She laughs and kisses me again, and it feels like coming home; like my birthday and Christmas and Valentine’s Day all rolled into one. I don’t think I’ve ever felt this happy.I take her through to the bedroom, go over to the bed, and toss the duvet onto the floor. Turning, I sit and lie back, bringing her with me. Astride me, she makes herself comfortable and strokes my hair back off my forehead.“You’re so handsome,” she murmurs. “You make my heart ache.” She kisses my jaw, brushing her lips against my stubble, to behind my ear. “Your hair’s damp. You’ve had a shower.”“I went to the gym. I tried to run off my lust, but it didn’t work.”She laughs and presses her lips around to my mouth. “Can I help with that?”“I wish you would.”She kisses me, and I smooth my hands down her back over her sweater, enjoying the feel of her small, slim frame, her sexy curves. Holding her butt, I tilt my hips up, and she sighs as I press my erection into her mound.I can’t feel much though because she
ElizabethI eventually fall asleep, and when I finally awake, the room is filled with bright sunshine. I roll onto my back and stretch out an arm, and discover Nymph’s curly fur rather than the muscular body I’d been hoping to find. Outside, in the kitchen, comes the sounds of someone preparing coffee.Rising, I dress quickly, then click my fingers at Nymph, and she jumps off the bed.I go out into the living room and cross to the breakfast bar. He looks over from where he’s making the coffee. He’s wearing his track pants and a fresh tee, and his hair is all ruffled.“Morning,” he says, and smiles.“Hey. I’ll… um… just take Nymph out.”“Sure. Take the keys with you—they’re by the door.”I nod, collect the keys, put my shoes on, and take Nymph down with me to the garden. While she sniffs around and does her business, I sit on the wall where I took the photo last night, my stomach a jumble of emotions. Overriding them all, though, is the undeniable joy I feel at being here, with Huxley.
My musings are interrupted as there’s a knock on the door.Brandy stops talking, her eyebrows rising. “Are you expecting anyone?”“No,” he says. “Nobody ever knocks here.” Wiping his hands on a tea towel, he walks across to the door and opens it. “Fuck,” he says.It’s enough to make me look around, because he never swears in front of Joanna. A man is standing there. He’s a little shorter than Hux, and much thinner, and at first I think he’s a lot older because his face is quite lined.“Wait,” Huxley says, but the guy comes into the living room, then stops as he realizes there are people there. Nymph goes to rush past me, barking, but I grab her collar and hold it firmly.Next to me, Brandy gives an audible gasp, and says, “Guy!”Guy? Huxley’s brother? I stare at him, shocked. No, it’s true, now he’s closer I can see he must only be a few years older than Hux.He looks at Brandy, frowns, and then his face clears as he obviously recognizes her. His jaw drops. “Brandy?” he asks slowly.H
Huxley“What the fuck?” I say in a furious whisper as I frog-march Guy down to the corridor. “I told you never to come here. What the hell do you think you’re doing?”“I needed to see you,” Guy says miserably.I bang on the button to call the elevator, still holding onto his arm in case he tries to go back to the apartment. I’ve never been this angry. I can’t believe he just turned up, right when Brandy and Joanna were there.I also can’t believe Brandy told Joanna that I’m not her birth father. I feel hurt and shocked. Why didn’t she discuss it with me? She said she did it last year. So Joanna’s known for months? She’s never said anything to me. Why didn’t she talk to me about it?Fury boils in my veins. I made a huge sacrifice to be her father. I’m not going to have Guy waltz in now and ruin everything.And Elizabeth… I’ve worked incredibly hard to keep my secret over the years, for Brandy and Joanna’s sake. What is she going to think now?The elevator doors ping and open. I push Gu
