Chapter Twenty
CHAPTER TWENTY
Ilias
“Are you nervous?”
“No,” I said, checking my hair in the car window before flashing Oscar a smile. “Why would I be nervous?”
“Because you’re about to meet the entirety of my family, and their partners, all at once. It’s the sort of thing that would make most people run away screaming.” Oscar looked like he was still trying to wrap his head around the idea that I wanted to be there. Like he’d never expected me to even consider saying yes.
“Relax. People love me. I’m charming.” I pressed a kiss to his cheek and reached for his hand.
In truth, I was absolutely fucking terrified of what was about to happen, but I wasn’t going to tell Oscar that. Mostly because he looked about ready to throw up. He’d spent the past few days nervously dumping information on me about his siblings, some of which I’d heard before and some of which didn’t seem necessary.
But I wasn’t going to tell him that because getting it out seemed to help him, and that was the most important thing.
“Did you get your mum’s present?”
“Oh shit. Yeah, hang on.” Oscar dived into the car to grab a gift bag, which he thrust into my hand, and a large potted rose, which we’d attempted to tie a bow around. It looked rather lopsided but in a charming way.
We’d made a pit-stop at a garden centre recommended by our last hotel, and I’d spent half the time in the little coffee shop while Oscar paced up and down and studied every plant with military precision.
“I hope she likes it. I know she was redoing some of the rose beds at the house last time we spoke. I hope she hasn’t filled all the spaces.”
“I’m sure she’ll love it,” I said, giving him my brightest smile. “You spent three hours at that garden centre yesterday. I think if we’d been there any longer, you’d have morphed into a bush yourself.”
“Thanks… I think.” He shifted the rose in his hand so it was leaning against the crook of his arm. His free hand reached for mine. “Come on. Let’s get this over with.”
I chuckled as we headed for some stone steps that seemed to lead towards the pub. “We’re not going into battle. This isn’t the first day of the Somme.”
Oscar muttered something I couldn’t hear, and I shook my head and smiled.
The path led us towards a honey-coloured stone building that surrounded a small courtyard. There was a large terrace out front, which had a few tables laid out across it, each occupied by diners enjoying the early-May sunshine. I could see how much of a sun trap it would be in the summer.
Ahead of us were some wide, double doors that were already open. There were a few people milling about, but they looked mostly like staff. Oscar had looked at the rows of cars when we arrived and said he thought most of his family were already here, and it made sense that they’d already have gone through to the private dining room Lewis had mentioned rather than taking up space in the lobby.
“Hello,” said a warm voice as we stepped inside. It belonged to a tall, broad-shouldered man in a well-tailored suit, who had an easy smile and radiated calm and experience. “Welcome to The Pear Tree.”
“Hi,” said Oscar. “We’re with the Baker-Moore party. I know we’re a little late. The traffic was a nightmare.”
“No worries. They’re all through here. If you’d like to follow me, I’ll take you through.” He gestured for us to follow him into a warm, brightly lit dining room that was already packed with people. The whole place smelled absolutely divine, and it was making my stomach rumble. We’d grabbed an early breakfast at our last hotel in Norfolk, but it had been a long time since then.
“You’re just in here,” the man added as he opened another door. I heard the buzz of chatter from the other side, which died down the moment Oscar stepped through the door ahead of me, letting go of my hand as he did.
I got a glimpse of a sea of faces. Some of his family stood and some sat around a long table that ran the length of the room. I spotted Lewis, with his bright pink hair, at the far end next to Jason, chatting to a tall, blond man who seemed to radiate Disney Prince energy and a man with dark curls that seemed to have been forced into some sort of pompadour who I thought was Eli.
Oscar had shown me photos of everyone, but most of their faces and names had started to blur into one.
“Surprise,” Oscar said, breaking the silence. The room exploded into chatter again as an older woman with short grey hair and glasses approached us, a beaming smile on her face.
“Hello, darling. I didn’t know if you were going to be able to make it. Lewis said he wasn’t sure.”
“You didn’t think I’d miss your birthday, did you?” Oscar asked wryly, then adjusted the rose so he could hand it over. “This is for you. I hope it’s okay. And there’s a gift bag too.”
“Here,” I said, extending my hand. “And since your son is just going to leave me standing here like an awkward goldfish, I’m Ilias. It’s so lovely to meet you.”
“I was getting there,” Oscar said.
“Sure you were.”
“I was. Mum, this is Ilias Verrati. He’s a travel photographer. He came to Hawaii with me, and he’s helping me with the seaside hotels. Ilias, this is my mum, Eleanor.”
Eleanor looked between us and raised an eyebrow before shaking my hand. “It’s lovely to meet you, Ilias. Call me Mimbles. Everyone else does.” She looked over her shoulder and beckoned to another woman with long lavender hair and a soft smile. “Miranda, this is Ilias.”
“Hello, darling,” Miranda said, giving me a beaming smile and pressing a kiss to my cheek before doing the same with Oscar. “It’s so nice of you both to come.”
“We wouldn’t have missed it,” Oscar said.
“I’m assuming Lewis knew,” Eleanor said. “Since there are the correct number of seats.”
“Er… yes? We bumped into him in London a couple of weeks ago.” Oscar’s ears went slightly pink, and I was ninety-nine percent sure both Eleanor and Miranda saw straight through our “we’re not together” ruse. Which, if we were honest, wasn’t that great to begin with.
We’d told Lewis we didn’t want him telling everyone we were dating, and Oscar and I had decided on the drive over to keep up that pretence. Only now that we were there it seemed ridiculous.
“I see,” Eleanor said. There was a beat of silence, then Oscar broke.
