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I take the box down and pass it to her with a smirk, crossing my arms over my chest and waiting for the inevitable talk. She keeps me waiting for a minute or two where we just stare at each other waiting for the other to start. She gives in first with a roll of her eyes.
“Who is this girl to you, Brent?”
“What do you mean?”
“In twenty-eight years, you’ve never brought a girl home—”
“It’s not like that Mu—”
“Don’t interrupt me, young man,” she stabs me with a sharp glare, quickly shutting me up. “You might say that there’s nothing between you, but I’ve been watching you watching her all afternoon.”
I rub the back of my neck and huff out on a breath, “She’s Lance’s girl.”
That has her eyebrows disappearing under her golden bangs. She pouts her lips in thought for a second before asking, “Doessheknow that?”
“What?”
“You’re not the only one who’s been staring, my darling,” she says, with a sad smile.
I thought I’d caught Elle watching me a couple times over the afternoon and I know she’s attracted to me; we’ve got a history to prove that. But anything more than that is beyond anything I could hope for. “Trust me, she feels as strongly for Lance, and he does about her.”
“Maybe a portion of her heart has been given to Lance, but that doesn’t mean there’s not a slice with your name on it.” She comes to me, prying my arms from my chest and holding my hands. I must be showing my unspoken misery on my face, or Mum went searching and found it because nothing can be hidden from her. She reaches up and cups my jaw until I look at her and she smiles.
“It’s complicated, Mum,” my voice is quiet and broken, much like I am feeling right now.
She sighs, “You know, sometimes I resent your father.”
I frown at her sudden change of subject as she steps back to lean against the counter opposite me.
“He was so good with you kids, never treated you different to the girls, except for one thing. He always spouted some mumbo-jumbo bull about how it is a man’s job to look after his family, which I never thought much about until he died.” Her eyes water remembering my late father—the love of her life—and I give her a moment to collect herself again. “When he was gone, you focussed so hard on being the one to look after us all, that your life was put on hold. I’m pleased you found Lance, because I know you and he have become close, and you needed someone like that. But at the same time, he’s become someone else you insist on putting first over yourself. Sometimes I wish that when Declan had come to me to ask if he could give you a job, I’d have said yes.”
I can’t hide my surprise. “I didn’t realise he’d asked you.”
She nods. “I guess it was too soon after Dad’s death for me to consider, I was so focussed on not wanting you to follow in your father’s footsteps that I didn’t consider you would go to Sydney.” Another sad sigh leaves her at the mention of her brother.
I cross the room and pull her into my arms, trying to convey how sorry I am that she worries about me meeting the same fate as my dad. How sorry I am that I went against her and Dad’s wishes about getting into the life. How sorry I am that I can’t be with the one woman who would make me happy.
“All I ask, my darling boy, is that you promise me one of these days you will put your happiness first and do something just for you. Please, Brent.”
“I promise, Mum.” I kiss the top of her head and wipe the tears from her cheeks, hoping that I can stick to my word.
37
ELLE
I’ve had the best afternoon. Brent and I are on our way back to the apartment, and I still have a massive smile on my face from all the love and entertainment I’d been subjected to with Brent’s family. Everyone was so kind, so fun, and so welcoming. When Ruby arrived, she treated me as an old friend, not just as though we’d only met that morning. It’s strange to think of surly, grunty Brent coming from that household but when he was there, he was so much more relaxed than I’d ever seen him. He smiled more in the four hours we’d been there than in the whole time I’d known him.
Now he’s driving with the same neutral expressing that I’ve grown used to. I turn to face him, showing him my goofy grin. He gives me a side eye with a raised brow.
“Thank you for bringing me today, I really enjoyed meeting your family.”
He nods but doesn’t say anything and some of my giddiness fades. It’s me. Brent always loses any joy he has when we’re left alone. I’ve seen him laugh and joke with Hayden and Brent, but he turns to stone when I enter the room. If ever we’re left in a room alone together, he leaves. I was so surprised when he took me out of the apartment this morning—just me and him—and I’ve appreciated everything he’s done for me in the last twenty-four hours. But it hurts that he shuts down.
“Does Lance make it to Sunday lunch at all?” I try for conversation.
His jaw ticks. “Lance has never been to the house.”
“Oh.”
