Page 23 of Prudence
Milly smiled. “Sure, let me get dressed.”
We drove to the doughnut shop in my car, stuffing ourselves with deep fried sugary goodness before I dropped her off at her place. She seemed in a bit of a hurry to get inside, swiftly waving me away, and I noticed her aunt’s car was parked out front. Milly was probably just embarrassed about going home in last night’s outfit and was in a rush to get inside before her neighbours spotted her. She’d mentioned that the lady who lived two doors down was particularly gossipy.
Returning home, I found my sister in the living room watching a period drama in her pyjamas. She sipped on a beige, disgusting looking smoothie she’d probably convinced herself was a hangover cure.
“How’s your head?” I asked with a grin as I passed by the doorway.
“Killing me,” Nuala replied, wincing. “But last night was the best. So worth it.” She paused to study me. “Where did you and Milly go? You disappeared almost as soon as we got back here last night.”
“We fell asleep,” I told her, and a grin tugged at her lips.
“Oh, really?”
“We just slept,” I told her flatly. “You know it isn’t like that between us.”
Nuala barked a laugh. “Sure.”
I didn’t bother arguing with her because I didn’t feel like lying to my sister. Instead, I went straight to my room, intent on figuring out if moving to London with Milly was feasible. I was on my laptop looking up information when I realised I neededto check some of my enrolment papers from college. Rifling through the chest of drawers where I kept all my paperwork, a small box fell out and I bent to pick it up.
It was one of those velvet jewellery boxes, and I couldn’t place it until I opened it up and remembered. A pretty gold diamond ring lay inside—an engagement ring, to be precise. My grandmother, Joan, had left it to me in her will. She said that, as the eldest son, it was to go to me to propose to my future wife. I’d only been thirteen when she’d passed away and had scoffed at the idea of asking any girl to marry me. I’d never anticipated how my feelings for Milly would evolve to the point where I never wanted to be without her. It was the whole reason I was sitting here, trying to figure out if I could move to London just to be close to her.
Bloody hell, I’d kissed her once.Once. We hadn’t even slept together, and I was head over heels in love. I was so gone for her I was staring at the ring in my palm, a wild idea forming.
Milly’s whole reason for staying friends was because she needed to focus on her studies. But her exams were over now. Would she feel differently if I asked again, only this time, a much more serious question? The way she’d looked at me this morning, how lovingly she’d run her fingers through my hair, savouring my pleasured reactions. It was like she’d been unable to prevent herself from touching me. Maybe she felt just as intensely for me as I did for her. She was so shy and reserved that I wouldn’t be surprised if she were simply too self-conscious to tell me how she really felt. No, when it came to Milly, I would have to be the one to make the first move.
But a move as life-altering as this? It seemed mad. No, it was bloody insane, but I was so certain of my feelings, so certain I never wanted to be with anyone else.
Only her.
Mind made up, I formulated a plan.
8.
Milly
This was just my luck. My aunt stared out the living room window as I made the walk from Derek’s car to the front door. As soon as I saw her BMW in the drive, my heart pounded with apprehension. I’d hoped to make it inside without being seen, but that wasn’t to be.
My aunt’s expression was one of hurt and devastation as I let myself into the house. I’d texted my parents to say I was staying over in Nuala’s last night, but being driven home by Derek while still wearing the same outfit I’d left in the previous evening, not to mention my messy, uncombed hair and eyeliner smudges beneath my eyes, well, let’s just say it wasn’t a particularly innocent look.
My parents and aunt came out into the hallway just as I was hanging up my coat and slipping off my shoes.
“Did you have a good night, honey?” Mam asked, clearly sensing the tension from my aunt and trying to smooth it over.
“Yes, it was fun,” I answered evenly, hoping I might get up to my room without too much of an interrogation.
“Was that Derek Balfe’s car I just saw?” Aunt Nell questioned, her arms folded across her chest as she scrutinized me.
I swallowed down the lump in my throat, feeling like a truly awful person. Derek and I hadn’t had sex last night, but that didn’t mean I hadn’t wanted to. As I crawled into his bed, the pillows and sheets smelling overwhelmingly of him, I’d wanted nothing more than to give in to the desires I’d kept tightly tucked away. But Derek was too much of a gentleman to do anythinglike that while I was drunk, and this fact made me defensive on his behalf. He didn’t deserve to be judged as harshly as he was by my aunt just because of what his father had done over thirty years ago. Derek had been an incredible and loyal friend to me this past year, but none of that mattered to Aunt Nell.
“Yes,” I replied, clearing my throat. “I stayed at Nuala’s last night, and Derek offered to drive me home.”
“Very kind of him,” Mam said, while my dad, like usual, shuffled by and headed upstairs, mumbling something about an emergency number two. That was his typical excuse when he wanted to go sit in the bathroom and avoid whatever drama was going on in the house.
“And that’s all it was?” Aunt Nell questioned further, eyeing me suspiciously. Righteous indignation built within me because she wasn’t my mother and didn’t have the right to dictate who I spent time with. I’d already told her Derek was my friend and that it would go no further. But then I thought of all she’d done for me over the years, how she was now offering me a route to fulfil my dreams when my own plan had failed. The least I could do was offer a little loyalty.
“Yes,” I said, stepping forward to give her arm a reassuring squeeze. “That’s all it was, truly. Derek’s a friend of mine, nothing more.”
My words seemed to soothe her misgivings somewhat as her expression softened. “You have no idea what a relief that is to hear. I want you to fulfil your potential, Milly, not throw it all away for a boy.”