“Fine, Ilias and I were out to dinner, and Lewis, Jason, and Henry were there. And we weren’t going to tell anyone that we’re dating because it’s still new, but apparently, I’m shit at hiding things, so…”
Miranda and Eleanor exchanged looks, and Eleanor smiled. “I wasn’t going to say anything, you know.”
“But… the look…”
“Age-old parenting technique. It’s so much better to wait for someone to admit something rather than force it. I’ve always thought silence worked wonders,” she said.
“I can’t believe I fell for it,” Oscar muttered. “Again.”
“I’m sure there are stories there,” I said.
“Yeah, but nothing exciting.” He sighed, then reached for my hand, sliding his fingers into mine. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to tell.”
“It’s fine. I thought it was a little ridiculous anyway.”
“You could have said so earlier.”
“I know, but you were stressed, and I didn’t want to add to that,” I said, squeezing his hand and resisting the temptation to lean over and kiss him. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Eleanor and Miranda watching us.
“Thanks. That’s sweet of you.” Oscar hesitated for a second, then pressed a kiss to my cheek. I felt my face heat and my heart race. I hoped I didn’t end up with sweaty palms too.
Oscar turned back to his mums. “I’m sorry. I hope you don’t mind me bringing Ilias, even though this is new. We’re between hotels, and I felt bad dumping him somewhere for the day.”
I chuckled. “I could have stayed in the car. Or gotten lunch somewhere else.”
“Nonsense,” Eleanor said. “You’re very welcome. Oscar, you should introduce him to everyone before the food arrives. Apologies, Ilias, it’s going to feel like being thrown to a pack of wolves. If they misbehave, just remind them it’s my birthday, and I’ve told them to be good.”
“Don’t worry, they can’t be any worse than my family,” I said.
“I wouldn’t count on it,” Oscar added quietly, looking around the room. “Let’s get the worst of them out of the way first.”
“You’re making it sound like they’re all horrible.”
“They’re not. They’re just… Well, you’ll see.” He led me down the room, briefly pausing to introduce me to Miranda’s ex-husband, Terry, and his husband, Paul. At the far end, Lewis’s gaggle had grown, and they were all pretending they weren’t looking at us.
“Honestly,” Oscar muttered, “it’s like a group of bloody mother hens.”
“Hi!” Lewis said brightly as we approached. He was fizzing with energy like a Coke bottle waiting to explode. “You came.”
“I promised we would.”
“I know but still.”
Everyone stared at us in polite but expectant silence. Oscar sighed. “Family, meet Ilias. Ilias meet family. Specifically, Eli and his partner, Tristan”—he pointed to the two I’d seen earlier, and Eli shot me a sly grin—“my sister Jules, my brother Finn, and his partner, Gem”—he pointed to a woman in a sharp suit with freshly faded dirty blonde hair, a tall, slim man who just gave me a small smile, and a shorter man with reddish-brown hair and a tweed jacket—“and you’ve already met Lewis and Jason. And over there are Richard and Ruby”—he pointed at a man and a woman who were now chatting with Miranda and Eleanor.
“So, this is what Lewis has been so secretive about?” Eli said. “He told me he bumped into you a couple of weeks ago but was suspiciously light on details.”
“I didn’t say anything though,” Lewis said.
“You could have,” Eli said. “I wouldn’t have told anyone.”
“That’s a lie,” Jules said with a snort.
“No, I’m not in the habit of outing relationships to the family chat after someone sent drunken photos of my boyfriend to you lot.”
“Okay,” Lewis said. “First of all, you’re making it sound way worse than it was.” He looked at me and waved his hands as he explained. “My friends and I took Tristan under our wings at a Halloween party where Eli was DJing, and we all took drunk selfies at McDonalds.”
“And then you sent them to Finn and Jules.”
“But I wanted them to see how cute Tristan was.”
“And then you ambushed us,” Eli continued, raising an eyebrow. He was smiling though, and I got the feeling the whole situation amused rather than frustrated him.
“You needed it,” Jules said. “Otherwise, you’d still be trying to avoid Richard.”
“Nope. We’d have told him eventually.”
“I’m sorry,” said Finn quietly but not so quietly that he was spoken over. “We’re not making a good impression.”
“You’re fine,” I said. “Trust me, you’re a hell of a lot better than my family. They’re… dramatic but not in a good way.”
“Sounds like there are stories there,” Eli said. “But I’m much more interested in you. So, tell us, how did you meet our beautiful big brother? Did you make him swoon?”
Oscar snorted. “Definitely no swooning.”
“Aww, not even a little?” I asked, nudging his elbow. “I can’t actually remember where we first met. I think it was… Rome?”
“Yes… No, wait.” Oscar chuckled and shook his head. “It was Madrid. Do you remember? In that shitty bar.”
“Oh shit. Yes, it was.” I laughed as the memory rushed into my brain. “The night of the Champion’s League final when Real Madrid were playing, and neither of us had realised.”
The place had been packed to the rafters with rowdy football fans, and I’d barely been able to hear anything. I’d ended up standing at the bar and found this gorgeous man standing next to me. We were both there on the same group press trip, so I’d vaguely recognised him. I’d offered to buy him a drink.
“You bought me a drink,” Oscar said quietly. “Lots of drinks actually.”
“I did. And then you walked me back to the hotel when they were setting off flares in the street. I threw up on your shoes.”
“You did.” Oscar was looking at me now, a smile playing across his lips. There was something warm in his expression, and for the first time, it felt like I was being seen, but I didn’t know why.
There was something about the moment that made my heart race faster than I’d ever felt.
Even with Daniele.