ElizabethThe door opens, and Huxley quietly comes in.Brandy, Joanna, and I are sitting in the living room, but we all stand as he walks toward us. Nymph goes up and nuzzles his hand, and he ruffles her ears before stopping by the sofa, and slides his hands into his pockets.“Do I need a crash helmet?” he asks.Brandy promptly bursts into tears.He sighs, goes up to her, and puts his arms around her.“I should have told you.” She buries her face in his shirt. “I’m so sorry.”“It’s all right.” He rubs her back. “I’m sorry for being in touch with Guy and not telling you.”“He’s your brother,” she says with a sniff. “You didn’t have to tell me.”“I know, but even so. I didn’t want you to get hurt. But he says he’s sorry. He said he was a different man back then, and he regrets what he did.”She rests her forehead on his chest, and he kisses the top of her head.Then he looks across at Joanna. She’s standing there, still white-faced. “Are you okay, sweetheart?” He holds out a hand. “I’m
HuxleyAround midday, I’m inspecting one of the boardrooms in the club with Victoria, trying to decide whether it’s worth getting a new set of chairs, when she glances over at the doorway and says, “Oh, hey.”I turn and see Mack leaning against the door jamb, hands in his pockets, watching us.“Hello,” I say. “You’re back.” He and Sidnie have been in Fiji for their honeymoon. Sidnie told him she didn’t expect him to take time off to go away with her, but he insisted. I thought he might only make a few days before he flew back, but he lasted the whole week, and now he looks tanned and relaxed. “Have a good time?”“Fabulous,” he says, and smiles.“Lots of sex?” Victoria asks.“Hardly got out of bed the whole time. Sidnie said she’s walking like John Wayne when he gets off his horse.” He chuckles, and we both laugh.He pushes off the post and comes into the room. “I’ve just spoken to Elizabeth.”I meet his eyes and my lips curve up slowly. “Ah.”He shakes his head slowly. “I knew it.”“K
I take out my phone, pull up Spotify, and press play, and The Beatles’Don’t Let Me Down Begins playing—one of her favorite songs that we danced to on the yacht. Leaving the phone on the seat, I hold out a hand.Elizabeth lifts an eyebrow. I flick my fingers toward me. She glances around. A man is walking his red setter on the other side of the fountain, and a couple is just exiting the circle around the fountain, but otherwise it’s quiet. Her lips twitch, and she slides her hand into mine and lets me pull her to her feet.I hold her right hand with my left, and slide my right into the dip of her back. She rests her left hand on my shoulder. And slowly, we begin to move to the music.“What’s this about?” she asks softly.I clear my throat. “I’ve been thinking about you a lot. Almost non-stop, actually.”“Me too.” She brushes my shoulder with her thumb. “How’s Joanna?”“She’s fine.”“No ill effects from Guy’s visit?”“No, not at all. We had a lovely day on Sunday, actually. If anything,
ElizabethI haven’t replied, because I’m completely in shock.Huxley’s asking me to marry him?He’d wait for me? For two years?I can’t believe it. After all this time… after I’ve turned him down every month for ten years… He still wants me?I look down at him, and all at once the floodgates open and emotion bursts through me like water through a crack in a dam. “Oh my God, of course I’ll marry you, you idiot.”His eyes light up, and he rises slowly to his feet. “Seriously?”“And pass up the chance to wear this ring?” I tease. “You’ve got to be kidding me.” I stare at it. The diamond is absolutely huge. I’ve never seen one so big. Jesus, I’m almost too frightened to touch it.Gently, he removes it from the box, picks up my hand, and slides it onto my fourth finger. It fits perfectly, and it glitters in the autumn sun.“It’s so beautiful,” I say breathlessly.“I’m glad you like it.”I look up at him then and laugh. “Of course I like it.” I throw my arms around him, and he hugs me, lifti
June 21st (two months later)KipIt’s the winter solstice, exactly six months after I met Alice, and Mum and Dad’s house is full of people who’ve come to celebrate the renewal of Saxon and Catie’s vows and their baby-naming ceremony. Saxon sprung a wedding on her after Christmas while they were on holiday, because he wanted to marry her but knew she’d be overwhelmed by having to say her vows in front of lots of people. However, six months have gone by now, and she’s settled down a lot, to the extent that when he suggested they combine a naming ceremony with a vow renewal ceremony, she jumped at the idea.Dad’s twin brother, Brandon, and my aunt, Jenny, are chatting to Mum and Alice’s mum. Penny has been spending a lot of time with Mum, and I’m so pleased that they genuinely seem to get on well. Penny’s holding one of Catie’s twins and Mum’s holding the other, and the two of them are clearly enjoying themselves.Kennedy’s helping Catie get ready. Her husband, Jackson, with baby Eddie, i
