“Stay the week; I’ll get Iz to book us all a flight onSaturday. We could go to the naming thing together then. Grace and I can fly back on Monday. Can you get Monday off work, babe?”
Stuttering as she spoke, her mind racing, she said, “Oh, they won’t want me there. Don’t be silly, it’s a family thing. I’ll just be in the way.” Grace tried to push away from him, create some space between them but Alex was having none of it, holding her firmly in place.
“You are my girlfriend, of course I want you there. Besides I want you to meet my brother and I am pretty sure my invite said Alex plus one. Emma would have my balls if I left you at home, not to mention Izzie.” He smirked as he spoke to her.
Glimpsing around the breakfast bar she took in the expectant look on his parents’ faces as they awaited her response. “Well, I need to go shopping then. I don’t have anything to wear to a christening. If you’re sure you want me to go with you.”
Ann clapped her hands together excitedly. “I love shopping; we can go together tomorrow, have lunch too. We’ll leave these two here. What do you think, Grace?”
A hurried phone call later and Grace had managed to secure some annual leave from work; thank God her boss was laid back. It helped that in the whole time shehad worked there she had only taken one day of leave. Going home to her family didn’t hold the attraction it obviously did to Alex. Her parents were only too glad when she had announced she was moving to Scotland. They had visited her once in the last couple of years and the phone calls were almost as rare.
“Sorted?” Alex asked apprehensively.
“Yep, I took the next two weeks off. In for a penny, in for a pound or so they say. Alex, are you sure they won’t mind me tagging along? God, I should buy a gift too.” The worry was now evident on her face.
“Don’t worry about that, I’ll add your name to mine. Come on, we have old people to occupy.” Holding out his hand for Grace to hold, the smile spread widely across his face as she willingly went to him. Glancing at their clasped hands he marvelled at how comfortable this all felt.
Sitting out on the deck with his father Alex watched Grace through the glass wall that exposed the kitchen; she was avidly watching his mother prepare the evening meal. Ann, thoroughly enjoying being in control, instructed the woman in the ways of preparing her men folk’s favourite meal. Paying careful attention, it appeared that Grace was enthralled as she chopped and chatted.
“Have you spoken to Isobel recently? You know she is unhappy, don’t you?” The silver haired man had his attention now. If something was upsetting his baby sister it was his job to sort it out.
“Unhappy how? Is it that guy from the radio station? Is he messing her around again?” Concern etched on his face as he tried to read his father’s expressionless face.
“No, nothing like that. She made me promise notto say anything to you but I think you need to know what’s going on with Bel.” Patrick rubbed his hand along the back of his neck, trying to relieve the stress that was building up. “It’s you, Alex. She is unhappy working for you.”
The comment almost knocked the air out of his lungs completely. How had he upset her? He knew he was difficult at times but he always made sure she was looked after. He adored her. “God, what have I said to her? You know what it’s like, Pops. I get hassled from every corner and sometimes I take it out on Izzie. I’ll ring her, make it up to her.” He clapped his father on the shoulder in a show of Carter solidarity.
“It’s not that easy, son. Bel thinks it’s time she found another job. She told your mum that working for you means she doesn’t have a family life anymore. Son, you have to see it from her point of view. She can’t come home and be Isobel – your sister, our daughter – if you’re home too then she has to be your assistant. Alex, you turned her room upside down looking for the computer thingy last week then blamed her when it all went wrong. You’re not her big brother anymore, son, you’re her boss. She misses her partner in crime.” Alex opened his mouth to speak only to close it again as the colour drained from his face. “Did you know she has a crush on Ben? The poor guy has been hounding herfor years but she turns him down because of some misguided loyalty to you when really she is in love with him. He calls her all the time. Mum convinced her to go out with him a few nights ago but she came home early, said it felt wrong and nothing could happen whilst she is working for you.” Patrick let the words he had spoken sink in.
How had he not seen that coming? His mind flashed back to all the times on tour when Ben and Izzie would be sat together distancing themselves from the rest of the group, the secret jokes they shared, the looks that passed between them. He was an idiot. He had no idea how he had not noticed she was unhappy.
“She doesn’t have to quit her job to date Ben. I’ll talk to her, sort it out.” Alex took a long quenching drink from the bottle he grasped.
“It’s not just that, Alex. Some management company has been trying to poach her for weeks, months now. She really wants to take the job, go back to being your sister but she is afraid to talk to you about it. Son, you need to let her go. It’s breaking her heart.” Patrick could see the anguish on Alex’s face. He knew he had done the right think speaking to his son but he wasn’t sure how Izzie would feel about it.
Alex stood and paced over to the balcony. Leaning over he placed his forearms on the railings, balancinghis weight before lowering his head into his hands, covering his face trying to hide the tears that threatened to fall. He was officially the worst brother in the world. His sister was hurting and he hadn’t seen it. The sister he grew up with, the person he spent most of his time with. Taking a deep breath he slid his phone from his pocket, scrolled down to Izzie’s number and hit the dial button.
“Hey, Iz. How you doing?”
“I’m busy, Alex. If you need a flight or car or anything else you can sort it yourself. It’s Sunday; I don’t work Sundays.” He could hear the anger in her voice. Did he only ever ring her to do something for him?
“I talked to Pops. You should take the job, Tink. Honey, why didn’t you tell me? Am I that bad that you can’t talk to me anymore? I feel shitty.” Izzie let out a sob, the tension from the last few months somehow all escaped in that one solitary sob. “Hey, why are you crying? I understand, it’s fine. Please don’t feel bad. I would kinda like my sister back too. Just make sure that you hold out for a good deal, okay?”
“I’m crying because you called me Tink, not about the job, you idiot. You haven’t called me that in years. You sound like my brother again, not my boss. God, Idon’t even remember why you called me that!” Izzie’s tears fell freely as she spoke to her brother.
“You used to love that god awful Peter Pan movie. You spent almost three years dressed up as that bloody fairy; you drove Cam and me mad with it. The house was covered in glitter which you insisted was magic fairy dust. You even slept in those wings! How do you not remember that? You watched that film back to back for a year at least!” The tears gone now, Alex chuckled as he recalled his childhood.
“Oh God, yes, I remember now! You know, Cam tried to call me Tink once and I poked him in the eye with my wand. Mum was so cross, said he would be blind. I only ever let you call me that.” She laughed freely now as they chatted, feeling all the tension slipping away from her. “I don’t want to abandon you but you can see why I need to go, can’t you? I want my brother back.”
“Ring them in the morning, Tink, and while you’re at it, ring Ben too. Yep, that’ll teach you for spilling your guts to Pops! Do you want me to talk to him; you know I can do the whole ‘my sister fancies you’ routine. I think that’ll nail it for you. Do you know how influential my status is? Seriously, he’s one of the good ones. Ring me tomorrow, let me know how you get on. See you, honey.” Placing his phone back in his jeanspocket he turned to discover his dad standing beside him.
“You did the right thing, son, but can you please not get a new tattoo to commemorate it?”
Laughing he threw his arm around his father as he lead the way back into the kitchen. The look on Grace’s face told him he should have returned to rescue her earlier. Damn.
“You know if your parents are staying for the week I should really go home.” Grace broached the subject quietly as they cleared the evening dishes, leaving Patrick and Ann to relax watching the sunset.
“Oh no you don’t. You promised me the weekend. You can have my bed, and I’ll sleep on the couch.” Grace started to protest but soon realised it was falling on deaf ears.
