Page 229 - The Midnight Library

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happy in this life. She wondered, momentarily, who Alicia was and what she

was like. At least there were good sunsets there.
‘You okay?’ asked Ash, as Nora gazed absent-mindedly at the label.
‘Yeah, sure. It just, um, looks like a good one.’
‘ at’s my absolute fave,’ said Ewan. ‘Such a bloody good wine. Shall we

get it open?’
‘Well,’ said Nora, ‘only if you were going to have a drink anyway.’
‘Well, I’m not,’ said Joe. ‘I’ve been overdoing it a bit recently. I’m in a little
teetotal patch.’

‘You know what your bro is like,’ added Ewan, planting a kiss on Joe’s
cheek. ‘All or nothing.’
‘Oh yeah. I do.’
Ewan already had the corkscrew in his hands. ‘Had one hell of a day at

work. So I’m happy to guzzle the whole lot straight from the bottle if no one
will join me.’
‘I’m in,’ said Ash.
‘I’m okay,’ said Nora, remembering that the last time she had seen him, in

the business lounge of a hotel, her brother had confessed to being an
alcoholic.
ey gave Molly a picture book and Nora read it with her on the sofa.
e evening progressed. ey talked news and music and movies. Joe and

Ewan had quite enjoyed Last Chance Saloon.
A little while later, and to ever yone’s surprise, Nora took a le turn out of
the safe environs of pop culture and cut to the chase with her brother.
‘Did you ever get pissed off with me? You know, for backing out of the

band?’
‘ at was years ago, sis. Lot of water under the bridge since then.’
‘You wanted to be a rock star, though.’
‘He still is a rock star,’ said Ewan, laughing. ‘But he’s all mine.’

‘I always feel like I let you down, Joe.’
‘Well, don’t . . . But I feel like I let you down too. Because I was such an
idiot . . . I was horrid to you for a little while.’
ese words felt like a tonic she had been waiting years to hear. ‘Don’t

worr y about it,’ she managed.
‘Before I was with Ewan, I was so dumb about mental health. I thought
panic attacks were a big nothing . . . You know, mind over matter. Man up,