Page 43 of And A Partridge on Pear Street

“I love you too, dickhead.”

“You want to go back in? Ready for apology number two?” I smirk at him and he rolls his eyes, but he heads back toward the house with a slap on my back.

“All joking aside, mate, if you hurt Nel, Iwillbreak your pretty face.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

“I think we both need to stop apologising,”

NEL

Lisa leads me away from Harry and Jake toward the kitchen. I look back to catch Jake’s eye, but Harry is between us, shoving a coat into Jake’s chest. We go to the garage to Lisa’s little prep station and she starts pulling platters out of a fridge and arranging snacks on them.Holy Hell, more food?We’re silent for a little while, letting my mind wonder to what just happened.

Harry seemed hurt at the thought of me believing him to be ashamed of me, his green eyes looking so pained. The concept of Jake not being good enough for me is not sinking in. That is the complete opposite of fact. Jake is the whole package complete with ribbon, I’m missing items and lost in the post. I wonder what they’re saying to each other right now.

“He loves you, you know?” Lisa says, her back to me as she busies herself with cheese and crackers.

“Jake?” I squeak.

She chuckles. “Sure. But I was talking about Harry.”

I sag a little in relief, I’m pretty sure. Jake and I haven’t even been on a date yet, it would weird to be talking about love. “I know Harry loves me,” I say.

“Do you?” She still isn’t looking at me, so I frown at her back. What an odd question. “You know that he loves you as a sibling should, but do you know that he cares about you more than he lets on?”

“I care about him too,” I mumble.

She finally turns around and faces me with a warm smile. “I know, Nel. Harry’s been worried about you after your parents.” I swallow down the familiar ball of emotion at the mention of Mum and Dad. “He doesn’t always know how to be there for people and he usually speaks without thinking but he wants to be there for you, Nel.”

I blink at her, still unsure of what to say, so I just wait for her to continue.

“He might have told you that I wanted to make your mum’s pie for you, and it was absolutely true, but he was the one who suggested it. He was the one who went through all her old handwritten recipes to find the right one. He was also the one to tell Rhiannon and Luke to stay here to give you the excuse to stay at the hotel, he knew you’d be more comfortable there.”

My eyes well and my lips tremble. I honestly had no idea Harry cared that much. I didn’t realise he was anything but annoyed at me.

“And look at how well that turned out for you,” Lisa smirks and I blush. “Harry doesn’t have a problem with you and Jake.”

“Definitely sounded like he does,” I laugh without humour.

She shrugs, not worried at all. “He just doesn’t like to be surprised and you surprised him. I mean, you could have kept your hands to yourself while you were here,” her words are scolding but there’s no anger, she just laughs.

“It was Jake!” I defend.

“Because he is seriously into you.” I blush again. “Don’t let your inner demons drown out the reality, Nel.”

“What makes you say that?”

She shrugs again. “I’ve known you a while, even if I don’t see you that often.” She hadn’t meant that as a dig but it still thumped at my chest.

“I’m sorry I don’t come by,” I say to the ground.

She waves a hand and makes a dismissive sound. “I get it, it’s loud and chaotic in this house most of the time.”

“Still, I’ve been a kind of shitty sister.”

“Yeah, well, Harry can be a shitty brother sometimes.” When I raise my brows at her she gives another little chuckle. “I see it. But he doesn’t mean it.”

The door between the garage and the kitchen opens and my brother stands there, wearing his black coat, holding my beige one. His cheeks are ruddy from the cold, the tips of his ears pink, and his hair a little wild where he’s obviously been running his hand through it.