“Are you going to give us a hint?” Dad asks.
“Hint?” I question, grabbing a sausage roll from the platter my mum hasn’t wrapped yet. My dad is doing the same, earning him a soft slap from my mum.
“The gender,” Mum pushes as she grabs the tin foil.
I nod. “Yeah, it’s a boy… or a girl.”
Mum rolls her eyes, and Dad smiles. “She’s come a long way. I’m glad she found someone,” he says, emotion thick in his throat.
“Me too. Max would like Ethan.”
Max didn’t dislike anyone. He always saw past other’s flaws, choosing to find the good in everyone. It's why he was the very best of us. I know grief has no expiration date. Sometimes it's like a shift in the weather, heavy rainfall on a summer’s day, which clears and dries like it never was. That's how it is, all-consuming one moment and then bearable the next, like he’s trying to comfort me somehow.
I look at my mum, who has this faraway look on her face, and reach out and take her hand, squeezing it, bringing her back to the moment, her smile now one of melancholy.
My dad, clearly sensing it, claps his hands together softly. “Right, let's get the car loaded.”
ChapterThirty-One
NATHAN
I’m just finishing unloading the last few bits from my car when Violet pulls up beside mine. I wait for her to get out and smile.
“Hey, beautiful, miss me?”
She rolls her eyes, but I don’t miss the flush as it works over her cheeks and down her neck to her chest.
“My eyes are up here, buddy,” she says, but there’s only humour in her voice.
I gaze back at her face. “And they are exquisite.”
Shaking her head, she turns back to the car, pulls open the passenger door, and reaches inside.
“Someone trying to get lucky later?” she asks, pulling out two platters. We fall into step together and take the stuff we’re carrying into the hall, placing it on the nearest table.
Before she turns to go back to the car, I pull her against me, causing air to escape her lungs, and then I kiss her.
She doesn’t hesitate or push me away, which warms me in a way I didn’t realise I needed. I don’t get like this, needy, insecure even. We never really spoke about ‘us’, but from the way she’s kissing me back, I think we are on the same page.
“Come on, trouble,” she says. “We’ve got work to do.” She steps out of my embrace, and I wordlessly follow.
* * *
Violet rubs her hands together as she looks over the hall again. I pull her back against my chest and lean my chin on her shoulder.
“Tink, it’s perfect. They’re going to love it.”
“Do you think so?” she asks, tilting her face up toward mine, her expression unsure.
My finger and thumb grip her chin, holding her gaze steady. “No. I know so.”
I wish she had faith in her abilities. The confident woman is there on the surface, but underneath, not so much.
The sound of an engine draws our attention, and I doubt she’ll want to be seen with me touching her. Leaning in, I give her a soft kiss before reluctantly releasing her.
“Okay, Tink, let's get this show on the road.”
She takes a deep breath and draws back her shoulders. The main door swings open as family and friends start to arrive.
