His sister squinted her eyes then stood back and put her hands on her hips. ‘What’s wrong with it?’
‘Nothing!’
‘Then what’s with the face?’
‘No face,’ he replied, jaw still tense. ‘Same old face.’
‘I don’t think so.’
He threw her a look that told her to leave it. I knew exactly what the problem was and, having witnessed their close relationship earlier, had no wish to cause any ripples in that particular pond by her thinking he was turning his nose up at her cooking.
‘I just think your brother would rather eat elsewhere. We have differing viewpoints on the renovation of my house.’
‘Oh,’ Julie said, apparently relieved that the problem was not with her food. Then she cast a glance around. ‘Well, sorry, big brother, we’re full, so you’ll both have to just agree to disagree for the moment. Enjoy!’ she said and walked back to the counter.
I took another bite of my food, trying not to smile.
‘Don’t think I can’t see you smiling over there.’
I widened my eyes as I swallowed my mouthful. ‘I don’t know what you mean.’
Jesse gave a grunt and concentrated on demolishing his lunch. I finished mine, put the plate aside and returned to my research, sipping on the refill of coffee Julie had just provided me with. I switched screens back to my vision boards for the house and scanned through the one for the bedroom. The scheme was soft and feminine, romantic and cosy – all of the things that my London apartment hadn’t been. But then I’d been a fan of the minimalistic look. Working long hours had meant I wasn’t always there an awful lot and if I was, I had my head buried in a laptop. So it had been quite a surprise to find that the mood board I was creating for the main bedroom began to come together in a style I’d never thought I’d consider. But it felt right.
‘Is that for the main bedroom?’ Jesse interrupted my thoughts, and I looked up to see him glancing over at the screen.
‘Yes,’ I replied. ‘Although I suspect you’re about to tell me that’s all wrong too.’
He wiped his mouth with his napkin and placed it back on his lap. Interesting. For someone who seemed so rough around the edges, his grasp of table etiquette was on point.
‘Nope. Not at all. From what I can see, it looks perfect.’ The smile flashed on his face. ‘Don’t look so shocked. And…’ he cleared his throat ‘…I apologise if earlier seemed like “mansplaining” to you. That wasn’t my intention. I just wouldn’t want you to waste your money on a bad job.’
‘Thank you. I appreciate the apology. Well…’ I drained the last of the coffee and then pushed my chair back. ‘Things to do.’
‘People to see?’
‘Unlikely, as I don’t know a soul, but yes, that kind of thing.’
‘You should come round for dinner.’ Julie popped up at my elbow.
‘Oh! No, that’s really kind of you but it was just a turn of phrase. I’m fine, really.’
Her hand was back on her hip.
‘Do you know anyone around here?’
I opened my mouth, glanced at Jesse, who was now resting his chin on his steepled fingers, watching, the faintest hint of amusement on a mouth that some might call tempting.
‘Well, no, but?—’
‘That’s that, then. We always have a big roast on a Sunday and you have to come. It’s got to be ever so lonely up there. Oh, go on, say you’ll come. We never get any new and interesting people around here.’ She had the same big, grey eyes as her brother and they were hard to say no to. Just as I imagined it would be hard to say no to him, given the right situation but that was certainly not something I needed to worry about.
‘I wouldn’t want to inconvenience anyone.’
‘No inconvenience!’ Julie replied, grinning now. ‘Lunch is at one so Jesse can come and get you about half twelve. Sound OK?’
‘Oh no, I don’t need a lift, honestly.’ Now that I’d had my rear windscreen repaired, at least one thing I owned had all its windows as they should be.
‘Of course you do. You’ve got to have a glass of wine, or two.’
