Page 80 of When London Snow Falls

So I pour two and we clink glasses. For a moment, I catch Ben looking a little anxious. Surreptitiously, I squeeze his hand. “Ready for a couple of quick intros before the main event?”

He nods, and we’re off to join Michael and Jenna, who hold court at the other side of the room by cream chintz sofas.

Jenna spots us first, white-blond hair to her shoulders, partly pinned back. Her turquoise earrings are a splash of color in this room. “Charlie, it’s great to see you. And this must be Ben.”

We exchange hellos and a round of two-cheek air kisses with Jenna. She looks terribly pleased to see Ben, curiosity plain on her face. “Michael said that you were seeing someone. And I’m so glad to meet you, Ben. He never brings his boyfriends home.”

I bite my tongue to say that’s usually with good reason, and not just my anxiety talking for once. Even so, I have a bottle of anti-anxiety pills in my coat pocket should I need them. The odds are fifty-fifty, given my usual track record. Sometimes I think I should dispense valium to everyone before our meals, in a dish to also get passed around the table.

My brother joins us, and he smiles at Ben.

“Michael, this is my—” I hesitate for a second, glancing over at Ben. Why the hell didn’t I think ahead about how to introduce him? But I shouldn’t have worried as Ben saves the day without missing a beat.

“Boyfriend. Ben Campbell. Pleased to meet you.”

They shake hands firmly. Goose bumps cover my arms.

Holy shit. Ben called himself my boyfriend in the eye of the storm.

I’d swoon right here and now, if it was safe. But it isn’t, so instead we all carry on with conventional social niceties. And so I don’t collapse in heap of cushions or—better yet—Ben’s arms.

“Michael Renfrew, Charlie’s older brother. And welcome.” Michael nods at the gathering. Clusters of people converse around the room, gathered at sofas or arrangements of chairs, or by the expansive windows.

“And only brother,” I quip. “He has to get the older part in for hierarchical purposes. There’s no other brother, for the record.”

Michael laughs at that, clapping my shoulder. “You call me out every time.”

“Congratulations on your engagement,” Ben tells Michael and Jenna warmly. Michael goes back to slipping his arm around Jenna, elegant as ever in a sage green wrap dress and a long string of silver pearls. “Thanks for including me.”

“It’s a rare treat to meet the people in Charlie’s life,” Michael says. He’s not pointed about it, but it’s true I keep my life safely compartmentalized. Of course they’ve met Emily and Carys, though they see them less often than I do, given they’ve lived out in Wales since Carys was a baby. That’s logistics for you. “Thanks for joining us.”

About then, my father announces the meal, and we manage to wrangle people into the dining room. It’s a bit like herding cats, even with the names at each setting, small cards with my mother’s elegant calligraphy. Before long, everyone’s settled, and today we have wait staff given the larger gathering. Which saves me and Mum from running back and forth from the kitchen, which is what usually happens at these events.

Time will tell if there will be running out of the family event, which also tends to happen. I take a deep breath. Here’s hoping for the best.

Chapter Thirty-Eight

The cooing over the food is only surpassed by the joyful cooing over Michael and Jenna’s engagement news, and they haven’t even procreated yet. It’s only a matter of time before babies, but I’m sure they’ll have them after the wedding. With Carys, Em didn’t even get a baby shower here or a dinner. Anything like that has happened with her family and not mine. And my milestones aren’t celebrated like my brother’s accomplishments are.

Everyone dines and marvels over the meal. And it’s excellent, I have to say that about the catering, pheasant for the meatarians and a veggie pastry entrée for those who don’t eat meat, which is in honor of Jenna, a vegan. My parents went all out to impress.

“Tell us, when is the wedding?” Great Aunt May enquires, leaning slightly to glimpse Michael and Jenna further down the table. Everyone quiets down to hear the response.

“We haven’t set a date yet,” Jenna offers into the quiet. At the end of the room, the fire’s lit in the hearth, and I swear I can hear it crackle. “But it will be this summer. We’re thinking of August.”

“How delightful, darling.” My great aunt beams as if it were her own wedding. “What a remarkable time it is.”

Michael and Jenna grin at each other, blushing. People chime cutlery against wineglasses, and they kiss. And the wedding foreshadowing begins.

Under the table, Ben squeezes my hand. I squeeze back, unable to imagine August or what will be happening by then. Uni will be over, and hopefully Emily and Carys will be moving to London. And if I’m lucky, I’ll have a job and work to support them. And I can only dream that Ben’s still in my life by then, because this a very new, unprecedented relationship, and August is eight months away.

More questions and answers are exchanged about their plans. Everyone thrills at their excitement and Jenna shows her engagement ring, which was my grandmother’s, Great Aunt May’s sister, who passed away years ago.

“And I haven’t met this young man yet,” Great Aunt May proclaims, gazing at Ben with curiosity while my parents look at him more like a specimen for dissection with laboratory precision.

Hold steady, Charlie. It’s time for your A game.

And I do hold myself steady, as well as Ben’s hand under the table. I squeeze tight. If Ben was brave earlier, I can be brave too. His confidence is catching. Or maybe I’m just tired of all the pussyfooting around.

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