Page 62 of Just the Beginning

Rick nodded. ‘I don’t blame him for being angry with me.’

She reached up to cup his cheek, almost having to go up on tiptoe to do so. ‘He’s not angry with you, not really. He’s angry with himself because he feels responsible for not noticing there was anything wrong with Davy.’

‘But that doesn’t make any sense!’

His mum smiled. ‘No more sense than you feeling like you had to shoulder the burden of his illness alone.’ Rick cringed a little, making her shake her head in gentle bemusement. ‘Two peas in a pod, that’s you and your dad.’

He didn’t bother to deny it, because he knew it was true. Jago had always been Rick’s role model growing up. ‘He shouldn’t blame himself, because Uncle Davy did his damnedest to hide things from all of us. I wouldn’t have noticed if Maud hadn’t sought me out in the café and asked me to call in on him.’ He frowned. ‘Has anyone thought to let Maud know? Maybe I should text Issy…’

‘Stop it.’ His mother shook his arm gently. ‘Tomorrow will be soon enough to think about things like that.’ She tilted her head towards the stairs. ‘Why don’t you go up and try and relax? You’ve had a horrible day.’ Her mouth quirked in a little smile. ‘By the sounds of it, you’ve got some company waiting for you up there.’

Above the dull buzz of the shower running in his parents’ en suite, he caught the strains of aTV, followed by familiar deep laughter. ‘What are the twins doing here?’

‘Why don’t you go up and find out?’

Not the least bit in the mood for company, Rick dragged himself reluctantly up the stairs. He paused for a moment outside the door to his sitting room, which had been left ajar, and took a deep breath.

‘I can see you lurking out there,’ Harry called.

Rick plastered a smile on his face as he pushed the door wide. ‘I was trying to wake myself up from the nightmare of you two invading my space.’

‘Haha!’ Ed pointed at an ice bucket of bottled beers sitting in the centre of the coffee table. ‘Sit down and have a drink. You look like crap.’

Harry shuffled over on the sofa to make room for Rick to sit next to him while Ed grabbed one of the beers, twisted off the cap and passed it to him.

‘Thanks.’ Rick took a long gulp, the cold bitterness a balm as it slid down his parched throat. The coffee in the machine at the hospital had been undrinkable and the vending machine next to it full of unappetising junk food and the sort of glow-in-the-dark coloured energy drinks that gave Rick the shakes just looking at them. ‘To what do I owe the pleasure of your company?’

Harry reached down to unzip a padded bag by his feet, producing a tinfoil-covered plate and a knife and fork, all of which he set down on the coffee table in front of Rick. ‘I thought you might be hungry.’

The scent of rich, meaty gravy hit Rick’s nostrils and his empty stomach immediately growled in appreciation. Setting down the beer, he tore off the foil. ‘What’s this?’

‘Beef bourguignon with Hasselback potatoes and wilted greens.’

Rick nodded, unable to talk around the forkful he’d already shoved into his mouth. He closed his eyes for a second to savour the exquisite flavours but he was too hungry to take his time and was soon scraping the last bit of gravy-soaked potato up. When he set the plate down, Harry grinned at him.

‘Better?’

Leaning back, Rick placed a hand on his full belly and sighed. ‘Much. Thanks, mate, you aren’t half bad at that cooking lark.’

Harry barked out a laugh. ‘Right, well, now we’ve fed and watered you, it’s time for what we really came here for.’

The lazy relaxation that had been creeping over Rick vanished in an instant. ‘What’s that?’

‘To take the piss out of you, of course!’ Ed replied, his face-splitting grin matching his twin’s. If it hadn’t been for the white scar bisecting Ed’s right eyebrow, they really would be impossible to tell apart.

‘Rick… Rick… Rick,’ Harry was saying as he shook his head. ‘How the mighty have fallen.’ He looked over at Ed. ‘It’s a sorry day, bro, to see such a giant of integrity brought so low.’

Ed pulled a sad face. ‘A very sorry day indeed.’

Rick couldn’t help himself as he started to laugh. ‘If that’s what you came for then you know where the door is.’

‘Come on,’ Harry said. ‘You have to admit it’s kind of funny.’

Ed grinned back at him. ‘It’s glorious! I like Rick being in the shit even more than I like seeing you screw up.’

Harry shot him the middle finger. ‘So what did Dad say?’

All humour fell away as Rick’s gut clenched and his delicious dinner no longer sat so easily. ‘Nothing.’

---