Fix Them Up, page 22
‘My eyes are up here, Hunter.’
Liam made a strangled noise. ‘I don’t think I’m going to be able to get through this meal and hide that I’m clearly obsessed with you.’
I choked. ‘Obsessed with me?’
Liam grabbed the bottle of wine from my hand and placed it on the floor. With our hands free, he pulled me closer and kissed my neck.
Liam hummed. ‘Just let me get it out of my system. I know you don’t want to tell anyone, but sweetheart’ – his words made my heart squeeze – ‘you look ridiculously hot, and I just want to take you home and do terrible, horrible things to you, and everyone is going to see it on my face.’
His voice grew a bit desperate towards the end. Like he was suffering.
I gasped as Liam nipped at my neck, biting harder than he should. ‘Everyone saw us at the market. The cat is out of the bag. We can tell people if you want.’
Liam pulled back, assessing me. ‘Are you sure? I don’t want to make you uncomfortable –’
‘It’s just family, right?’
Liam nodded. ‘Well –’
He didn’t finish his sentence because the door swung open, and Lydia stood in the doorway, her mouth full of food.
Her eyes widened at the food in Liam’s hands. ‘Is that the chocolate pie?’ she murmured through her mouthful.
‘It’s a torte,’ Liam responded in a deadpan tone.
Lydia rolled her eyes. ‘Wanker.’ She took the plates from him, smelling under the foil. ‘Ah, this smells amazing.’ She turned around to head back down the hallway. ‘Mum! Liam and Kat are here. We can all pretend we didn’t see them feeling each other up on the porch for the last ten minutes.’
‘Lydia!’ Sandra shouted from the front room as my face lit up bright red.
‘I made extra,’ Liam shouted as Lydia disappeared with the plate. ‘It can go in the freezer.’
‘Yes, chef!’ Lydia shouted back, and I snorted.
‘Sandra!’ Uncle Brian shouted. ‘Where did you put the beers?’
‘Are you blind? On the side in the kitchen. In the box,’ Sandra shouted back. I could hear Lydia laughing in the kitchen at her dad’s expense.
My eyes caught on the pictures hanging in the hallway of shoes and coats. In mismatched frames were photographs of Lydia at school and on holiday and wedding photos of Sandra and Brian from the 1980s, everyone decked out in big, puffy hair and dresses. I spotted my dad with his ginger mop of curly hair.
I couldn’t stop the morose thought popping into my head.
He’ll never come to my wedding, my brain muttered quietly.
Liam stepped closer, tucking an errant curl behind my ear.
Are you okay? he mouthed.
I nodded, unable to untangle my complicated emotions, even if I wanted to.
He dropped a quick kiss on my cheek. ‘We can leave whenever you want. If it’s too much.’
I wanted to squeeze him. ‘Thank you.’
‘Come on, I’ll get you a drink.’
We walked into the kitchen, and there was a pop of a confetti cannon.
‘Happy birthday!’ my aunt, uncle and cousin shouted, along with another grey-haired man who had to be Liam’s dad. A crooked birthday banner hung above the patio doors to the garden. A huge table with mismatched chairs was set up for dinner.
Sandra hugged me, and then Brian kissed my cheek, sweat forming on his brow. ‘Happy birthday, love.’
Lydia handed me a glass of something fizzy.
Brian dashed back to the oven, staring through the glass as the pale batter puffed up. ‘I gotta keep an eye on these Yorkshires.’
‘He burnt them last time,’ Lydia whispered to me.
‘I heard that!’ Brian shouted from the kitchen.
Across the room, Liam and his dad were engrossed in conversation. Their eyes came to me, and I flushed. But Liam smiled, and Liam’s dad headed for me. My stomach swooped. I’d never met the parents of someone I was… well, whatever we were.
‘Dad. This is Kat. Kat, this is Kevin,’ Liam said, gesturing to me.
Kevin Hunter had grey hair, a strong, square jaw, and twinkling blue eyes. He was shorter than Liam and had one of those smiles you could feel in the room. I could understand why so many people asked him for help. Kevin struck me as the kind of man you wanted when your car broke down or you had IKEA furniture to assemble. He looked strong, sturdy, and capable.
