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Looking up, he caught sight of her and smiled. ‘Hey, good-looking.’
The tightness in Jessie’s chest eased, the familiarity of family making her feel safe and secure. ‘That should be my line, shouldn’t it?’ She gave Linc a light kiss on the cheek. ‘As in what you got cookin’?’
‘About a half a cow,’ Linc joked. ‘I hope you’re hungry.’
Where once the teasing admiration in her brother-in-law’s eyes would have had Jessie blushing profusely, now she simply felt a warm, comfortable feeling settle in.
‘Stop flirting with my sister and watch what you’re doing,’ Ali called out from behind them. ‘I don’t want burnt cow again, thank you very much.’
Jessie turned to see her sister flopped in a large armchair. Emmy giggled, glancing up from the jigsaw she was piecing together by her mother’s feet.
‘Stop your belly-aching, woman,’ Linc replied, giving Jessie a conspiratorial wink.
Jessie grinned back at him, then sat down in the chair next to her sister. ‘Still feeling exhausted?’
Ali adjusted herself in her seat and huffed. ‘No, not really, I just have this devilish urge to make Linc’s life hell at the moment.’ The twinkle in her eyes was positively wicked. ‘After all, he’s the one responsible for this.’ Ali laid her palms heavily on the impressive mound of her belly.
‘The way I heard it,’ Jessie leant in and whispered to her sister, ‘he wasn’t the only one there.’
Ali laughed and gave her a light slap on the arm. ‘Hey, you’re supposed to be on my side. And by the way, while we’re talking about sisterly solidarity,’ she continued, giving Jessie’s figure a quick appraisal, ‘it would help if you didn’t look like a super-model while I look like a beached whale.’
‘Thanks, I think,’ Jessie replied.
‘Mummy, when’s Uncle Monroe going to be here?’ Emmy’s sleepy enquiry made Jessie’s pulse spike.
‘Soon, honey,’ Ali replied, her voice relaxed. ‘What time did you tell him, Jess?’
‘I don’t remember. But he can see the pool terrace from his bedroom window, he must know we’re out here.’
‘Good point,’ Ali remarked, eyeing her sister thoughtfully. ‘You know, it’s funny,’ Ali continued, her voice suspiciously light, ‘but I’ve noticed it’s only your invitations that he accepts.’
Jessie’s head swung round, the gaze that had strayed up to Monroe’s apartment window focused on her sister again. ‘What are you trying to say?’
‘Nothing. Just that he’s quite a hunk, isn’t he?’
‘I…I guess so,’ Jessie sputtered, seeing the sharp look on her sister’s face. She tensed. This was what she’d been afraid of. Did her sister think she was developing some sort of ridiculous crush on Monroe?
Ali touched Jessie’s arm, her voice softened. ‘I happen to know from experience, Jess, that the Latimer men are hard to resist.’
‘I don’t know what you mean.’
‘All I’m saying is, if you need to talk, I’m here.’ Ali smiled, patting her rounded belly. ‘In fact, I’m anchored to the spot.’
Linc had started piling the steaks onto a large serving plate when Jessie spotted Monroe’s tall figure strolling towards them in the darkening twilight.
Emmy scrambled out of her lap. ‘Uncle Roe!’ The little girl dashed across the lawn towards him, her drowsiness forgotten in a spurt of excitement.
Jessie watched as Monroe swung his niece up in his arms.
‘Emmy’s certainly fallen for him,’ Ali murmured next to her. Jessie didn’t dare turn round, worried her face had the same adoring look on it that Emmy’s did.
Monroe hefted Emmy easily into his arms, enjoying her sleepy commentary on the ‘hours and hours and hours’ she’d been waiting for him. She clung to his neck, her light breath on his cheek making him feel good and at the same time strangely uneasy.
He’d watched the little group on the pool terrace from his apartment window for nearly half an hour before coming over. He’d almost decided not to come at all.
He hadn’t been able to hear what they were saying, but they looked from where he’d been standing like a unit, a family. His brother’s family, he’d thought, and the sharp sense of envy had stunned him. He didn’t want this sort of life, this sort of commitment, so why did their comfortable companionship tug at some place deep inside him?
He’d accepted Jessie’s invitation earlier because he enjoyed watching her. He’d told himself it was a nice healthy dose of lust that had dragged him out tonight.
