Chapter 13 #2
Ben watched Justin watch Anna walk back to her car.
So that’s how it was. He couldn’t blame his brother.
The vet was attractive. Except for that dreadful scar on her face.
He wondered how that had happened. Looking at Justin’s face, he had a feeling he might not be seeing all that much of his brother while they were stationed here.
That was fine. Justin had always had a soft spot for injured animals and waifs.
When the job was done, the two of them would move on together, as they always had.
They were identical twins, with all that implied.
Nothing comes between identical twins. Not even a girl.
Not even their mother, although she was coming close.
Ben thought back to last night’s conversation.
He’d been pretty drunk, but it was clear to him that Justin planned to see their mother again.
Well, that was fine, too. Just as long as he left Ben out of it.
As far as Ben was concerned, there was no going back.
He thought he’d put that day behind him, but seeing their mother had brought it all back.
The feeling of neglect. All the times the boys had turned to each other, because their mother wasn’t there.
And the final straw—opening that envelope and seeing proof of the lie.
Once again, he was wondering how different his life might have been if she had told him the truth from the start.
A small voice deep inside him suggested that things might have changed if he had reacted differently to that discovery too, but he beat that voice down, as he had so many times since the day he had learned the truth.
‘Ben. Stop frowning,’ the photographer instructed him. ‘Come on. Loosen up. This is supposed to be a happy picture.’
‘Sure thing.’
An elbow struck his ribs. ‘Hey?’ Justin was grinning. ‘Wake up, baby brother. This is work, you know.’
‘For you maybe,’ Ben jested then stretched his shoulders to relax them. ‘But I’m naturally handsome, so I don’t have to try.’
‘That’s much better,’ the photographer said. ‘You boys don’t look half bad when you smile. Now, we need some glow. I’ve got some oil here to rub on. Or, if you prefer, five minutes of exercise in this heat should raise a sweat.’
Both brothers chose the exercise, a decision that Anna seemed to appreciate, as she leaned against a fence, watching.
Her eyes were all for Justin. Ben didn’t mind.
Not really. The vet wasn’t his type. And he was used to his big brother being the one who got everything.
All the attention. All the credit and praise.
It wasn’t Justin’s fault. He didn’t mean to put his brother in the shadows.
And he wouldn’t have, if their mother hadn’t lied.
Ben would have had his own chance to shine.
To make his own way in the world. He would always be Justin’s younger twin.
He loved his brother. Of course he did. But …
‘Ben? It is Ben, isn’t it?’ The photographer looked exasperated. ‘You look like thunder. See that animal there? It is the cutest thing most of us have ever seen. Try looking as enchanted by the alpaca as we want the women to be by you.’
Ben nodded and turned to look at the small creature in front of him. He wondered if it, too, was the younger twin. Well, if it was, he’d make sure it got all the attention it wanted, today at least.
***
Justin was dying of embarrassment.
‘Just slip those braces off your shoulders,’ the photographer instructed him. ‘Yes, now flex those shoulders a bit. I want to see some muscles.’
‘Sorry.’ Justin pulled the braces over his shoulders, letting them hang at his sides. This shoot wasn’t going well. At least he didn’t think so. The kitten shoot the previous year had been easy by comparison. Scratches and all.
A few metres away, Ben was sitting on a water trough and laughing at his big brother as Justin did his best to follow the instructions, while keeping one hand draped over the withers of the alpaca standing next to him.
The animal was being very patient. It had even yawned widely a few minutes ago.
Having seen those teeth, Justin was keen not to get on the creature’s wrong side.
It would hurt. More importantly, it would make him look like a fool in front of Anna.
She was sitting on an upturned metal feed bucket in the shade of a tree.
Close enough to see what was happening, but not close enough to intrude on the shoot.
She was also close enough to intrude on his thoughts.
He was very conscious of her eyes on him when she looked his way.
Which she did. A lot. Maybe that was why this shoot was proving so different.
‘Justin?’ The photographer lowered her camera. ‘It is Justin, right? I need you to focus.’
‘Sorry. What did you want?’
‘I want the two of you. And both the babies. Over there, I think. Against that wall.’
Bree and her assistant, Maggie, stepped forward to help move the animals.
Anna stayed where she was. As they started posing again, Justin occasionally—frequently—glanced her way.
Sometimes he caught Anna looking at him from under those eyelashes of hers.
Once he thought he saw her blush and hoped that was a good sign.
Justin had no false modesty. He knew women found him attractive and he’d never lacked for female company.
He’d never been nervous about asking a woman out, not since his early teens.
Mostly they said yes. But this time … He very much wanted to ask Anna out and he was almost afraid she would say no.
And that would be … well, devastating was too strong a word, but he’d be unusually disappointed.
On instruction from the photographer, Ben moved to stand next to him. They both crouched down beside the young alpacas. Justin straightened his back, sucked in his gut and tensed his muscles a little bit more. He wanted to make sure he was the one who looked good.
It seemed to take all afternoon, but at last Jo was satisfied.
‘That’s a wrap,’ she said. ‘Would you like me to take a couple of quick shots of all of you?’ She looked around at Bree, Anna and Maggie.
‘Oh, yes, please,’ Maggie jumped in first. ‘With the twins.’
‘Both sets of them?’ Jo raised an eyebrow and they all laughed.
Justin looked at Anna. He could see the reluctance in her face and thought he knew why.
‘I’m not sure …’ He was happy to be the one to say no, if that made Anna feel more comfortable.
‘No. No. We must,’ Ben said, and that, it seemed, was that.
Bree and Maggie crouched next to their alpacas while the rest of them clustered around. Justin managed to insert himself next to Anna in a way that made it easy for her to turn side-on to the camera. He wondered if she noticed, but she did relax a little as the camera clicked a final few times.