MIDNIGHT - HarperCollins NZ

JOSEPHINE COX
Jack gave it a moment’s thought. His answer was a
resounding ‘Nope!’
‘Why not?’
‘Because I’ve been there, done that.’ He smiled. ‘So,
is the inquisition over now, little Miss Nosy?’
‘Don’t you miss the north?’
‘Sometimes.’ He shrugged. ‘I suppose.’
‘What about family and friends – wouldn’t you like
to get back amongst them?’
‘I was an only child and my father died when I was
sixteen,’ Jack answered. ‘My mother soon remarried
and moved to America with her new husband. I heard
later that she’d taken on three teenage children, a
house the size of Buckingham Palace, and money
coming out of their ears.’ He gave a wry little smile. ‘I
never heard from her again. But it didn’t matter,
because even before she left she never had any time
for me. I think she saw me as a waste of space.’
‘Aw, that’s awful!’ The young woman could not
imagine life without her own, doting parents.
‘Truth is, I never missed her after she was gone. I’d
been left to my own devices for years. So, when Dad
died and Mother took off, I sorted myself out, just like
I’d always done.’
When she had abandoned him, his mother left him
an address, but she must have moved quickly on,
because when he wrote to that address, the letter came
back, stamped Return to Sender. He was not surprised.
In the end, he set about making his own way in the
world.
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