting someone?’ Sera whispered.
Shit.
‘Yeah.’ He moved back and hastily pulled up his trousers. ‘Catherine.’
‘Catherine!’ Sera gasped in shock as she pushed off the kitchen counter and straightened her dress. ‘As in your ex-wife?’
‘The one and only,’ Patrick replied wryly, scooping Sera’s discarded undies off the floor. ‘You might need these,’ he said as he held them up and Sera promptly snatched them back, just in time, because a second later Levi tumbled in, closely followed by the ex-wife.
‘Hello.’ Catherine’s hawk eyes darted between Sera and Patrick before they settled squarely on Sera and a smirk played at her lips. ‘I’m not interrupting anything, am I?’
The not so subtle undertones had Patrick’s hackles rising at an exponential rate. Would there be a day that she didn’t make it her life’s mission to ensure his life was a living hell?
‘I don’t think we’ve been introduced.’ Catherine closed the gap between Sera and herself and extended her hand. ‘I’m Patrick’s ex-wife, and you must be the new girlfriend, Stella, is it?’ The misuse of Sera’s name was deliberate and it was quite obvious Catherine took pleasure in it.
Oh yeah, it seemed it would be a cold day in hell when Patrick would want to do anything but throttle his ex-wife.
* * *
Sera wasn’t one to be intimidated by another woman. Given the nature of her industry she was generally the one doing the intimidating, the one that was confident, had the upper hand. But as she stood opposite the perfectly coiffed and immaculately dressed blonde woman with the botox-stung lips, she felt anything but. It wasn’t every day that she was referred to as the new girlfriend by an ex-wife. Scratch that, make it she’d never been referred to as the new girlfriend. Sera also liked how she deliberately called her Stella, acting as if she had no idea who she was.
With her free hand, the one that wasn’t holding a scrunched-up pair of undies, she reached out to meet Catherine’s hand. Not surprising, the handshake was limp, but Sera figured it was the only thing about her that was – there was so much plastic she was positively rigid. Cosmetic enhancements were almost part and parcel of her job. Maybe she was naive, maybe she’d change her mind in ten year’s time, but Sera wasn’t a fan. Catherine, on the other hand, seemed to be an avid fan. Botox? Check. Fillers? Check. Boobs? Double check. Guess it helped to be married to a plastic surgeon.
‘See Mum!’ Levi bounced into the kitchen full of his usual energy. ‘I told you it was Stella from the television!’ Then he turned to Sera and added with a tremendous amount of pride. ‘My mum watches your show every night.’
Catherine’s smirk was wiped off quick-smart.
Out of the mouths of babes…
‘Well, not every night.’ Catherine was clearly flustered, although she was trying her hardest to contain it. Levi opened his mouth, probably to counter his mother, but stopped short when he saw the stern look on her face.
‘Patrick, a word in private please?’
Sera didn’t need for it to be spelled out and she decided to make herself scarce. She turned around and turned the sauce to low to stop it from burning.
‘I’m going to go.’ She saw a puzzled look flash across Patrick’s face. He was going to ask her to stay, but right now the best thing for her was to leave. ‘Sauce is almost done and I’m sure you are capable of boiling some pasta, Patrick.’
‘You’re leaving?’ Poor Levi looked crestfallen and Sera felt a stab of guilt. ‘Yeah, sorry Levi.’ She forced cheeriness in her voice. ‘But you can enjoy dinner with your parents, okay?’ She turned to see a rather triumphant Catherine and in response she widened her fake smile as part of her armour.
‘There is more than enough, please stay and enjoy. I’m sure Levi would love to have dinner with you both.’ She moved to grab her bag and ignored the painful glare that Patrick was throwing in her direction. ‘Nice to meet you, Catherine.’ Her fake smile was cramping her facial muscles, she needed to leave before it froze.
‘Likewise,’ Catherine purred.
‘But the tree…you promised.’ Levi looked at her with puppy- dog eyes and she felt her heart squeeze.
Shit. She forgot about the tree.
‘Sorry, you can decorate it with your dad later, okay?’
Levi gave a solemn nod, his face indicating it was anything but okay, and Sera felt like crap for letting him down.
‘Sera, wait!’
Sera was halfway down the driveway when Patrick caught up with her.
‘I’m sorry that I forgot to mention Catherine was bringing Levi, but it was chaos at work with last-minute prep for the carols night and they weren’t meant to arrive so soon.’ He was genuinely sorry and it was clear in his voice.
‘You don’t have to explain yourself to me. I know how busy things have been leading up to the carols night and the Summer Fair is only about a month away too. I know it was an oversight and really, it’s okay.’ She reached out and squeezed his hand. She was pissed off when Catherine and Levi turned up, but she also knew Catherine wouldn’t be here in person unless she needed something. It was the perfect excuse for her not to stay tonight, but it in light of Catherine’s visit it wasn’t the right time to be discussing their relationship (if you could call it that).
Patrick sighed and pulled her close for a kiss on top of her forehead. ‘I’ll call you later?’
‘Okay,’ she said softly, closing her eyes briefly and doing her best to keep her composure. ‘Tell Levi I’ll make it up to him. I feel bad for letting him down.’
She left Patrick to go back inside and deal with his ex-wife and wondered when it came time to leave them how she would find the strength to walk away.
