Chapter 51
We returned to the barn, where the dance was in full swing.
Lots of our friends from The Lonely Hearts Club were there, and when I looked around I saw Jacqui sat with Seamus’s father Bill, thick as thieves and laughing their heads off.
I did wonder if there might be more than a friendship there.
I’d seen them a couple of times in the pub on quiz night getting on like a house on fire.
Even if it was a friendship, it seemed like a lovely one and I hoped that Jacqui was happy in Sandpiper Shore.
She’d been a marvel really as the doctor in our community.
Old Doctor Hobbs had practically retired, and she had licked the surgery into shape with new systems and procedures, delighting both staff and patients alike.
And she’d fitted into The Lonely Hearts Club like a dream, as if she’d always been part of it.
As Demetri and I walked in hand in hand, Jo and Emma came running up to us from the dance floor, followed closely behind by Seamus and Tom. All of them were out of breath and had huge grins on their faces.
‘This line dancing lark is a lot more effort than you think.’ Tom laughed, slinging his arm around Emma’s shoulders.
She turned to smile at him, love radiating from her.
I was so glad that they’d reconnected after years apart.
They suited each other so perfectly. She said she was in no rush to settle down again, or even live with him, but was enjoying exploring new adventures and having someone to do that with.
‘It blooming is,’ Seamus replied.
‘Maybe we should trade this pair in and find us two young cowboy studs? What do you think, Jo?’ Emma asked.
Jo laughed. ‘No, you’re OK thanks. I’m keeping this one.’ She reached up and gave Seamus a peck on the cheek and he beamed at her praise.
‘So, you came then?’ Emma asked Demetri, with a sudden stern look upon her face.
‘You knew?’ She answered my confused question, and I turned to Jo.
‘Seth asked us on a scale of one to ten how pissed off you’d be if he reached out to him,’ Jo answered on their behalf. ‘I said about eleventy billion but that you’d get over it eventually.’
My brother came over and shook hands with Demetri. ‘Good to see you, mate. Especially nice to see you in real life rather than on a camera screen.’
Speechless, I watched this little group around me. Normally, I was the one on my own, but I had Demetri by my side, my friends and my brother protecting me, and I felt content. He reached down and kissed my forehead before replying to Seth.
‘Thanks so much for making me see sense, Seth. I think she might forgive me after all.’
‘Suppose so. Brothers, eh? Always trouble,’ I replied.
Demetri pulled me in tight for a hug and my heart went a little bit fuzzy.
If I’d learned nothing else from the last few weeks, it was that I did want someone in my life even if I’d been telling myself that I was OK on my own.
Someone who could just give me a kiss from time to time.
Someone whose eyes met mine across a crowded room and no words were needed apart from a wink or a smile, to let me know that I was loved.
To feel part of a couple for a change, instead of sitting on the sidelines all the time feeling lonely.
The Lonely Hearts Club had plugged a gap in my life, when it was much needed, but this was on a whole new level.
I turned to Seth – and Daisy, who had now joined him.
‘So what made you think it was OK to interfere in my life then, brother dearest?’
‘When I realised you were too stubborn to sort it out yourself. Isn’t that right, Jo?
Emma?’ He turned to my friends who immediately turned away, pretending they were looking around the room, avoiding the question and laughing.
‘Remember who has had to live with you and that sad face these last couple of weeks.’
They both smirked even more at my brother’s comments.
‘Yeah, us too. Even if she was pretending that everything was OK, she was away with the fairies most of the time. We’re so glad that you were brave enough to do this, Seth. We wouldn’t have dared.’ Jo laughed.
I placed my hands on my hips in mock annoyance.
‘Thanks for meddling, Seth. You always did like to poke your nose into my business. You didn’t need to though.
You know that Mum always said “what’s meant for you won’t pass you by”.
It’s a thing, you know.’ I grinned at him to show I was only jesting.
‘Yeah. She also used to say you get out of life what you put in. I think another of her sayings was that sometimes people need a little helping hand along the way. It was a helping hand, not meddling.’
Daisy was looking quite nervous. I laughed.
‘Don’t worry, Dais. We always used to bicker like this years ago. It just seems that we’ve reverted to type quite quickly.’ Seth grinned at me and forced himself to go cross-eyed.
