Chapter 36
Thirty-Six
“ L ola!” Laura approached me, arms outstretched. “Good morning!”
I gave her back an awkward pat, seeking out my best friend's eye. Her dark eyes blazed, her cheeks flushed with anger as she glared at Damien. I pulled out of the hug, gesturing at the sneaky bastard next to me. “This is?—”
“Alfie Tell! Of course, I’d recognise those cheekbones anywhere.
Hi, I’m Laura Larson, I’ve known Lola since she was a little girl.
” She beamed, all but swooning at his feet.
Alfie shook her hand, but instead of littering her with smooth compliments as I expected, he was merely polite, his gaze dissecting the woman as he spoke.
“I always forget that you’re famous,” I muttered as we all took our seats. I hadn’t expected Laura to recognise him on sight.
“Infamous actually,” he whispered and I snorted.
“We still need to talk about that stunt with the danishes.”
Alfie gave me a look that was far too cool for my liking but I ignored it, I’d deal with that later. Damien took a seat next to Keira and I frowned at the tension in her face.
Maia seated herself next to me and I blinked, wondering where she’d come from. She gave me a small smile and I whispered that I hoped she’d had fun with Eli. Before she could respond, Laura lifted a lid off one of the food trays and a familiar smell hit my nose.
“I made these for you.” She smiled, lifting the tray to offer me a muffin. “They’re still your favourite I hope.”
I looked around for a tray of homemade cherry danishes and of course, found the table empty except for Damien's offering. Swallowing a sigh I forced a polite smile on my face.
“Thank you, they smell great.” I took a plump blueberry muffin, tore off a chunk and popped it in my mouth. Keira rolled her eyes at her mums’ antics but I could see the hurt there.
I felt Alfie’s hand on my thigh and looked up to find a concerned expression on his face. Of course he’d picked up on the tension. I gave his hand a squeeze.
“Laura, I apologise,” Damien said, “if I’d known you were making the girls’ favourites I wouldn’t have bought the danishes.
Do you need help bringing out the ones you made for Keira?
” His smooth smile was perfectly in place, so charming Laura didn’t even realise the passive aggression slapping her in the face.
Keira side-eyed him and I raised my brows.
“Oh, I didn’t make any! But Keira will eat anything, can’t you tell by those hips?” She laughed, an empty, hollow sound.
“I like her hips,” I said around a mouthful of muffin.
“Me too.” Damien nodded, giving Keira a shit-eating grin.
“So do I,” Alfie agreed and Keira looked like she was about to choke. Alfie shrugged and muttered, “I’m being supportive.”
“You have great hips, Keira,” Maia piped up, her voice small but sweet.
Keira looked at all of us before bursting out laughing.
The rest of the meal passed with a string of near misses. Damien did an excellent job of distracting Keira’s parents but Alfie was surprisingly quiet, despite how much attention Laura paid him. His seemingly indifferent gaze sharpened at every slight jibe towards Keira.
As much as I tried to keep their focus too, I couldn’t help but keep drifting back to my best friend who seemed to be shrinking by the second, no matter how stoic she tried to appear.
She reached for a third danish and her mum tutted. “Another danish, Keira? Are you sure?”
“You won’t hold onto a man like Damien for very long if you keep eating like that!” Richard let out a half-laugh, a joke that wasn’t quite a joke.
“I’m not trying to hold onto anyone, Dad.”
“Well, I’m just trying to look out for you, Keira, love.” Her mum offered her a simpering smile that reminded me too much of Angie. “You don’t have Lola’s metabolism, you need to take better care of yourself.”
Alfie looked at me and I shook my head, willing him not to say anything. He frowned, his hand slipping away from my thigh.
“She looks good to me,” Damien cut in, not bothering to wear a smile this time.
“Mum,” Keira muttered, “it’s just a danish.”
Laura huffed, turning up her nose at her daughter.
“Suit yourself. But I’m just saying it for your own good.
You don’t have Lola’s natural talent and you’ve never been all that bright, your best asset is your appearance…
such as it is.” She ran a critical eye over her daughter and my jaw clenched.
I wanted to launch myself across the table and stuff the damned danish down her throat.
“ Mum …” Keira pleaded, willing her to shut up. Her face was bright red. I silently willed her to tag me in and let her mum have it but as always, she didn’t.
“Love, you’ve never been particularly pretty but you could be more attractive if you took better care of your diet and?—”
I winced as Alfie straightened next to me. He had always had the ability to dominate a room without words or actions, it was in his energy, his eyes and he used that now. Placing his cutlery on the left side of his plate, he fixed a cool eye on Laura.
“I’m finished.” Alfie’s tone was razor sharp, bringing silence to the table. Everyone stared at him except for me. I leaned into his space, wanting to be in the eye of the storm, not in range of its rage.
Laura blinked, the tension she’d caused glossing over her head. “Of course! I’ll just clear that plate away for you. Lola, I hope you enjoyed your breakfast.”
Keira’s parents set about clearing the breakfast things, silence falling over us as they disappeared inside.
The silence was broken by the screeching of Keira’s chair as she stood and stalked away from the table, disappearing around the side of the house.
I knew where she was going. A quiet nook in the garden, hidden from the house with nothing but the ocean as far as the eye could see.
“Excuse me.” I stood but Alfie stopped me.