* * *
‘Where’s Levi?’ Patrick walked back inside and found Catherine inspecting a nail.
‘He’s watching television in the other room. I hope your girlfriend didn’t leave on my account. I’m sorry if I made her feel unwelcome.’ There was nothing apologetic about her tone. ‘She looks…different without make-up, doesn’t she?’
Patrick chose to ignore her last comment, even though he wanted to point out that even without a scrap of make-up on, Sera was a thousand times more beautiful than Catherine with a fully made-up face.
‘Catherine, this is my house, only I have the ability to make someone feel welcome, and only you have the ability to be rude in another person’s home.’
Catherine ran a critical eye around the kitchen and dining areas. ‘It’s a quaint little place, not quite the bachelor pad I had in mind for such an important politician.’
Patrick rolled his eyes. ‘The house suits Levi and me just fine, besides, I’m the mayor, not the prime minister.’ He shoved his hands into the pocket of his jeans.
‘Yes, the mayor of a small town.’ Catherine ran a finger along the surface of his kitchen counter, the very spot he and Sera almost had a steamy romp on. ‘That was always your problem, Patrick. Moderate success was enough for you, that’s how you and Jeffrey differ.’
Patrick fought the urge to roll his eyes once again. ‘Cut to the chase, Catherine. You didn’t come here to insult me because you can do that any old time on the phone. Why are you here?’
‘Jeffrey has a new job.’
‘Please pass my congratulations to Jeffrey.’ Patrick folded his arms, wondering what Catherine was getting to.
‘It’s in Los Angeles.’
Patrick felt every muscle in his body tense. Of all the things he could’ve imagined Catherine saying, every single one of them was preferable to this. Taking his son away from him, moving to another country, it was akin to ripping his beating heart out of his chest. If she thought he was going to sit idle and let it happen she had another thing coming.
‘I won’t allow it. Levi is my son too and if you—’
‘Oh, for goodness sake, Patrick,’ Catherine cut him off and gave a dismissive wave. ‘It’s not forever, it’s a twelve-month secondment.’
Patrick stared at her in astonishment. How could she say it as if it were no big deal? It was LA for a whole year.
‘Catherine, I’m not going twelve months without seeing my son.’
‘I know how much you love Levi. I know that if it wasn’t for him our marriage would’ve ended a lot sooner than it did so I wouldn’t ask that of you.’
Patrick blinked. He was confused. ‘Then what are you asking me?’
‘We need to come to some sort of an agreement. I want Levi with me, of course, but he’ll be starting school in the new year and he needs stability.’
‘Agreed.’ Patrick couldn’t believe the words that were coming out of Catherine’s mouth. Never throughout the whole divorce had she been so reasonable. He wondered how far he could push his luck. ‘Flying him between Coffs and Sydney is one thing, but there is no way we can do that with LA. I think Levi should stay here in Ellesmere during school term and come to LA in the holidays.’
He watched and waited for Catherine’s reaction. Waited for her to disagree and flip it the other way around so that Levi spent the majority of the time in LA, but she floored him once again.
‘That’s exactly what I was thinking. Levi seems to love it here. He talks about the town all the time.’
‘He does love it here, we both do.’ Patrick couldn’t believe it. Catherine had just given him what he always wanted – majority custody.
‘Does Sera love it here? Seems strange that a celebrity would be living in a small town.’
‘Sera doesn’t live here, she’s in town helping a friend of hers who is having some medical issues.’ It was none of Catherine’s business as to why Sera was in Ellesmere.
‘So her stay is only short term?’ she asked slyly.
‘Yes.’ And he resented Catherine for pointing it out.
‘In that case be careful Levi doesn’t grow too attached. He talks about her constantly and I’d hate for him to be hurt when she leaves.’
Patrick felt the tension return to his body. He didn’t need parenting advice from Catherine. Even if he had said something similar to Catherine when Jeffrey had come on the scene. The difference was he’d known from the start Sera wasn’t going to be around forever. Catherine had a point and it irked him that it was a valid one.
‘So you’ll have your solicitor draft the changes to the parenting agreement and send it through to mine?’ Patrick purposely steered the conversation away from Sera.
‘Your new one, Jackson Harper, right?’
‘Yes.’
‘Why’d you change firms?’ Catherine asked curiously.
Patrick shrugged. ‘Was easier having someone that was local.’
There was no need to divulge the real reason. That he’d been planning to go for majority custody anyway. He supposed he needed to thank Jeffrey and his LA secondment.
When Catherine had gone, Patrick gathered Levi and served him the spaghetti that Sera had made for them and over dinner he told his son what had been discussed. Levi was ecstatic and Patrick was too. Having Levi live with him for almost the whole year was something that he could only have dreamed about a few months back.
When dinner was done and Levi was helping him clear up he noticed that his son had gone a little quiet.
‘What’s wrong, mate?’ Patrick crouched down until he was at eye level.
‘Well, I’m really happy that I’m going to be moving to Ellesmere and starting school and all but…’
‘But what?’
‘I wish Sera was moving here too.’
Patrick closed his eyes and hugged him tight. It was the one single aspect of his relationship with Sera that sucked. Just because they’d been honest in telling Levi that Sera wasn’t going to be in town for good didn’t make it any easier on either of them.
‘I really love her, dad.’
Yeah, thought Patrick bitterly. That makes both of us.