Silver Linings (Andy Barber)

-2-

"So I met Mr Barber yesterday..." Sadie chewed on her sandwich while she, Genevieve and Natalie sat in the local café a couple of days later. "And oh my gooood, the man is gorgeous! Y'know if I wasn't married? I would."

"You still would even if you were married." Natalie smirked and looked across to Genevieve who was sorting the same expression. "Well we could hook Gen up?"

Genevieve rolled her eyes, "Please, no guy wants to date a woman in my position." Glancing into the pram where Cora was sleeping soundly. "In their eyes I'm probably a red flag"

Sadie reached over and squeezed her hand. "Gen, I know your opinion of the male population isn't great at the moment, but they're not all assholes, and Andy seems like a nice guy, a little quiet if I'm honest..."

"Andy?" Gen sat bolt upright.

It was him...

"Yeah? I took him a bottle of wine to welcome him to the town and blah blah blah, he was very nice, and I'm not lying when I say he has a face carved by the gods!" Sadie laughed into her coffee, "Seriously though Gen, what's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"Did he say why he decided to move here?"

Sadie shrugged, "Something about his job. He's transferred from Newton, worked in the DA's office over there. He seems pretty reserved."

"Yeah...he was always like that..." Gen said to herself, then realising that Sadie and Natalie now were looking at her. "I need to get back, I have some laundry to do." and stood up before they could interrogate her further, navigating the pram out from behind the table and saying goodbye to her friends.

So it was most certainly Andy.

Even now while Genevieve strolled along the waterfront she was debating as to whether she should see him. Perhaps he'd forgotten all about her?

She hoped not.

Cora began to wail signalling that she needed feeding. Gen settled herself onto a bench, getting the bottle she'd brought with her and seeing that her daughter was satisfied. She remembered always sitting along here with Andy when school was out, they'd watch the boats for hours, talking about anything and everything.

"So what are you gonna do when you grow up?" She asked him one hot day in August as they sat together, eating some of the snacks they'd brought.

"Stop people like my dad..." He'd replied without hesitation. "He hurt my mom and other people."

"He in prison?" Gen asked innocently and Andy nodded. "Do you go and see him?"

He shook his head. "No...I never wanna see him again..."

"You don't have to if he's in there."

The conversation had been so innocent and casual that it was almost laughable the more she thought about it now.

Gazing down at Cora, Gen could only wish for a good life for her, whether there was a male figure present or not. Jack had wanted nothing more to do with them, so getting child support was going to be hard. Natalie had stopped her from putting his name on the birth certificate stating that he didn't deserve to be known as a father, because he wasn't prepared to step up as one. She was right. If he had been then he would have stayed and not ran off with the other woman he had on the side, like the coward he was.

"We'll be fine...we don't need him." Gen told Cora quietly and sat her up to burp her, dropping the bottle and sending it rolling down the path. "Great..." she sighed and juggled Cora as she went to get up to fetch it.