‘I mean, look at that stupid face. You’ve never grown up really, have you?’
This time Daisy laughed. ‘That’s why the kids love him so much. It’s actually like I have three teenagers rather than two and a husband.’ She reached up and gave him a kiss. ‘But I do love him.’
‘Yeah, so what is it that you see in my ugly, daft, millionaire brother, Daisy?’ We all laughed at that, Daisy the most.
‘Just everything,’ she replied. ‘And if he didn’t have a penny, and just had the clothes on his back, I’d love him just the same.’
They were a match made in heaven and it was so wonderful to see them so happy, even after all these years.
It was such perfect timing that the kids were away from college too.
It had been so amazing to spend time getting to know them all much better.
I would miss them immensely when they went back to Canada.
But we both promised that we would visit each other at least once a year, more if we could.
Now the girls were growing up, they could even come over on their own if they wanted to.
Seth and Daisy could have their first holiday in years on their own.
Although I had a feeling that they loved their family holidays just the way they were.
Now that we’d reconnected, we would never let go again. Seth was much too important to me to let that happen again. We were family.
The two girls came bounding over, out of breath and laughing their heads off, stopping when they reached us.
‘So which brother are you then? The one who legged it to Greece leaving Aunty Chelle here, or the one that ripped her off for everything she’d saved up?’ Ava asked, totally innocently. We all laughed out loud.
‘Well, lucky for me I think, I’m the one who did leave to go back to Greece but came back to declare my undying love for your aunty and ask her to forgive me.’
‘Oh, right. And have you, Aunty Chelle?’ She turned from him to me, tilting her head, waiting for an answer.
I loved that she was so totally direct. Nobody could accuse her of pussyfooting around any issues. She was definitely her mother’s daughter. I hoped this would never change as she moved through life. Some would spend hours in therapy trying to shake off their inhibitions to say what they thought.
‘Yes, Michelle. It’s an excellent question.’ Demetri turned to face me, taking my hands in his. ‘Have you forgiven me?’
I looked around at my family and friends. Everything seemed perfect. The right people were in the right place at the right time. I looked deeply into Demetri’s eyes as I nodded.
‘I have, and have you forgiven me?’
‘There is nothing to forgive, my love. Let’s forget it ever happened.’
He grabbed my hand and squeezed hard, and I melted against him.
Katrina piped up.
‘Have you told her about the house, Demetri?’
‘Not yet. There hasn’t been time yet. It’s been rather busy.’
‘What’s to tell?’ I asked.
‘Well, for some reason Mama willed the house to me. So I, or should I say we, have a holiday home in Amarissa to spend time at any time we want. She left her money to Makis, should he ever show his face again, and the house to me.’
‘Wow, so she did do something right in the end then after all?’
‘Yes, I suppose she did. Eventually.’
I reached out and rubbed his arm.
‘I know things were difficult between you but she was still your mum and that must be really hard.’
‘Thank you for understanding, Michelle. It is hard but, in time, I hope that it will feel better. In the meantime, I’d love you to come to Amarissa and let me show you around.
All of you? It’s such a big house, you could all come.
’ He swept his arms around, taking in everyone who was stood around me.
‘Oh my God! We can go to Greece. I’ve always wanted to go there,’ Daisy exclaimed. ‘We could have a big family holiday. Now wouldn’t that be fun?’
What a lovely thought. I’d love to see this house that I’d heard so much about. Where the boys grew up and where they became adults. Where so much had happened to make them the men they were today. I was glad I would get to experience this for myself.
When The Brighthearts started to sing ‘Copperdown Road’, Jo, Emma and I whooped with joy as it was our favourite from our line dancing class.
I grabbed Demetri’s hand and pulled him into the space next to me, in the line behind the one at the front.
At least that way, if he had someone in front of him whose moves he could follow, we had a good chance of teaching him the steps.
He picked it up quite quickly and I presumed that the dancing he used to do in his teenage years stood him in good stead.
I smiled, thinking of him in traditional Greek dress, dancing in the town square in Amarissa.
There was still so much I had yet to find out about this wonderful man, and I was going to make the most out of every day that I got the chance to spend with him.
I’d let him go once and lived to regret it. I was never going to let him go again.