“Is there anybody in this area you don’t know?” I tease.

He smiles. “Well, it’s a pretty small world here. Which has its pluses and minuses.”

“At the moment I think I’m only seeing the minuses.”

His eyebrows quirk upward. “Sounds like you’re thinking of something specific.”

I shrug awkwardly. “I guess I’m just not used to people knowing about my father. And it sounds horribly selfish, but I hadn’t really considered that it would have had an impact on other people. Other than me and my mother, I mean.” He’s still looking at me quizzically. “Well, Ali seemed to dislike me from the off—”

“Ach, he doesn’t mean to be rude—”

“Yes, he does,” I say mildly.

“Okay, yes, sometimes he does, but he’s a good guy underneath it all. He’s just . . . complicated.” He cocks his head. “Why, are you thinking it’s related to your father?”

“My lawyer told me Jamieson & Sons went under when the insurance wouldn’t pay after the diamonds went missing.”

Ben snorts. “They went under because Ali’s dad started drinking like there was no tomorrow and finally left his mother. Which was something of a problem for the operation of a family-run business. Granted that all happened about the same time, but I think they would probably have weathered the insurance storm if Ali’s dad had had his eye on the ball.”

“Oh.” I digest that for a moment. It shouldn’t make me feel lighter—I shouldn’t feel in any way responsible for my father—but it does. “Does Ali see his dad now?”

“Sometimes. He’s dried himself out and is living on the Continent. Sometimes Ali goes across to see him. The whole thing was pretty brutal on him at the time.”

“Yours seems an odd friendship.”