Chapter 25
Rose
It had been the laziest of lazy weekends, full of early spring flowers, daffodils and crocuses and a trip to Clapham Common, although it was too cold still for a picnic.
We hung out in the trendy cafes and the second hand bookstores on the Saturday, bathing in each other’s company and the fact that I could touch Carter when I wanted, because he was in fact now mine.
There was something in knowing that I had that right to know him, where others didn’t.
I wasn’t just the person he phoned when he had a funny story to tell, I was the person he’d tell first, the person who could touch him, hug him, sleep with him and there had been a lot of that this week, so much I’d needed an Epsom salt bath and a night off, which had made him feel very proud.
We’d not spent every night together, because there needed to be some boundaries and shift work was always fun.
I saw Fallon and Erin, and even went for a meal with Laurie, who wanted all the details about me and Carter.
I gave some, but others I clung to myself, precious moments that I was possessive over.
Harriet phoned every night, giving me updates about books and Stratford-Upon-Avon and the friends she’d made.
She was already enjoying it, not giving herself time to miss anyone, immersing herself in books, including editions that had long since been thought lost. It was literary history and she was revelling it, which made it easier to tell her more about Carter, because we were both progressing in our own way, the bond no less than it was before.
It was Sunday morning, and Carter had stayed over at mine because his heating wasn’t working again, so I woke with a six foot something, broad shouldered bloke weighted over half of me, because he couldn’t sleep without touching, something I’d learned in the last ten days.
Waking up had led to more sex, the sleepy sort that was half lazy until things revved up, which was probably my favourite type, and that led to hunger.
So we were in my kitchen, frying bacon and eggs, me wearing a dressing gown and not much else, and Carter shirtless and in sweatpants because my heating was definitely working, when the buzzer for my door went.
“Expecting anyone?” Carter asked, buttering the baps for our breakfast.
“No, and no one other than my parents would think this was a good time to call on a Sunday morning.” All of my friends would either be at the gym because they were insane or still in bed, or having brunch.
I had Sunday lunch with Erin and Fallon scheduled at half past two, but other than that, my time was going to be spent doing things to Carter, because we wouldn’t be seeing much of each other in the coming week.
I was at a psychology conference and then off to see Harriet in Stratford for a night, and Carter had three long – ten hours plus – operations booked in.
I wasn’t unhappy about it, we were in the honeymoon period and I wanted to prolong it.
A bit of anticipation was good for the soul.
What wasn’t good for the soul were my parents at this time on a Sunday morning when I had hair that told the story of the night by itself and a mother who was far too observant for my own good.
“Shit. It is my parents.” I checked the camera before I opened the door. “Do you want to hide?” I looked down the hallway to where Carter was standing, still shirtless and barefoot, still wearing a very smug smile on his face.
“Absolutely not.”
“Then on your head be it.” I opened the door, my parents wandering straight in and not blinking an eye at a semi-naked Carter.
“We thought we’d drop in on the way back from Eliza’s,” my mum said, dropping a kiss on my cheek. “You look like you had an – interesting – sleep.”
I shook my head at her, hoping she’d get the hint and not say anything else that would make my face represent my name.
Carter leaned against the wall, amused and not afraid to show it. I hadn’t told them yet about him, not quite ready for the interrogation that would follow, or at least the gentle questioning. It was on my to do list for this week, only it seemed it had been brought forward.
I watched my mum’s eyebrow’s raise as she took in Carter and his bare chest. She’d made a comment once or twice about how handsome he was, which had always been a bit cringey. I couldn’t cope with any right now.
“Good morning, Carter. I see you’ve been keeping Rose company now Harriet’s moved away.” She gave him a smile, looked at his chest again. “Maybe find a T-shirt. There’s nothing quite as painful as bacon grease burning skin.”
“Bacon? I thought I could smell bacon.” My dad headed towards the kitchen. “Have you got any spare.”
I made eye contact with Carter, who was trying to contain his laughter.
“Probably. We bought two packs yesterday.” I followed him into the kitchen, thankful we were using an air fryer and not a frying pan.
“So this was a planned sleepover?” My mother was not going to let this go.
“It was.” One thing I’d learned from growing up in a family full of lawyers was never to argue.
Never try and cover something up because they’d dig it out like a dog with a dead body and then use your lies to incriminate you and turn something bigger than it was.
“Why were you at Eliza’s?” I couldn’t think of a single reason why my parents would be at my cousin's.
Eliza was a magnet for trouble, but her dad, my Uncle Killian, had a security firm, and he used his resources to keep her out of trouble – or at least try to.
“There’s a court hearing tomorrow and she’s prepping, so I said I’d go through some elements of it.
I’m surprised you haven’t remembered – or maybe you’ve been pre-occupied.
” Georgia, single parent extraordinaire for the first few years of my life, cast her eyes back over to Carter, who was now wearing more clothes.
