Page 99 of More Than I Can Bear

“So we’ve got everything?” Kaine looked over into the backseat where Freya and I were holding two of the pies. The rest went into the freezer for later, but we weren’t going to tell Mum that. “Those bottles of wine I selected?”

“You know you guys are gonna intimidate the shit out of Dad,” Freya said and we all went perfectly still. “Like every single one of you is built like a brick shithouse and no one dresses this fancy for Sunday dinner normally. I’m usually in trackies and an old jumper. The wine, the pies… You’re going to make an impression, don’t you worry.”

“It’s too much?” Kaine’s brow wrinkled. “It is, isn’t it? I stayed within budget for the wine but I wanted to make sure we had something nice.”

“Mum usually drinks wine from a box, Kaine,” Freya told him.

“Shit…” You didn’t see Kaine lose his crap often, so it was amusing when it did. “Shit! If we walk in there with this shit, they’re going to think we’re putting on airs. Leave the wine—”

“Kaine.” Freya placed a hand on his arm and I watched the tension release. “It’s going to be OK. And even if it isn’t?” She pulled her shirt away so we could see the three marks we’d left upon her. “You won the girl already.”

“Right.” Kaine nodded sharply. “Right. Well, let’s do this.”

I’m not sure I felt any of that certainty, but where Freya led, I followed. We got out of the car and filed down the front path, Kaine going to knock on the door before it was jerked open.

“Hello, l…” Alby North stood there, wide eyed, surveying everyone standing on his front porch. He took in the pies, the wine, Freya and then us. His brows smoothed slightly when he saw me, a semi-familiar face, but then creased again when he noticed Adam. “Frey…?”

“Dad, this is Kaine Farrelly and his brother, Adam,” she said smoothly.

“I know who Adam Farrelly is,” the man blustered. “What I don’t know is why he’s standing on my doorstep. Congratulations on the medal win, mate.”

“Thanks,” Adam replied with a smile. “I appreciate it.”

“I asked young River to come by, as a thank you for dropping you home,” Alby said, and I nodded in response. “And then I see young Adam here talking about you on the news.”

“It’s a bit of a story,” Kaine said, in his best customer whisperer voice. “Perhaps we could come in?”

“What’re you hanging around by the door for?” came a woman’s voice, then she appeared. This was Freya in twenty or so years I thought, as she peered over Alby’s shoulder. “Oh, you’re the nice boy who brought Freya home that night and you’re… Alby.” She nudged her husband with her elbow. “Isn’t he that boy on the news?”

“Adam Farrelly,” he said, holding out a hand and smiling, “and this is my brother, Kaine. We’re here for Freya.”

“Well, you better come in then.”

Chapter50

Freya

This was going to suck.

I’d listened to my friends talk about the horrors of introducing their partners to their parents, but I’d never had to deal with it before, so to say I was unprepared to alert my family to the fact I didn’t have one boyfriend, but three, was an understatement.

“So I saw you on the news, Adam… What was all that business about with Freya?”

Mum was trying so hard to be polite about it, but she was only just holding herself back from pinning him to the kitchen counter and demanding answers.

“That was a misunderstanding, Mum,” I told her.

“About what?” Justin was my not so little brother and he popped up and then took a step backwards. “Holy fuck, is that Adam Farrelly!”

“Justin!” Mum shot the guests a sidelong look. “No swearing in front of company. So, you were saying…?”

“That was a lot of fuss for a misunderstanding,” Dad grumped. “Those reporters ruined your mother’s geraniums, trampling all over them and for what? A picture of me in my underwear?”

“I told you to put some bloody clothes on,” Mum said, whacking him with a spatula.

“That’s why we’re here.” We hadn’t worked this bit out. Every time Kaine brought it up, we found something else much more compelling to focus on, so it was no surprise when he stepped forward. “We wanted to come around and clear the air. River’s mother made some homemade pies for us to give to you.”

“Oh, well, they do look nice,” Mum said, eyeing them off as River and I set them down.

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