He holds out a hand to me. “Let’s go outside.”Meekly, my head whirling, I let him pull me up and lead me out into the garden. It’s dark now, and a couple of moths are fluttering around the kitchen window, but there’s enough light for us to see each other clearly, and it’s not cold.Still standing, he turns me to face him. “What do you think?” he asks.“I don’t know what to say. I… I’m ashamed Mum feels that Charlie and I didn’t listen to her. She’s right of course. I was determined to make the sacrifice because I thought it was what I should do. But she is still my mother, and she deserves to have a say in it.”I look down at where he’s holding my hands. “But it’s not easy. It would be a huge change for her to move, and I know that change is one thing she really struggles with. When anything big happens, it always makes her unwell.”“That’s fair enough, but we’d make sure we did it in small steps so it didn’t become too overwhelming.” He lifts my hands and kisses my fingers. “Whateve
I glance at Charlie, a little ashamed. She looks back at me, her lips twisting.“I don’t think it occurred to either of you to ask me what I want,” Mum says. “And every time I tried to talk about it, you shut me down.”I stare at her, horrified. Is that true? I suppose it is. She did try to say she wanted to find a solution that would mean neither of us would have to give up the men in our lives, but we both steamrollered over her, insisting we weren’t going to cave.“When I talked to Kip, though,” Mum continues, “he said, ‘What do you want?’ I was so touched I nearly cried.”I glance at him, but he’s looking at her, his lips curving up behind his fingers.Mum looks at me. “As I said, I appreciate everything you’ve done for me. But I’m not going to let either of you pass up on the chance of happiness with the man of your dreams for me. Alice!” She snaps as I open my mouth. “Please!”I close my mouth again, shocked at her sharp tone.“I know that over the years you’ve had to step up an
AliceI’m absolutely shattered.Charlie’s revelation yesterday threw all three of us into a whirlwind of heightened emotions, and it’s been very difficult to stop them spinning us around.Mum went to bed early last night, exhausted from the whole thing, and the two of us stayed up until very late, checking on her from time to time, both frightened of leaving her alone.“We have to sort this,” Charlie told me at one point, long after the sun had set. “We can’t keep doing this to her.”“I know that,” I snapped. But I couldn’t see a way clear through the thick forest of our problems.In the end, both of us were so tired and irritable and upset that we decided to sleep on it and talk again the next day.I lay awake for about an hour, thinking about Kip, missing him, and feeling miserable, and fighting with myself because he’s my best friend, and I wanted to call him and talk it over with him, and I couldn’t. Eventually I crashed out, slept too long, and I’ve woken with a headache, grouchy
I sigh. “Shit.”“Yeah. She was so happy, and I just couldn’t bring myself to say it. I kept thinking about the baby, and I knew I had to try and make a go of my marriage for the baby’s sake. So I stayed. I told Renée I couldn’t see her again. She texted me occasionally, but we didn’t meet up. I tried, I really did. But Chloe had morning sickness for the first few months, and after that she just didn’t want sex—she said it felt weird while she was pregnant. And then the baby was born, and even a few months after, she still wasn’t interested. I tried to be understanding, and accept she was tired and probably sore, but… I know it makes me a terrible person, but I just kept thinking about how Renée wanted me, and how good she made me feel… And then one day she contacted me again and asked to see me. And I’m only human, Kip. I was lonely, and I know it sounds pathetic and childish and makes me an arsehole, but I was angry with Chloe for not wanting me, and for not taking my needs into acco
