‘You look like you’re in a dream world.’
I’m about to tell him that that’s exactly how I feel when we both hear the thud of not-so-little footsteps thundering down the stairs followed by an exuberant call of ‘Uncle Zach!’ Next thing I know, my nieces have leapt into my arms for their customary koala hug and I’m staggering back against the front door with the weight of twin 5-year-olds throwing themselves at me.
‘Did you guys grow since I last saw you?’ I puff as they finally jump back down.
‘Can we borrow your phone to take selfies?’ Fran asks, ignoring what I said.
‘No phones! Not until you’re older,’ Raff butts in, doing his best stern dad impression. ‘Honestly Zach, you wouldn’t believe the stuff they can access on there now. Francesca, Sienna, go up and finish packing please. No more arguments.’
As they clatter off, I lean my arm around Raff in an embrace.
‘Hello bro. You look …’
‘Shattered? Like a shell of my former self?’ Raff offers.
‘I was going for “well”.’
‘I do not,’ he laughs. ‘I look like a man in his mid-thirties who is completely at the mercy of three fiery Italian women. You, on the other hand, look like you’ve just stepped off a Dolce and Gabbana shoot. You carefree bastard. I cannot wait to take the piss out of your beer belly and grey hair when you’re in my position.’
‘I think the term is “salt and pepper”,’ I smile, ruffling Raff’s tangled hair. It’s a wild and admittedly more grey version of my own.
‘Thanks for doing this,’ he says as we walk into the kitchen. ‘The holiday cottage won’t accept pets and I couldn’t leave Tiny with anyone else.’
“Tiny” is anything but. Sienna and Fran came up with the name when their St Bernard puppy arrived and he outgrew it about three days later. He’s now the size of a small pony and barking at birds in the garden. When he sees me through the French windows Tiny bounds in and I’m almost knocked over for the second time this morning.
Raff hands me a coffee and looks affectionately at his dog. ‘It’s bad that I’d prefer to be going on this holiday with just the hound, isn’t it?’
‘Yes it is. You’ve got a wonderful wife and two brilliant daughters you lucky git. You don’t deserve them’
‘Things would be a lot more chilled though,’ Raff says wistfully as I shake my head at him. Pulling up a seat at the table, I settle into the familiar feeling of being home. Raff moved out to a peaceful village in the Peak District not long after the girls were born and the life he’s made here is awesome. I’m quite jealous, actually. It’s a warm, chaotic home that has become the family focal point Raff and I never really had when we were growing up. I crave something similar for myself.
‘You should be bloody grateful,’ I tut.
‘I know,’ he yawns. ‘And I usually am. You try to feel grateful when you’re woken up by having two plastic dinosaurs poked into your eye before six in the morning. Anyway, there’s food and beer in the fridge, dog food in the utility. Tiny eats a lot so you’ll need to …’
‘This is not my first time house-sitting, remember? Me and Tiny will be just fine.’
‘Of course you will,’ Raff’s wife Ellie says as she walks into the kitchen. We greet each other with cheek-kisses. ‘I’ve put some prosecco in the fridge in case you have guests,’ she winks at me.
‘Guests, plural? Jesus,’ Raff looks baffled.
‘All right, Grandad,’ I laugh. ‘There may be one guest, actually. I was thinking about inviting Alice out here.’
Ellie pulls up a chair and looks at me expectantly.
‘Alice?’ She repeats.
‘Alice.’
Ellie’s eyes widen with the promise of some news. ‘Even saying her name has got you grinning like you just won the lottery. Care to share?’
‘I take it she’s new?’ Raff prods.
‘We met at my art exhibition and ended up hanging out afterwards, which sort of turned into a non-date kind of date. We’ve been on two more proper dates since then,’ I say, blowing on my hot drink.
Ellie drums her fingers on the kitchen table. ‘Come on, Zach! Can’t we have a bit more information than that? Your brother and I have been married for, like, six years now and all we talk about these days is who’s turn it is to do the school drop off or which box set we’re going to watch next. We need some excitement in our lives!’
‘Hey! We both really enjoyed that chat about our pension plans last night.’
