“Yes, I can,” I said, closing the front door behind us. “Right now Nell’s just a friend and I don’t know if it will go anywhere. When I know I’ll tell you.”
She signed and nodded towards the conservatory. “Everyone’s in there, I’m just going to put another pot of tea on.”
“Alright,” I replied, heading out the back.
Sure enough Steph had planted herself right between my dad and grandparents. Her mum was here too. We’d known her family for years and my mum and hers had grown close after the death of Steph’s dad when she was seven. I’d always known that deep down Mum would love for me to be with Steph but she’d never force it.
I also knew that the second she meets Nell she’d understand why Steph wasn’t an option for me.
“Hey,” I said, moving further into the room.
Dad was up first, followed by my sister, Cara, and then Steph and her mum, Greta.
“Hi, son, how was the drive?” Dad asked.
I gave him a quick hug. “It was fine. Hey, Cara, how’s school?”
“I hate it,” she replied, barely looking up at me from her phone. Cara was eighteen and addicted to her mobile phone. She was studying for her A levels and planning on attending university in September.
“Hey, I’m so glad we could make it over the same weekend you’re home,” Steph said, leaning in for a hug.
“Yeah, me too, it’s been a while, huh?” I took a step back. “We should hit the bar tonight and see who’s about.”
“Sounds good but your mum has this big meal planned.”
Great. “Beers here then.”
“Absolutely.” Steph’s blonde hair was considerably shorter now and quite choppy. It used to be long but now it was above her shoulders. It suited her. Her eyes were pale green, the opposite of Nell’s striking colour.
Jesus, I had to stop thinking about Nell. She drove me crazy even when she wasn’t around. Something was going to end badly there. Every day I thought about her more and more.
We settled down with the first of many mugs of tea my mother would make. I think she genuinely believed the hot drink could solve all. I stayed with Steph, catching up on what I’d missed from the last eight months, or however long it’d been since I saw her last.
“So, you’re loving your job? Your mum mentioned you have the chance at co-running the place.”
“I love it but I’m a little way off buying into the business. I’m not sure if that’s the direction I want to go in yet. I might get more experience and go it alone a few years down the road.”
“Wow, that’s exciting.”
“You’d know. How is the new line?”
Steph had always been into fashion and made all of her own clothes from the age of fourteen. She had some of her designs in local independent shops and boutiques as well as selling on her website.
“It’s going fantastic! Next week I’m meeting with a rep from ASOS. I love every second of it.”
I made an appropriately surprised and impressed face. What the fuck is ASOS?
“I’m sure they’ll love your designs.”
She bit the side of her lip. “I really hope so. Enough about me, how’re things with you?” That felt like an ‘are you single?’ question.
“Things are going good. I move into a new place next month. Now I’m working full-time I can afford somewhere nicer and closer to work.”
“That’s good. It’s my plan too, but Mum has a huge house and I need a lot of space for stock and dressmaking. Hopefully things will really take off and I’ll be able to afford to buy my own place.”
“It’ll happen.”
She nodded. “So do you keep in touch with anyone from school?”
“Not really. I keep up with everyone on Facebook but you’re about the only person I properly talk to still.” I kept more in touch with the people I’d met at university than high school.
“Yeah, me too. We should make more of an effort to catch up more often. It’s been far too long.”
“I know but living two hours away makes it hard. We’ll try harder, though,” I said. Me, Steph and my brother Lance played out a lot together since we were the only kids on our street.
My phone rang in my pocket, giving me the opportunity to slip away for a second. “Sorry, I’ll be back in a second.”
“Of course,” Steph said, turning away and heading for Cara.
“Hey,” I said, stepping to the side so I’d actually be able to hear Nell.
“Hey, are you having a nice time back home?”
“Yeah, it’s good. What’s up?”
“Okay, this is going to sound weird but I’m just going to come right out and ask. Chloe and Logan are going to Scotland to look at a wedding venue and she wants me to go, too. No way I’m being stuck with the love birds for two nights though, so do you want to come with?”
Finally! Chloe had told me about that a week ago. I was starting to think that Nell wasn’t going to ask.
“Sure, I’m in. When is it?”
“Next month. It’s going to be absolutely freezing.”
Turning away further, I muttered quietly down the phone, “I’ll keep you warm.”
“I’m sure you will. So you want to share a room.”