“Nothing’s wrong.” His brother’s challenging stare made him roll his eyes. “Fine. If you must know, I bumped into an old girlfriend this morning.”
“So what? There’s enough of them scattered around the place. Had to happen sometime.”
Peter sighed. “If you’re going to be a prat about it, never mind.”
“I didn’t think I was being a prat. But clearly I’ve touched I nerve. So, who was this old flame you saw?”
“Someone I knew years ago. You never met her. I think you’d just started that job you had up in Cardiff.”
Brad nodded and gestured for him to keep talking.
“Her name’s Gaby. We were just kids when we met. I was back home from university for the summer and she was staying here with her aunt. We hit it off and had a great time together. She… she was the first girl I ever loved.”
He hadn’t meant to confess that last part and braced himself for his brother’s predictable teasing. But when he glanced his way, Brad’s expression was curious instead of amused.
“Sounds like it must’ve been serious,” Brad said.
“It was and it wasn’t. We were kids, so it wasn’t really serious. I was heading back to university after the summer and she was just starting her degree, so, again, it wasn’t really serious. Our lives were heading in completely different directions, so, I say it again, it wasn’t really serious. And yet…” Peter sighed. “It was an amazing summer. We had an amazing time together. I always thought…”
When he trailed off again, Brad frowned. “Come on, spit it out. Making people coax stuff out of you isn’t your style.”
He was right. But saying all this was hard, not least because Peter had barely had time to process any of it yet.
“We spent a lot of time together that summer,” he said eventually. “It was intense and… it was completely amazing. I guess I always thought that if that was the kind of relationship I’d had at eighteen, then things would only get even better once I was older. But that never happened. No one else ever came close.”
Brad watched him carefully as he talked. “I don’t know what to say. That makes me feel sort of sad, Peter.”
“Terrific, take pity on me. That’ll make me feel better.” Peter slid the last panel into the gaming station for his brother to drill into place.
“I guess I’ve just always wondered why you haven’t got married or had kids yet,” Brad said after drilling in a panel screw. “I know it’s what you want. You’ve never pretended otherwise. And the women you’ve gone out with over the years have been nice. I never understood why you didn’t find the right one to settle down with.”
“I wasn’t pining over Gaby all these years, in case that’s what you’re thinking. In all honesty, I never thought about her much at all over the years. Our lives moved on and we fell out of touch. All we had was that one great summer together.”
“And now she’s back. What’s she like now?”
Peter thought about the question while his brother finished drilling screws into place.
“I don’t really know. We didn’t have much time to chat. I was running into the café for our coffees as she was coming out. She was in a rush, so we barely said more than a few words to each other.”
“But it was enough to have you moping around.”
“I’m hardly moping. I’m here helping you, aren’t I?”
Brad conceded the point with a shrug.
“Well, how’d she look?”
Peter sighed. “Amazing. She looked amazing.”
“Ah, now we’re getting somewhere,” Brad grinned. “Please tell me you at least asked her out for a drink.”
“I did. And I’d be feeling pretty happy about it if it wasn’t for the fact that I realised too late that she’s with someone. He was waiting for her in his car.”
Brad frowned. “Did she introduce you to him?”
“No. Like I said, it was a quick hello as we passed each other outside the café.”
“So, you don’t know for sure if he’s her boyfriend or whatever?”
