Page 82 of Love You Like That (Excess All Areas 4)

“What is?” Ben asked, coming over with Chaya to stand next to them.

“Zoe suggested we learn sign so we can bitch about Dad right in front of him.”

Ben nodded sadly. “I wish he’d just fuck off to the rigs permanently.”

“Or fall off the rig completely.”

“I didn’t catch that,” Zoe said.

Alex shook his head. He didn’t really mean it. While a part of him never wanted to see the man again, he didn’t need him to die for it to happen.

“Nothing. I’m being moody.”

“That’s unlike you.”

“Yeah,” Ben said, eyeing him carefully. “It is. Don’t let him ruin today. Nan went to too much effort. Worst case, I’ll manhandle him out of here and take him home.”

“Nan?” Jase’s voice bellowed through the small living room. “Your favourite grandchild is here.”

Alex smiled, shaking off the confrontation with his father. At Jase’s usual greeting as Ben moaned. “Jesus, he never gets fed up with that does he?”

“What’s going on?” Zoe asked.

“Whenever Jase arrives at Nan’s, he always yells that her favourite grandchild has arrived.”

Zoe grinned. “I don’t know. I think she has a soft spot for you.”

Cerys joined them. “Look at all that food Nan made,” she said as she signed for Zoe. Words were starting to look familiar to him. The spelling of n-a-n. Food. He’d still struggle to form full sentences. But after weeks of studying, he was getting better.

“Your dad is in fine form this afternoon,” Matt said as he and Iz joined them. “He just told Jase that he looked like an idiot for that TV appearance we made last week.”

Alex peeked into the kitchen and could see the ham, all cut up on a platter covered in cling film. Half-starved, he took a step towards the kitchen.

“Oi,” Nan shouted. “I’m watching you, Alex King. Zoe. You need to keep Alex out of the kitchen and away from the buffet. He’ll start eating it before we’re ready. And be careful. He’s craftier than those thieving Barbary macaques that nick shit from tourists in Gibraltar.”

Zoe smiled, but as soon as Nan disappeared, she turned to Cerys. “Nan’s high pitch and speed make it impossible to lipread or catch what she’s saying. She said I had to do something?”

“Keep Alex out of the kitchen.”

“I don’t know why I get such a bad rep for that. Jase is worse than me.”

“She likes me better,” Jase said with a grin.

Alex rolled his eyes as Cerys signed.

“She’s comparing you to monkeys that steal food and handbags from tourists in Gibraltar? She’s not being racist, is she?”

“No. Google it. She’s talking about the furry ape relative,” Alex said, noting that Zoe had defaulted to watching Cerys sign. “About twenty years ago, she went on holiday to Spain and took a day trip over the border into Gibraltar. She was eating a sandwich and a monkey nicked it right out of her hands. She’s been bitter ever since.”

When Cerys finished signing, both Cerys and Zoe laughed. “That’s quite the grudge,” Zoe noted.

“Remember what she did to Riley?” Izabel said. “Or the photographer who tried to take a picture in her house? Beneath that apron is a fiercely loyal woman.”

“And a good cook by the looks of that table.” Zoe looked over to the large table overflowing with platters.

“DEFCON Two of the party levels,” Cerys said as she signed. “Nan has five levels. The only one higher is when she puts two pasting tables out for everyone to sit around.”

“Ah, my baby is here,” Nan shrieked, bustling past them to greet Luke and Willow. She patted Willow’s bump first, then kissed Willow and Luke. His dad might have kicked off the afternoon on the wrong foot, but it was a joy to see Luke looking so healthy and happy.

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