‘Lovely to meet you, Kat. I’ve heard a lot about you.’ Liam’s Dad smiled and went to hug me. Everyone was very… tactile. ‘I’m Kevin,’ he said. ‘I heard you’ve been causing my son grief.’
My eyes widened. ‘Oh.’
Liam rolled his eyes. ‘He’s pulling your leg, Kat. Ignore him.’
Kevin’s eyes twinkled. ‘He probably needs it.’ He looked at his son. ‘Someone to shake things up, huh?’
A silent conversation was shared between them.
‘So, what do you do, Kat?’
‘I’m a graphic designer.’
‘And you live in London?’
‘For now,’ I said, keeping my voice light.
Liam’s eyebrows shot up.
‘How’s it coming along with the house?’ Brian asked while opening the oven and checking the chicken.
Liam glanced at me, an expectant look on his face like he wanted to know, too.
‘Great,’ I said, forcing a smile under the expectation of their gazes on me. ‘Thanks to Liam. I don’t know what I would have done if he hadn’t taken the job.’ I turned to Kevin. ‘I haven’t had a chance to thank you for letting Liam jump on the project quickly and only charging me for the materials. You have no idea how grateful I am.’ I glanced at Liam. ‘We got off on the wrong foot, Liam and me. So I imagine he wouldn’t have accepted without someone to coerce him.’ I smiled and shoved Liam with my shoulder.
Kevin’s heavy brows knitted together. ‘Coerce –’
‘Dad –’
Kevin barked a laugh. ‘I didn’t have to say anything. He jumped at the chance.’ Kevin’s eyes twinkled as he glanced between Liam and me. ‘And now I can see why. I don’t think Liam could resist helping the pretty girl he was holding a flame for.’
‘Dad,’ Liam said, as his cheeks flushed.
Kevin continued. ‘Well, obviously, I’d have always helped you, Kat. But it was our Liam who suggested we absorb the labour costs.’
I turned to Liam, and he was scratching his head, looking anywhere but at me. He couldn’t have known me for more than a week, and he’d missed out on thousands and thousands of pounds to help me out.
Gratitude surged inside my chest, making my eyes burn.
‘Especially strange because he’s always on my back for helping people –’
‘– Bending over backwards to help people,’ Liam inserted.
Lydia leaned on the back of Liam’s shoulders, messing up his hair. ‘Oh, you mean like not charging customers you fancy?’
Liam went a bit red. He was blushing, and all I could do was stare in amazement.
‘Liam –’ I started, unsure what I was even going to say.
Thank you.
Let me pay you back.
Liam looked at me and said, ‘Later.’
‘Brian, do you need a hand plating up?’
‘No, Sandra. I don’t need a hand. Two hours ago, peeling potatoes, however…’ Brian replied, walking over with the huge, puffy Yorkshire puddings.
‘Touchy, touchy,’ Sandra replied in a sing-song voice, making Lydia and Liam chuckle.
Everyone started picking up plates laden with roast potatoes, leeks and roast chicken that Brian had carved. It was all placed in the centre of the table. Liam and Lydia went to the cupboards to pick out wine glasses. Kevin had his hand on the oven door. Uncle Brian whacked him on the back of the head. ‘You’ll let the heat out, you twat.’
Everyone seemed to have their role, and I was standing next to the table, feeling like a lemon.
‘Kat – would you grab the knives and forks?’ Brian asked, and relief flooded me – something to do. Once everyone sat down, people began helping themselves to the food piled in the centre of the table.
‘Potatoes?’ Liam asked, leaning into me. I almost jumped a foot.
‘Oh. Yeah. Thanks.’
Liam spooned one huge potato onto my plate and then another.
‘Two is fine.’
‘Humour me,’ he said, spooning on one more.
‘Such a feeder,’ I muttered under my breath.
‘Don’t diss my love language, Red,’ he said with a smirk.
A love language. Liam managed the table as if he were conducting a symphony. He topped up Sandra’s wine glass before she realised it was empty and passed his dad extra greens, commenting on his high blood pressure. He predicted when Lydia would want more potatoes and diligently ladled them onto her plate, making her beam. Then, he laid his arm across the back of my chair. I wasn’t sure he was aware that he moved slightly closer each time he moved.
It was all so lovely.
Homely.
My nose stung.
