Page 79 of The Secret

Jamie joined us at the grills and then almost in sync, the three of them turned to face me until it became clear they were waiting for me to answer a question they hadn’t yet asked.

I took a long swig of my beer. “What?”

Jasper crossed his arms, followed by Jamie, then Cooper, as though I was about to get embroiled in some kind of shake down. And I wanted to spill the beans; I just didn’t know what beans they were after.

“Explain your call.”

Then it became clear exactly why they were behaving like fucking mafia thug wannabes, except dressed in their Loro Piana cashmere hoodies and Orlebar Brown shorts, they weren’t credibly threatening.

“Jas, you fucker, you promised you wouldn’t say anything.”

He shook his head slowly, a sly grin framing the corner of his mouth. “No, I didn’t. I said I wouldn’t say anything to the girls. I also said that we’d be having a boys’ night out at which you will tell us what’s going on, and that we were all correct.”

I took another swig of my beer, looking past them and over to the girls where a small gap in the group allowed me to watch Kit, laughing with my family, fitting in like she’d always been with us, and holding her own against the rising volume. As she turned to my mum she looked over, her eyes locking with mine, our secret passing between us until she sucked in her cheek, followed by a grin so wide it could have been seen from any of the boats far out on the water.

“Oh, man, we are so fucking correct. You are in deep shit,” Cooper chuckled as he twisted the cap off a fresh beer.

“Fuck off.” Even if I’d wanted to, I couldn’t hold back my grin. “Where’re we going tonight then?”

“Tiger,” Jasper replied, naming a notorious and extremely popular club along the beach. Even though a lot of places didn’t open until Memorial Day Weekend, Tiger was renowned for its all year round parties.

“Are the girls going out?” I didn’t need to ask whether Kit was going with them too, because I knew she would be whether she wanted to or not. I had no doubt the evening would be some form of interrogation for her, especially as she hadn’t met Jamie’s wife, Alex, yet. And even though none of them knew what had happened, that didn’t mean they wouldn’t be quizzing her on every element of us living together.

“Yes, but not sure where and not with us. They’re going for dinner somewhere I think.”

“Who’s looking after the kids?” I frowned.

The thing about Tiger was you never came away without a monumental hangover the next day, which was all very well, but hangovers and babies do not mix.

“Your parents, plus Greta and Sylvia are staying.” Coop took in my skepticism. “Don’t worry, it’ll be fine tomorrow.”

“Just making sure.”

“How long until lunch?” yelled a voice from across the garden, which sounded like Freddie.

Jasper examined the steaks. “Ten minutes.”

Everyone on the veranda jumped into action. The kids were hauled out of the pool and dried before being settled in their various seats at the long table which stretched along the back of the house, already heaving with copious amounts of food. Freddie waddled over, bump protruding, and handed over a large platter to Cooper, then turned to hug me.

“Was wondering when you’d bother to come and say hi.” I hugged her back without squashing her.

“Hey, I had priorities. Your daughter and Kit are much more interesting.”

She had a point.

She studied me in the way big sisters do - or the way she always did, thoroughly inspecting with eyes narrowed, looking for some kind of change she could pick up on. “Fallen in love with her yet?”

That was not the change I’d wanted her to pick up on. Not that there was any change at all, and certainly not that, but tact was not Freddie’s middle name and I tried to hide my sharp inhale with a cough, while Jamie, Cooper, and Jas smirked into the grill.

“Just as I thought.” She answered her own question with a raised eyebrow.

“There’s nothing to think. And for the love of God, don’t fucking ask her either.”

At least I’d done some sort of job in pre-warning Kit about the head space my sisters were in, but given she’d freaked out at the mere mention of them knowing, it was something I wanted to protect her from. I glared as hard as I could, trying to convey my annoyance, but Fred had always done what she wanted so it would be relatively ineffectual, and I’d put nothing past Freddie on a mission. Or Wolf for that matter, and after my thirty-two years, I was still undecided who was worse.

“Can’t promise anything,” she replied, making me groan with more than a little semblance of despair.

In all honesty, however, I didn’t really give a fuck who knew. Not the falling in love part, obviously, because that was… well, not the case… yet… and I would prefer to have the time for us to acknowledge it before they did. But they’d find out about us sooner or later, and after this morning, I was more determined than I’d ever been. I wanted her, all of her. Falling in love was an inevitable part of that, and for the first time in my life, I was ready.

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