KipAfter my long phone call with Penny, I send a text to Sam, the pilot of the Knight Sky, then take my laptop out onto the deck and spend half an hour browsing and jotting down some notes until the doorbell goes. I answer it to find Craig standing there. To my relief, there’s no sign of Renée. I’m tempted to say, ‘So she let you out on your own, then?’ but I manage to restrain myself.“Jesus,” he says, staring at my eye, “what happened to you?”“Don’t ask,” I reply wryly. “Come in.” I stand back and let him pass, close the door, and follow him down the steps. “You want a coffee?”He shrugs. “Okay.”I take it as a sign that he’s planning to stay at least long enough to have a drink, and turn on the machine. “Thanks for coming,” I say as I start the espresso pouring. “I wasn’t sure you’d agree to it.” I glance at him. “Was Renée okay with you coming?” I’m genuinely curious, as I was convinced she’d arrive with him.He sits on one of the barstools and scratches at a mark on the counter.
He puts his arm around her. “It’s amazing,” he says softly. “Thank you.” The last ounce of resentment has vanished from his eyes.“They’re lovely gifts,” Mum tells me. “Well done.”One of the babies—Liam, I think, because he’s wearing red—stirs in the cot, waving his tiny fists in the air.“Can I pick him up?” I ask, and Catie wipes her eyes and nods..“Of course.”I lift the baby out and walk beneath the umbrella so he doesn’t have the sun in his eyes.“Hey, little fella,” I murmur, and he looks up at me with his big blue eyes. He smells sweet, of milk and talcum powder, and when I stroke his cheek with a finger, he grabs it and tries to suck it. I chuckle and look at Saxon, who’s watching me with a smile.I feel a huge swell of relief. It’s the first step to putting things right with the people I love, and it feels damn good.I just hope I can do something similar with Craig and Alice.*I stay for another hour, drinking my coffee and chatting to my family. Then, just before midday,
KipI read it several times, then send it.It’s time to head over to my parents’ house. Dad bought each of us a breathalyzer when we were younger so we could make sure we weren’t over the limit after a few drinks. I haven’t used it for a while as I don’t tend to drink at all when I’m driving, but I take it out of the cupboard and blow into it, relieved to find I’m well under.Taking the presents with me, I get into the Merc and head out into the sunny morning.When I pull up at the house, Saxon’s Aston is already there, gleaming in the sunshine. I pick up the parcels and make my way inside, my stomach fluttering. It’s been a long time since I’ve had the need to apologize for bad behavior.As I pass the kitchen I see Mum there, talking to Pamela as they load a tray with cups of coffee. They both look over as I stop and walk in. Pamela gives a wry smile, and Mum gives me a look that says, ‘What am I going to do with you?’“Morning,” I say, going up to Mum, leaving the parcels on the cou
KipI vomit twice more in the night, but luckily Damon’s there to help me stumble to the bathroom, and to encourage me to drink more water. So when I eventually wake up for real, I feel a tad fragile, but not half as bad as I might have done if he hadn’t been there.I check the time—07:14. The sun is up, flooding the room with pale yellow light. The sky is such a light blue that it’s almost white.The bed next to me is empty, and I can’t hear Damon upstairs.Still no message or calls from Alice, but there are a few others waiting for me. The first is from Damon.Hey bro, I left around two a.m. once you stopped throwing up. Take the Panadol and drink the orange juice, then go apologize to Saxon and Catie and I’m sure you’ll feel better. DThe second is from my father.I’d like to see you here at eleven a.m., kiddo. Make sure you’re not over the limit. Dad xHe hasn’t called me kiddo for years. It’s obviously a reflection of my behavior last night.The third and fourth are from Saxon. The