I glanced at Liam, watching the relaxed look on his face. He really was happier sat at a table with his family than he was on a building site. His face was softer. He didn’t have that pinched look between his eyebrows.
‘What you looking at, Red?’
My lips twitched. ‘Just someone who looks entirely satisfied.’
‘Not entirely, Red.’
‘Can you two get a room?’ Lydia made a barfing sound.
‘Lydia,’ Sandra barked, then turned to us, hearts in her eyes. ‘They are so sweet.’
‘So come on then,’ Lydia said. ‘Spill. What’s going on? Are you staying, cuz?’
I was expecting Liam to tense, but he didn’t. He looked at me expectantly. He was letting me lead the narrative. Usually, I’d want the whole room to swallow me up, but I didn’t feel the usual sense of impending doom. Not when Liam had made my birthday perfect and impressed my impossible-to-impress best friend. Not when his arm was on the back of my hair, his eyes stuck on me when I moved around the room. Not when I was so fucking happy in a room with him and my loud, gregarious family, not feeling the slightest bit out of place.
My lips twitched. ‘We are –’
The doorbell rang.
Sandra and Brian looked at each other.
‘Were you expecting –’
Brian shrugged. ‘No.’
Sandra padded down the hallway. The door creaked open, and a high-pitched wail of excitement echoed off the walls.
Ren, Liam’s brother, who was supposed to be halfway across the world, strolled into the room, a duffel bag slung over his shoulder.
Chapter Thirty-One
A cacophony of noise erupted as chairs were scraped back. Liam gave a filthy swear, and Brian and Sandra beamed like Ren was a soldier returning from war. Kevin held his son close and kissed him on the head, gruffly asking why Ren hadn’t told anyone he was coming home. I stood by, a little awkwardly, as Liam introduced me.
Lydia hadn’t moved from her seat. I noticed his eyes flickering to Lydia and losing some of their shine.
I felt Liam’s hand at the small of my back. ‘This is Kat.’
Ren’s brown eyes, so similar to his brother’s, met mine. It was almost eerie how similar the brothers were, especially standing side by side. They moved in the same way. They had the same shade of dark brown hair, although Ren’s was shorter. They were even the same height. Although if I pointed this out, I was sure there would be a measuring contest, so I grinned at the thought and kept that to myself.
‘Hi, Kat.’ Ren grinned. ‘Suppose I have you to blame for this.’ Ren’s eyes flickered to Liam’s, a joke in them. While Liam exuded a steady calmness, Ren had a fluid cheekiness about him. He had the air of someone who was loved and adored. If I looked up younger sibling in the dictionary, I would find Ren’s face grinning at me.
Ren scanned the room, and his gaze snagged on Lydia, who was still sitting at the table, an unreadable expression on her face.
‘Hey, Lyds,’ he said, his voice hoarse.
‘Lawrence,’ Lydia replied curtly.
My eyebrows shot up. Liam frowned. I’d never seen Lydia act cold and nonchalant in her life. It wasn’t in her DNA. She had a smile and a joke for everyone. She was the life and soul of every room. But when Ren walked in, she’d closed down. She folded her arms in front of her, not looking in his direction.
I’d been led to believe that Ren and Lydia had spent their childhood together, inseparable. Liam said they were two sides of the same coin – best friends.
But these people weren’t best friends.
Ren’s gaze finally shifted away back to his dad with a cocky smile. But call it ADHD perception or whatever, but I knew the expression Ren wore on his face was longing.
Longing and regret.
My eyes shifted to Lydia.
You okay? I mouthed.
Lydia gave me a quick nod as everyone sat back down and began quizzing Ren. Sandra pulled up a spare chair, and Brian shoved a beer into Ren’s hand and busied himself, making a plate of food for the new arrival. It struck me that Brian and Sandra’s ties to both Hunter boys were strong.
‘How long are you staying, son?’ Kevin asked, clapping his son on the shoulder.
‘For good,’ Ren said, sipping his beer.
Lydia’s head shot up. Ren swallowed as he stared at her.
‘For good.’ Kevin frowned.
‘Yep,’ Ren said, angling his head towards Liam. ‘Liam convinced me. He left me a sappy message about how he’d found his big boy pants ’cos he finally found a woman to inspire.’ Ren’s eyes landed on me, twinkling. ‘I’m guessing that’s you, Kat.’