“I’ll go.” He rose from his chair. I stared at him–what was he doing? “You aren’t the only person I have to rebuild a bridge with.”
When Alfie returned twenty minutes later, I was relieved to see him still in one piece. I left Damien and Maia at the table and rushed over to him.
“She’s fine,” he said, answering my unspoken question.
“How’s the bridge?”
“Damaged but functioning.” His tone was clipped, cold.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Nothing. I have to get back to work.”
I slipped my hand into his, keeping him from going anywhere. I studied his face, searching for the problem. When I found it, it was so obvious I was angry I hadn’t realised it before. “It can’t have been easy watching Keira be treated like that.”
His jaw stiffened. We had done so much work uncovering and healing the damage done by his father, his brother. His mother’s damage, that was something we still hadn’t touched on too much. “You didn’t stand up for her.”
“She doesn’t want me to,” I answered gently, wondering how I could make him understand.
“That shouldn’t stop you.”
“People get to make choices about their own lives, Alfie. I don’t agree with her choice to let her parents treat her like shit but it is her choice, so don’t put me in the same boat as your sister.
” I squeezed his hand, stepping closer, showing him I didn’t mean any harm.
“I’m not indifferent, I care. It hurts watching it but she has to decide to stand up for herself and to tag me in when she wants back up. ”
He nodded but the frown was still there. I bit my lip, watching him. “That’s not all that’s eating at you.”
“Just old guilt. I wasn’t kind to Keira.”
“No, you weren’t. You hurt her best friend and?—”
“It’s not just that.” He stared at our locked hands, silence ticking by before he finally spoke. “She came to see me at Harrington once, while we were still together.”
I stared at him, shocked. “What? When?”
“The day Adam attacked you.”
The day Keira and I had fought. We’d argued that night, an argument that almost seemed to come out of nowhere. “Why?”
“To tell me to stay away from you, of course.”
Of course. I should have guessed that. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“It never felt like it was my place to tell you, now I don’t think she cares if you know.”
“Why wouldn’t she tell me herself?” I asked, glaring at him. “Alfie, what did you do?”
“Just what I did to you.” He lifted his chin the way he always did when he was admitting his sins, as if waiting for his punishment.
I wondered if he’d lifted his chin the same way every time he was about to take a beating from his father.
“She was trying to break us up so I got in her head, made her question her friendship with you. It wasn’t difficult, the cracks were already there from Adam, I just took a mallet to them. ”
I stared at him, my hand falling away from his. “You’re the reason we fought.”
“The cracks were already there, like I said, but yes, I pushed you both over the edge.”
And even after I was attacked and needed her more than ever, he’d still used our fight to manipulate me and drive us further apart.
Bile rose in my throat.
Sometimes, it was like the old Alfie didn’t exist but every now and again, he reared his vicious head and it was impossible to deny how awful he’d been. I crossed my arms, trying to hold onto my anger. Now wasn’t the time or the place for a blow up between Alfie and I.
“Why are you telling me now?”
“Because she just forgave me.”
I paused for a minute. “She really did?”
“Yes. Lo, I’m sorry. I was a different man then and?—”
“I know.” I raised a hand to stop him. We’d done all this before.
I’d been a fool to think we could just let go of the past. You couldn’t do that, not when your past was a tumultuous, storm-stricken sea.
Our past was going to crash into us in relentless waves until it finally wore itself out.
When it was over, we’d need to lay on the shore, broken and exhausted and assess the damage.
To decide if we were strong enough to carry on.
To prepare for the next wave, you had to blink the salt water out of your eyes and breathe while you still could. So that’s what I did, I took a deep breath.
“Never again, Alfie.” I held his gaze, making sure he was taking in every word I said. “You ever hurt her again, we’re finished.”
“I understand.” He studied me but before either of us could say anything else, Damien approached.
“My turn,” he said, heading in Keira’s direction. I dodged Alfie, grabbing Damien's arm.
“You need to give her some space.”
He raised his brows, probably surprised that someone had dared to give him an order. He and Alfie had that in common.
“By the way, that thing with the danishes? I get that you were trying to be cute but don’t pull manipulative shit like that again.”
Alfie placed what I’m sure he thought was a soothing arm around my waist. “It was just a danish, Lo.”
“Like it was just a grey dress?” I snapped and he flinched. “It started with the small things, Alfie.” I turned back to Damien. “Give her some room, if she wants you, you’ll know about it.”
“Dominant little thing, aren’t you?”
“Fuck off, Marx.” Alfie sounded bored. After how incredible yesterday had been and this morning, waking up in each other's arms for the first time in two and a half years, I knew that none of this had been what he’d envisioned for today.
Damien laughed and backed up a step. “Meet you on the dock?”
Alfie nodded and Damien walked away. He turned, peering down at me, searching me to see what kind of damage control he needed to do.
“Are we good?”
“We’re good but our drama isn’t my priority right now, Keira is.” I softened my tone, trying to take the bite out of it but his jaw clenched all the same. I knew being put in second place riled up all of Alfie’s insecurities but he needed to get over it for today.
After a moment, he let go. “Okay, I’ll see you later.”
I watched him go, easily catching up to Damien. I took a deep breath and went to find Keira. I’d been relieved to see Alfie still in one piece after their chat but I couldn’t help but worry how many pieces he’d left my best friend in.