I laughed and crouched down, beckoning him to me. “Come here, H, and meet these two.”
He prised himself away from Anya and ran to me, jumping into my chest and giving me a big hug. He’d become keen to see me over the last few weeks, although he’d never mentioned what happened when he ended up in the sea.
I called my nephews over, who looked a bit reticent at first, but three minutes later they were chasing each other round the garden.
“Hopefully that’s them set for summer.” Janie sat down on a nearby bench. “Because I forgot to mention I’d extended our stay to five weeks. Which is when Liam should be home.”
Anya looked from me to her. “Gabe told me that he was in the army.”
Janie smiled. “I should’ve introduced myself. I’m Janie, Gabriel’s sister.”
I groaned audibly. No one ever used my full name, unless it was Janie trying to divert attention.
Anya giggled, a sound that went straight to my dick as it was the same one she made when I had my mouth just below her belly button and I was heading south. I caught her eye and she blushed, so I knew she’d read my mind. I’d probably stay with her tonight rather than her come back to the barn. I wasn’t on the boats in the morning, but I’d promised her nan I’d do a few jobs around the guesthouse, a bit of general maintenance. Then I’d take my nephews to the beach and watch them build sandcastles and trash them. The demolition duo.
“He never likes his full name being used.” Anya picked up her wine. “I tried once and he… well, let’s leave that story. Would you like some wine?”
“I’ll go to the bar for some. I need to set up a tab.” Janie stood up.
Anya shook her head. “No, let me get you some from my wine rack. I can’t charge you when you’re Gabe’s sister. What about the boys? A juice or a coke?”
“Juice.” I could see Janie appraising her. “Anything fizzy makes their horns more visible.”
“That sounds like Harry. Gabe, beer?”
I nodded and watched her walk inside, my eyes on her ass. I knew my sister would be studying me, but I didn’t care. I wasn’t going to let her being here cramp what time I had left of my summer with Anya.
“We’re going to have a proper conversation about her in a few days’ time, Gabriel.”
I ignored her, changing the subject to our parents until Anya came back and saved me from being psychoanalyzed.
The wine she carried was a magnet for Janie’s eyes and I figured my sister really had been struggling to do anything apart from work and parent for months. The realisation made me ache: I should’ve been there to help her out, but I’d been too lost to do anything apart from keep breathing some days.
“White okay? It’s too warm for red.” Anya held a glass out to her. I sat back and listened as they began to talk about wine and preferences, things I was oblivious to as I preferred beer to anything else.
Their conversation continued. I left them to it, instead watching the three boys who were in the process of forming an unholy alliance. They were itching to get into the summerhouse and I saw a sleepover occurring in there in the near future.
“Has it put you off being a parent?” I heard Janie ask Anya. “I guessed that with the job that I do.”
I tried to smother a smile at their conversation. They’d automatically focused in on the fact that they both worked with kids. Within ten minutes, Anya was talking theories and difficulties and they were both bemoaning waiting lists.
“No. I think it is different with your own. I’d like that at some point. If I’m ever in a relationship where that could be a possibility.”
Harry ran into her arms, gave her a hug and sped off with his new friends.
Janie turned to me and pointed. “Him. He’s great with kids.”
We both laughed awkwardly. “Five weeks, Janie.” My words were a warning. But she’d consumed alcohol so that warning wouldn’t be registered.
“Five weeks is long enough. Besides, I’ve seen how you look at each other.”
Anya didn’t avoid catching my eye. Instead of us both trying to avoid any acknowledgment we held the gaze.
I’d had many moments in my life that had frozen into my memory: a night outside after a hot day with a group of friends, just laughing and joking, but it felt like a point in time when everything was perfect. There had been my graduation when me and Ryan and our families had just been at this point where everything was as it should be and then there was now.
We’d had weeks of sex and company and conversation. And understanding. A bolt fired through me, but rather than tear me apart, I saw stars.
Ones that shone. Ones that I’d never imagined before.
