‘Peachy,’ I lie.
‘You should come over when we’re back in Sydney.I miss having you girls around – even if Ella’s not there.’
I smile.‘I’ll stop by soon.’
She takes a sip of wine.‘You could bring Dylan too.’
‘Maybe.’
‘He seems … nice.’
I snort into my glass.‘Go on.Say what you’re really thinking.I can take it.’
She looks over her shoulder and then at the gravy I’m now stirring.‘I always saw you with someone a little more headstrong.Someone less … innocent.’
‘Are you saying I’ve corrupted poor Dylan?’
Gloria presses her lips together as if stifling a smile.‘You could break that boy’s heart with a look.’
‘Oh.’I continue stirring.‘So, you’re saying I need someone with a morally grey past and a suspicious amount of money?’
‘Exactly.’She grins.‘You need someone who will challenge you for the right reasons.’
‘I’m sure my mum would argue the opposite is true.’
‘Some people need a Dylan in their lives.Your mother is one of them.’
I laugh, and she leans in to squeeze my shoulder.
‘There’s no rush, you know,’ she says softly.‘Love tends to sneak up when you least expect it.’
I nod as if there isn’t an invisible expiry date stamped on every woman’s forehead.As if I don’t know that if I’m single after forty, I’ll be put out to pasture and left to watch men my age date women whose frontal lobes have not fully developed.And I nod as if I also don’t know the obvious truth that love doesn’t even exist.
Darcy strolls in, cheeks pink from the sun, grabs two beers from the fridge and kisses Ella on the temple before turning to me.
‘Hey, Jamie,’ he says.‘Met your guy out back.Didn’t know you played piano.’
I freeze for a nanosecond.‘Oh.Yep,’ I lie.Ella frowns.I power through.‘Been playing since I was ten.’
Darcy whistles.‘You’ll have to play something for us later.’
Sophia shoos him out of the kitchen with a dish towel.He vanishes back outside.
Ella eyes me from across the island.‘What are you doing?’
‘Nothing,’ I say, pouring the liquid into the gravy boat Sophia laid out.
From outside, James calls out that the meat’s ready.We file into the dining room and settle the dishes onto the table – platters of grilled everything, roasted everything else.
I take the middle seat at the long table as the boys walk in.Phil Dunphy hugs me before taking a seat beside Gloria.Dylan comes over and kisses my cheek.‘This all looks delicious.’
I smile, but my eyes drift past him and land on …
Luke.
He freezes in the doorway.For a second, we stare at each other.Then he masks his expression.A blink, and the wall’s back up.He walks over, the picture of nonchalance, and takes the last remaining seat on my right.
Perfect.