“I’ve been pre-occupied.” I could apologise to Eliza after her court case, not that she’d be bothered, she’d just demand details of what Carter was like in bed and not have any shame about it.
“I can understand why.” At least she kept her voice low, but I was pretty sure that Carter heard anyway.
“Mother. Don’t. I wasn’t expecting you.”
“We weren’t going to call in, but we were walking straight past the apartment block and I was worried you’d be lonely on your own without Harriet. I can see I shouldn’t have been.” Another glance at Carter. “How are you, Carter? How’s my daughter treating you?”
I had no idea how he was going to answer that given less than an hour ago I’d been impaled on his cock and clutching the headboard.
“Good. Doing really well. How’s the empty nest?” He grinned, demonstrating the dimple he’d had since I’d known him.
“It’s amazing. No mess, no kids, no one demanding an item of clothing that they expected to be washed even though it’s under their bed. Wait till you have kids and you’ll long for the day when they’ve all moved out.”
She gave him a wink and I wanted to curl up in the wardrobe and hide.
“I think you’ve been spending too much time with Marie.” I referred to my grandmother.
“I’ve learned a lot from her over the years, including how not to kill Joseph.” She looked at my dad who was busying himself with frying the eggs. “He’s thinking what to say about you and Carter.”
He turned round at this point, spatula in hand. “I’m unsurprised.” There was no evidence of any surprise on his face. “It’s Georgia who’s surprised, although I’ve no idea why. This has been in the cards for about the last thirteen years, if not longer.”
My mum walked over to him. “What’s made you say that?”
He shrugged. “I just knew. I was surprised it took this long.”
“So why didn’t you say anything?” My mum took over buttering the baps. “We’d have avoided coming here.
Seph grinned. “Revenge. It’s fun being on the other side of being uncomfortable when you’re sprung by your in laws, although credit, Carter. I thought you’d have hidden somewhere.”
“No hiding needed.” He was next to me now, his arm around my shoulders. I leaned into him a little. “I hope you don’t mind.”
Seph shook his head. “Not at all. I’ve already threatened you, so I know we’re clear. Her uncle knows some big people who have experience in hiding bodies. That’s all I need to remind you.”
“Dad,” I groaned. “Please don’t be so embarrassing.”
“It’s my job. Just be glad you weren’t Eliza when Killian caught her leaving one of his bloke’s houses.” Seph laughed at that. “Although, Killian was more concerned he was going to lose a really good employee.”
“I know about that. I think you had the version told post-rugby after three pints.” I was very aware of what talk was like between my dad and his brothers and brothers-in-law. “Let’s not go into it.”
Carter went over and added bacon and eggs to the baps, adding tomato sauce to mine and his, leaving mum and Seph to do their own.
I was halfway through replacing the calories I’d burned that morning before I realised this didn’t feel strange. Carter had breakfast at my house when we were kids pretty much every weekend. He was around for Sunday lunches and barbecues, having his first beer with my dad because his was at work.
This was a change, a shift in dynamics because an extra layer had been added, but there was nothing hugely different.
“So how long’s this been going on?” My mum gestured between the two of us, halfway through her breakfast with a line of tomato sauce over her face that my dad wouldn’t tell her about until later.
“A few weeks. A week and a half properly, so early days.” It was the truth and a warning. Don’t start planning anything, don’t start making comments about what might happen, but my parents were beyond doing that anyway. In a family as big as ours, they’d seen everything.
“Make the most of them,” my mum said. “When it gets serious, it gets harder. Although given I’ve spent more than twenty years married to that oaf - ”
The oaf was laughing. “You said harder!”
A cushion was launched across my lounge, successfully smacking my dad on his head.
Carter was trying not to choke on his breakfast.
“They don’t change. Take this as a warning. They remain overgrown teenagers with senses of humour that never develop beyond fifteen. What are you doing today?” She turned her back to Seph and carried on talking to me and Carter.
I went through what I had planned, answering her questions about how Harriet was doing, catching up about Fallon and Erin. I’d already told her about Laurie when I gave her the book signed by Jay, and she’d been in Silversmiths too.
They’d never know about the fake wedding. There was no need to revive that story, now it was dead, the annulment due soon.
“How about you Carter, what are you doing?” Seph put the dishes in the dishwasher and rinsed out the air fryer.
“Gym, washing and then a few beers with a couple of mates while we watch the football. Easy day.”
The conversation continued, more gossip about some of my cousins, some updates about what my parents were doing to the house now my brothers had definitely moved out – mainly preventative work so they couldn’t move back in.
They left without saying anything horrendously embarrassing, my mother whispering into my ear on her way out.
“I’d say he ticks all the boxes, Rose.” The wink that she gave with it made me die a little inside.
“That went okay.” Carter pulled his t-shirt off as soon as they left, exposing his chest which I was pretty obsessed with.
“Give it ten minutes and my phone’s going to blow up.”
“Turn it off,” he said. “We’ve got an hour before you need to head out.”
It was an hour well spent.