Chapter 24
twenty-four
HENRY
The house was still half asleep when I headed downstairs the next morning. The heating hadn't quite kicked in yet, so the kitchen tiles were chilly underfoot. The whole place smelled faintly of last night's dinner and the sourness of wineglasses that hadn’t been washed yet.
I thought I'd be the first one up, but I found Mum already standing at the sink. She swayed along to the radio, her sleeves rolled up, and her hands sank into the suds. Dishes stacked precariously on the counters, bowls, plates, glasses, even bits of confetti and discarded paper crowns. I spied a stray piece of glittered wrapping paper and grinned. Dad swept up wrapping paper with intense precision, ready to recycle it as soon as it hit the floor; he’d be most irritated to see a piece had escaped.
‘Morning,’ I said, kissing Mum on the cheek and grabbing a tea towel.
The lines around her eyes crinkled. 'Morning, duck. You're up early.'
‘Couldn’t sleep.’
'Didn't think you would', she laughed, passing me the first wet tray straight from the sink.
I took it, as I swiped the towel over it before we worked through the rest. There was something comforting about it, the clink of the dishes and the quiet routine.
It was like being young again, so often had I been the first up with Mum, helping her clean after one of their raucous parties.
The two of us side by side, chatting about life, or nothing.
Minutes later, she broke the silence in that way that only mothers can. Sounding casual, but darting through to your innermost worries with precision.
‘So, tell me about Amanda.’
‘What about her?’ I asked, trying for non-commital and failing miserably.
Mum chuckled, far more amused than sympathetic. ‘Don’t play dumb, Henry. It doesn’t suit you. I haven’t seen you look at someone like that since you were a teen who fell in love with every pretty girl you saw.’
I sighed. ‘Mum. I was an idiot at fifteen.’
‘Mmm, so spill. Who is she to you? You’ve never seriously brought a woman home to meet us.’
I dried slowly, feeling the question twisting the doubts I already had.
‘She's…' I swallowed. 'She's everything. She's strong, and sharp, and more guarded than she wants people to realise. She carries so much on her shoulders she forgets how to set anything down. And she’s also sweet, and soft, and so perfect beneath all the armour.’
Mum's smile widened. 'You're smitten'.
I huffed out a laugh. ‘Yeah. I think I am.’
‘Is she your girlfriend?'
I paused mid-dry of a bowl, because I’d been avoiding that question inside my own head.
'Not in so many words,' I said. 'We haven't put a name on anything. It’s very new.’
Mum glanced at me.’ And yet you brought her home.'
I shrugged. 'I didn't really think it through. It just felt right. And I wasn’t ready to let her leave yet.’
Mum turned the tap off and dried her hands on her apron, leaning back against the counter.
‘Henry, you don't bring someone home because they need somewhere to go. You bring someone home because you want them to accept you and where you come from.'
She wasn’t wrong. I wanted Amanda to want me. To want all of this.
‘I’m sure about her,’ I said, the words out of my mouth before I could second-guess them. ‘Pretty sure. No. Completely sure, if I’m honest. I don’t know how to explain it, Mum. I’ve never known anyone like her. I feel like I’ve been waiting for her without knowing I was waiting.’
Mum's face softened, full of love and pride.
‘Good,’ she said quietly. ‘Because she looks at you like she’s smitten too.’
I blinked. 'You think?
'I don't think, Henry,’ she said with a little smirk. ‘I know. I've been watching her just as much as you've been watching her. Every time you moved into a room, she relaxed. Every time you weren't looking, she watched you rapt until you were back by her side.’
‘She might be scared,’ Mum added softly. ‘I can see that too. But she likes you a lot. And she trusts you. That's rare, Henry. Don't take it lightly.'
I swallowed, feeling something fierce and protective rise in me.
‘I won’t. I’d never hurt her.’
‘I know you wouldn’t.’ Mum leaned over and touched my cheek with her slightly damp hand. ‘Just be patient with her. Not everyone is ready to go all in so soon.’
I nodded.
Outside, the snow began again in slow, lazy flakes.
Upstairs, I could hear the soft shuffle of someone moving around the office, coming from the box room. Amanda waking up, maybe trying to figure out how to face the day in a house full of people when she’s not slightly sozzled.
And suddenly, I was unshakeably sure about wanting more with her in a way I hadn’t been the day before.