But it was Peter she couldn’t stop looking at.
Her gaze must have caught his attention because he smiled across the room and tilted his glass towards her before arching an eyebrow and Gaby read the silent question he was asking.
Everything okay?
Gaby smiled and tilted her own wine glass back towards him.Everything’s fantastic.
His smile deepened and Gaby felt those mad butterflies take flight inside her stomach again.
Which was when she saw Kate watching her closely and with a small smile of her own. A knowing smile. The idea of what exactly it was that Kate might know had Gaby dropping her gaze and sipping her wine to cover her blushes.
Tommy appeared in the doorway and announced that dinner was ready. A stampede began as the kids and dogs raced to the dining room followed by the adults who were attempting to corral them. Kate joined her husband to carry steaming serving bowls filled with food into the room while Peter’s brothers topped up everyone’s drinks.
The dining table was enormous which was just as well considering how many people were squeezed around it. Gaby found herself seated between Peter and Shaun’s wife Lauren, who was soon chatting to her like an old friend.
Tommy carved the beef wellington Kate had prepared in honour of their special guest, while bowls of potatoes and vegetables were passed around. Once everyone had a plate,Tommy sat down and Gaby watched how he glanced around the table at his family, a delighted expression on his face as he lifted his glass and asked everyone to join him in a toast.
Once the adults had raised their wine or beer glasses and the kids had raised their tumblers of milk or fruit squash, Tommy asked everyone to toast Kate and thank her for the meal she’d prepared.
At the chorus of ‘thank yous’ and ‘dinner looks delicious’, Kate did an amusing little head bob and wave, like a queen acknowledging her subjects. The gesture took Gaby back fifteen years to the many meals she’d eaten here that summer and how she’d always laughed when Kate had performed that same funny gesture.
The years folded in, one upon the other, and Gaby saw in her head an image of those Bailey family dinners from the past overlaid on the one now taking place around her.
The same wonderful people, plus a handful of amazing children marking the next generation. The same humour and warmth and welcome.
The same as before—only bigger and better.
As Gaby fought against an unexpected wave of emotion as the past and the present collided around the Bailey dining table, Tommy raised his glass again and welcomed Gaby to their family gathering, his eyes on her as he said how happy they were to have her there and how wonderful it was to see her again after so many years.
Around the table, everyone tipped their glasses towards Gaby and echoed Tommy’s words of welcome. Amid the smiling faces and comforting warmth, Gaby couldn’t help but feel very special.
And when she caught Peter’s smile beside her as he too toasted her, she felt completely cocooned in his gaze.
Everyone dived into their food and complimented the chef. Conversation flowed. Laughter and chatter and good-natured bickering punctuated the meal from beginning to end.
Once the beef wellington was demolished, Gaby insisted on helping to clear the table, working companionably with Peter and his brothers to carrying plates through to the kitchen while his parents dealt with dessert.
The hot chocolate fudge cake that followed was greeted with barely contained excitement from the children and plenty of appreciative sighs from the adults.
Another round of plate-clearing and tidying up followed dessert, and then they had coffee in the living room while the kids worked off their sugar intake with an endless stream of chatter and acrobatics.
Gaby listened to the non-stop talk, amused and charmed in equal measure.
Brad’s boys regaled their grandfather with a story about the new gaming station their dad and Uncle Peter had built for them as a surprise and demanded to know when he’d come round to their house to see it and play a new racing game on their console.
Amber talked about her plans to redesign the nursery at their home before her new baby arrived while Mikey adopted a mock long-suffering expression as he listened to the decorating work his wife had in mind for him.
Brad and Shaun discussed a football match they wanted to take their kids to.
Lauren and Kate swapped notes on a recipe they’d both recently tried.
Donna and Peter peered over Tommy’s shoulder as he showed them something on his phone which had them both laughing.
Peter’s nieces played in front of the fireplace while the dogs snored beside them. The two older girls indulged little Alicia asthey worked on a chunky jigsaw puzzle together and applauded when the youngster fitted the final piece into place with a delighted screech of triumph.
Gaby savoured every minute spent in the company of the Bailey clan. Even though she hadn’t seen them for years, they made her feel completely welcome and she in turn felt entirely at home. Every good thing she remembered about these people was still on display all these years later—their warmth, their love, their togetherness.
She remembered how, as a seventeen-year-old who’d recently fled her own parents’ home for the sanctuary of her aunt’s house, the strong bonds and fierce loyalty of the Baileys had made such a big impact on her.
