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Erin felt fear digging its icy fingers into her heart as they ran. It was her dad; she knew it was. Why else would there be screaming up ahead? But the closer they got, the more she realised the screaming didn’t sound like her mum or Zara. She slowed her pace when they reached the group of people who’d stopped to help and she pushed through them, apologising loudly but also not caring about them as she was desperate to find out if her dad was OK.
‘Dad?’ When she saw him crouched down on the ground next to Paul and Angelina, tears sprang into her eyes. ‘Oh my god, Dad, are you OK?’
He looked up at her and nodded, a quizzical frown concertinaing his forehead. ‘I’m fine, Erin. Why, angel?’
‘The screaming. I thought something had… Oh god, Dad!’ She flung herself at him and he laughed as he stood up and hugged her.
‘Hey, hey,’ he said, rocking her from side to side. ‘I’m good. Don’t worry about me so much.’
‘But the screaming and the cold and the slippery ground and…’ She buried her face in his neck and breathed him in, gratitude filling her that this man she loved and adored, needed around for years to come, was safe.
‘It wasn’t me, it was Angelina,’ he said, gesturing at his son’s girlfriend who was on the muddy ground holding her leg in both hands. ‘She fell and hurt her ankle.’
‘Oh no!’ Erin said, but she was so relieved that her dad was OK that finding sympathy for Angelina was tough in the moment. And Angelina had worn those ridiculous heels to go walking. Who did that?
‘There, there, Angie,’ Paul was checking his partner’s ankle, gently probing it inch by inch and every time he touched her, she winced dramatically as if his touch was like acid against her skin.
‘Ouch!’ Angelina said, tears running down her cheeks. ‘It’s so sore.’
Her boot lay abandoned on the ground next to her and once again, Erin thought that while the white leather stiletto boot was pretty, it was not at all practical.
‘Paulie, I can’t walk,’ Angelina said.
‘Don’t worry, my beloved, I’ll carry you,’ Paul said, and for a moment, Erin had to look around as she wondered if anyone else was seeing and hearing what she was.
She met Leo’s eyes and whispered, ‘Is that really my brother?’
‘I know,’ he replied. ‘I think he’s got it bad.’
‘I think so too.’ She watched as Paul stood up then swept Angelina into his arms as easily as if she was made of feathers and lace.
‘It’s not far to the visitor centre so I’ll take you there and ask to see someone with first aid skills,’ Paul said. Angelina nodded against his chest, her arms draped around his neck, her naked foot swinging with its fancy pedicure. ‘Mum and Dad? Ready?’ he asked.
Their parents nodded then her mum picked up Angelina’s boot and they all marched towards the visitor centre.
When they got there, Paul took Angelina inside to get her checked over and Cain looked around at his remaining family. ‘Shall we go and get drinks and a bite to eat while we wait?’
‘Good plan, Dad,’ Zara said. ‘I’m starving after all that cold air.’
‘Me too.’ Erin said then looked at Leo and he nodded.
As they walked towards the café, he leant close and whispered in her ear, ‘It was like a scene from a Hollywood movie then. Paul really is a hero in disguise.’
Erin giggled and tapped his arm playfully then she wondered who on earth she was because it seemed like she was actually flirting. With her big brother’s best friend. What was she, seventeen again?
Chapter16
Erin
The next day, Erin lay in bed thinking about what had happened at Box Hill. It had been like something out of a Jane Austen novel where one of the female characters got hurt and one of the male ones swooped in and rescued the day. Angelina had been checked over and it turned out that she had sprained her ankle and not done anything more serious, and so she’d been advised to rest and to head to A and E if it got worse. Which it hadn’t appeared to do. Although Angelina had clearly enjoyed having Paul wait on her hand and foot since they’d got home. Erin could barely believe that the kind, caring and selfless chap who was catering to his girlfriend’s every need was the same person she’d grown up with. Where was the teasing man she’d come to know and love gone? She knew he had a heart of gold but didn’t think he’d often revealed this to his girlfriends. Erin would always love him because he was her brother but that didn’t mean he hadn’t got on her nerves on occasion. It seemed that love really could change a person because that was the only explanation for how he was behaving now around Angelina. Unless, of course, Angelina was a witch who’d cast a spell on him. A love spell… And they were fictional so it must be love.
It seemed that love really could conquer all and Erin thought about what that might feel like. She’d loved Billy, or at least she’d thought she had, but then she’d never really known him. She’d thought she had known him but then she couldn’t have done. He must have shown her only a version of him, the one he presented to the world and not the real Billy. The Billy she’d fallen for would never have done what he did or treated her so poorly.
And, as always whenever she thought about him, her heart started to race. What was he doing now? Was he preparing for Christmas, a magical Dubai Christmas with his lover that would be filled with champagne and laughter, with Instagram squares and romantic moments? She grabbed the pillow from the empty spot in bed next to her and covered her face then groaned into it, trying to force out her frustration and anger. Bloody Billy had made her into a growling harpy at times and that was what she resented him for. How could he do that to her? She’d been fine before she’d met him. Just fine!
Removing the pillow, she sat up and pushed her messy hair back from her face. She never would have believed that Paul would be the one in love and that she would be single. Paul had always been such a player, never seeming to want to settle down and now, here he was, catering to Angelina’s every whim. Next thing they knew he’d be proposing.
She froze.
