Stephanie’s uncle Terry had been spotted having a…liaison…with another man after dark on Clapham Common in London, back in the seventies. Word had quickly spread around their community, and Stephanie’s father had soon heard about it. The family row that broke out shortly after was now infamous. Terry bravely came out to his brother, was punched in the face for his “perversion,” and then packed a bag and left home. He was now in Australia, living happily in Sydney with his partner. Stephanie’s dad hadn’t spoken to his brother since.

“But what happened with Terry was in a different age,” said Jake. “Society was much less understanding and accepting then. Yes, it was awful for your dad to lose contact with his brother, but do you really think that’s what he’d do with you?”

“I don’t know, I honestly don’t know,” she whispered, shredding the tissue in her hands.

She thought of all the bigotry her dad—and by silent acquiescence, her mum—had spouted over the years. The vitriolic outbursts about “those disgusting people,” the lectures she’d suffered at age eleven after she’d brought home her best friend from school, Julie. Yes, Julie was a bit of a tomboy, but that meant nothing to Stephanie. Julie was just her best mate. But it had been a massive red flag to her parents and resulted in a ban on ever bringing “that kind of girl” home again. She’d tried to explain it to Julie, but how could she when she didn’t understand it herself?

Needless to say, her parents had never met Matt and Jake.

“But what about you in all of this?” Matt asked. “What about what you want, what would make you happy?” She could tell he was trying really hard to keep his voice calm and steady when clearly his emotions were in danger of getting the better of him.

What did she want? What would make her truly happy?

Unbidden, an image of Lou’s face popped into her mind’s eye, smiling that gorgeous, shy little smile she wore whenever they talked about non-work stuff. They hadn’t spent a huge amount of time together, and she really didn’t know Lou all that well, but God, she just felt so herself when she let her guard down with Lou. She didn’t have to play games or strive to impress. She didn’t know if it could ever go anywhere, but deep down, the thought of trying was significantly more exciting than it was terrifying.