I shrugged, sipping my wine. ‘I guess I gave him a good kick up the arse.’
Ren laughed. ‘Good.’
‘Can you stop talking about me like I’m not here,’ Liam grumbled.
‘I’m here to help you open Lily’s,’ Ren told Liam. ‘I figured you could do it with the best bartender in the Northwest.’
Lydia snorted, and Ren’s eyes flickered to her.
Lydia stood. ‘You won’t stay. You never do.’
Ren flinched but recovered quickly, replacing it with a smirk. ‘I am staying. For good.’
‘I’ll believe it when I see it.’
‘Well, I’ll have to prove it to you, won’t I? I’ve done it before. Remember the fifteen hundred metres at school? I won that fair and square.’
Lydia’s eyes narrowed. ‘And I won it the following year, remember?’
Ren’s eyes flickered down Lydia’s frame and then back up. ‘I remember.’
Lydia’s chair scraped back, and she muttered something about fresh air before leaving the room. Ten seconds later, Ren followed, his fists clenched.
‘What is that about?’ I muttered to Liam.
‘I have no idea, but it’s probably Ren’s fault. He was always the troublemaker. Lydia always tried to smooth over his mistakes when we were kids.’
I knew one thing – Lydia was in for a grilling later.
*
Three hours later, napkins were scrunched on the table, and rings of red wine stained the tablecloth. Ren shared stories about his travels, his eyes wild and captivating. Lydia didn’t return to the table but texted me some bullshit excuse about an early start. I was tempted to call her out, but Lydia always had so much patience for everyone, so if she needed time, I would give it to her.
I stood up, running my hand across Liam’s back. He had been laughing with his brother and dad for hours. I loved seeing the matching laugh lines around their eyes.
Liam glanced up at me, his hand moving over mine. ‘You okay, Red?’
‘Yeah, just going out for some fresh air.’
The sound of Fleetwood Mac and the smell of Sunday lunch permeated the room, and I was overstimulated. It wasn’t a bad case, but I knew fresh air always set me right.
Liam frowned. ‘Are you sure?’
‘You worry too much.’
‘We can go when you’re ready.’
I kissed the top of his head and dipped outside. The fresh air hit my face. Hints of spring had begun setting in Brian and Sandra’s garden, and the smell of magnolia and freshly mown grass hung in the air. I closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths.
‘Alright, Kat?’ Brian popped his head out of the patio doors.
‘Yeah.’ I smiled. ‘All good. Just admiring your magnolia tree.’
Brian stood next to me; the tree had begun budding pink and white flowers.
‘That is Sandra’s favourite. I planted it here the first summer we moved into this house, almost thirty years ago.’ He smiled at the memory. ‘It was a right pain. We’d had a cold winter, so the soil was hard as stone. I spent hours making sure the hole was dug deep enough and that it was in the best spot. I bought her a table and chairs so she could sit underneath it. She’d mentioned it was her favourite tree, but we’d been living in a terrace house with no garden. So once we bought this house, I went straight to the garden centre.’ Brian laughed. ‘She was pregnant with Lydia and burst into tears when she saw it.’
‘Never took you for a romantic, Uncle Brian.’
Brian shrugged. ‘I’d do anything for her. I’d plant a million more magnolia trees if it made her happy.’
‘So, that’s the secret to a long, happy marriage, then? Gardening.’
Brian glanced at me, and his expression grew serious. ‘It’s being willing to make the other person as happy as you feel just to be around them.’
Liam’s face popped into my head. Hadn’t he done that for me?
He’d refused to charge me for the renovation. He’d wrangled Willa onto a train and paid for her tickets because I’d mentioned it once. He kept cooking for me, and I knew he was keeping a note of my favourite ones on his notes app because I’d snuck a look on his phone.
Deep down, I knew he was trying to give me reasons to stay. He said we were keeping it casual, but his actions spoke louder than his words.
‘Do me a favour, Kat.’ Brian wrapped an arm around my shoulders. ‘If you’re considering staying, we couldn’t be happier. For both of you.’ Brian glanced behind us, where Liam was sitting laughing with his dad. ‘But if you’re going back. Tell him. Soon. Because we both know he’s betting on convincing you to stay.’
