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Back In Pursuit of Happiness
Chapters (45)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. Prologue
  4. 1
  5. 2
  6. 3
  7. 4
  8. 5
  9. 6
  10. 7
  11. 8
  12. 9
  13. 10
  14. 11
  15. 12
  16. 13
  17. 14
  18. 15
  19. 16
  20. 17
  21. 18
  22. 19
  23. 20
  24. 21
  25. 22
  26. 23
  27. 24
  28. 25
  29. 26
  30. 27
  31. 28
  32. 29
  33. 30
  34. 31
  35. 32
  36. 33
  37. 34
  38. 35
  39. 36
  40. 37
  41. Epilogue
  42. Acknowledgments
  43. More from Freya Kennedy
  44. About the Author
  45. About Boldwood Books

Jo couldn’t deny that she had had both a spring in her step and had enjoyed her days with Lorcan. But then they had fallen out and he had been an arsehole, and she had done her fair share of being an arsehole too. But that was all a big misunderstanding. Even so, she reminded herself, it didn’t change the fact that Lorcan still had a picture of his ex as his screen saver and had clearly been through a lot during their prolonged break-up.

‘It’s not really about how I looked or felt though,’ she told her mother.

‘Maybe not. Well, not entirely anyway. But that look of contentment? You can’t fake that – and he had it in spades. Let me tell you, Jo Campbell, when you meet a man who isn’t afraid to make a complete eejit of himself in public to make a child feel better about themselves, you should do your best to hang on to him.’

Jo went to bed with her mother’s words ringing in her ears. She thought of Lorcan, and how easily he had slipped into silly mode when Clara was around. How he had encouraged Jo to be silly too – to unleash that side of her that maybe had become increasingly sensible. The part of her she thought she’d left in Spain.

She thought of that first day they spent together pretending to be tourists. How they never ran out of things to talk about. She thought of how he was with Paddy, happy to be dragged by the lead by an exuberant dog, but always tender enough to acknowledge Paddy’s need for a scratch, or his lift of a paw. And she thought of how he watched out for her. He didn’t need to do that. He owed her nothing and yet he had laid his life bare for her – revealing some of his most private and painful moments to her. Offering to help with her Ewan-related crisis when he absolutely didn’t have to.

But maybe that was just him. How he was with everyone. Just like his grandad, he went out of his way to help others. Maybe he just wanted to help Jo, nothing more, nothing less. Although that thought made her feel a little sad.

34

While You Were Sleeping

She should’ve been tired, but Jo found herself energised when morning came around. She didn’t question why her mood was so positive, she just allowed herself to enjoy it.