Chapter 33
After his aunt and uncle arrived, Ed found himself roped into helping Harry and their mum in the kitchen.
He didn’t think twice about it; the only way the day would be a success with so many people under one roof was for everyone to play a part.
It didn’t take long before Aunt Helen had also installed herself in the kitchen, an apron on over her blouse and trousers, and she and Ed’s mum were soon seated at the table going over the list of timings so they knew exactly what needed to be cooked and when.
His dad and Uncle Ryan appeared soon after and made themselves busy finding enough glasses for everyone and opening the champagne.
They handed everyone a glass then took the rest next door to distribute.
With the hot bites Harry had prepared heated to his satisfaction and laid out ready to serve, Ed balanced one of the platters on one hand and gathered a stack of napkins and his glass of champagne in the other and returned to the lounge.
His eyes immediately scanned the room and he frowned at the sight of Frankie leaning on a wall by herself.
She had a glass of champagne at least, but he didn’t like to see her on her own.
He handed off the tray to Matt, who was perched on the arm of one of the sofas, chatting to Pa, and made a beeline for Frankie. ‘You okay?’
‘Oh, yes, I’m fine, it’s just your family are a lot to take when they’re all in one place.’ She was smiling as she said it, so perhaps she was on her own through choice.
Ed had grown up with it so the noise and the sheer number of people present in the same space were nothing new to him, but he supposed it would be a bit overwhelming if someone wasn’t used to it.
‘If it gets too much let me know and we can take a breather in the garden or go for a stroll around the block, okay?’
She nodded. ‘Thank you. I’m really okay, it’ll just take me a bit of getting used to.’
Matt wandered over with the platter Ed had abandoned and offered it to Frankie.
She examined the options then selected a sausage roll.
‘Thank you.’ She blew on it, but didn’t take a bite, turning her attention to Matt instead.
‘Ed told me the good news that you’re going to be getting the cottage back.
You must be so relieved.’ She still felt a pang that the pretty little haven wouldn’t be home for much longer, but she was glad it would be back in the custody of someone who would care for it properly.
‘It will be good news once I’ve got everything squared away with Mrs J,’ Matt replied with a grin. ‘I know how much you’ve enjoyed staying there, so if you ever find yourself heading back this way, the spare room will be yours for the asking.’
Ed coughed. ‘Uh-hum. Did I just hear you calling my bedroom the spare room?’
Matt laughed. ‘I don’t remember agreeing to let you move back in. Besides,’ he added, ‘with you saying you planned to take back-to-back contracts next year, I didn’t think you’d want to be tied to anything here.’
It was true that had been the plan, but so much had changed in the past few days that in the back of his mind he was already second-guessing himself.
There was the possible venture with his dad to consider.
Ed needed to find time and sit down and have a proper conversation with him about it before he flew back to the Caribbean, work out a possible timescale and what research the two of them needed to start doing.
And then there was Frankie.
‘Don’t kick him out on my account,’ she said to Matt with a smile.
‘My schedule is absolutely jam-packed next year so I’ll be literally bouncing from one job to another.
I simply don’t know when I’d find time to visit, unfortunately.
’ There was something in the way she said it that set Ed’s teeth on edge.
She didn’t sound like herself, not the way she spoke to him at least. It was like she was putting on a performance, reading a pre-prepared line from a script.
‘What was that?’ he asked her, after Matt excused himself and went to offer the tray around.
‘What was what?’
‘That just now with Matt.’ He shifted a little closer so he could lower his voice. ‘I already told you if you’re uncomfortable we can get out of here. You don’t have to pretend in front of me – or anyone else, for that matter.’
Her eyes widened as though she was surprised he’d picked up on it.
As if he wasn’t completely aware of everything about her.
‘I wasn’t pretending and I’m sorry if it sounded like I was.
It’s just he’s the second person already to mention coming back for a visit and I’d rather focus on enjoying today than go over the same thing with everyone. ’
Because you’ve already made up your mind about not coming back, or because you’re having second thoughts?
She reached for his hand and squeezed it. ‘Looks like your dad is ready to start handing out gifts. Let’s find a seat.’
Ed let Frankie lead him over to a spot near where Issy and Liam were sitting on the carpet beside the two-seater sofa Ma and Pa were sitting on. As they settled cross-legged next to the others, Ed wished he was a mind-reader.
If Frankie had hoped opening presents would distract from further speculation about her future, she was out of luck. The first parcel she opened was from Chloe and it was a replacement can of self-protection spray. ‘In case Ed gets out of line again,’ Chloe joked as everyone else laughed.
Though she laughed along and even went so far as to raise the can and aim it at him in jest, Ed didn’t miss the tension around Frankie’s eyes when their gazes met.
Hoping to draw the attention away from her, Ed raised his still-marked palms up to display them.
‘She caught me red-handed once. I have no intention of getting on the wrong side of her again.’ As he’d hoped, the laughter was turned his way and for the next few minutes he endured a discussion of the photo that had done the rounds in the family WhatsApp.
To further distract everyone, Ed asked his dad to hand out the things he’d bought for his three brothers next. Harry was the first to open his. ‘Bastard,’ he said with a laugh as he held up the jumbo book of word searches.
‘Honestly, Ed!’ their mother exclaimed, but she said it with a laugh and a shake of her head.
Liam was next. ‘Accounts for Dummies. Very droll.’ Prior to moving home to take over running the hotel from their great-uncle, Liam had been a financial wizard in the city, earning big bucks for his skills.
‘Now you’re getting on a bit, I thought you might need a refresher,’ Ed said, then dived out of the way when Liam took a swipe at his head with the book.
‘You shouldn’t have.’ Rick’s tone was dry as the Sahara as he held up the pink sparkly notebook with a rainbow-horned unicorn on the front.
‘An important man like you is always in need of a new notebook,’ Ed pointed out with a grin. Rick might not be into pink sparkles, but Freya certainly was and, as Ed had expected, she’d taken ownership of it within a matter of seconds.
‘I think it’s only fair you open yours now,’ Liam suggested with a sly grin.
Their father walked over and dropped three identical packages in Ed’s lap.
They were nondescript rectangles, making it impossible to guess what was inside.
He ripped the paper of the first and revealed a box of hair dye.
The woman on the front had hair of a violently bright hue.
‘Purple Pantheress.’ Ed held the box up next to his face and showed it to Frankie. ‘What do you think?’
‘Anything would be an improvement.’
A chorus of oohs, laughter and a cry of ‘Shots fired!’ from Harry greeted her pithy response.
The sparkle had returned to her eyes and she gave him the ghost of a wink as Ed clutched at his chest and pretended to collapse back on the floor.
He soon recovered and, as he’d suspected, his brothers had all had the same hilarious idea, as the other two gifts were also hair dye in equally garish shades of Red Hot Chilli Pepper and Denim Damsel.
‘At least you showed some imagination with the colours,’ he said to Liam.
‘We got advice from an expert,’ his brother replied, pointing over at Maud, who was sitting on a dining room chair next to their great-uncle Davy. Her immaculate bob was a shimmering curtain of candyfloss pink.
With a laugh, Ed got to his feet and went over and presented the three boxes to her. ‘I think these’ll be more use to you than me.’
Davy looked at the boxes and frowned. ‘I don’t mind the red or the purple, but blue? Really?’
‘Oh hush yourself, Davy Penrose,’ Maud scolded him as she accepted the boxes from Ed. ‘Just because you’re determined to spend the rest of your days being a boring old fart, doesn’t mean I have to do the same.’
Davy grumbled something under his breath but he was smiling as he leaned over to kiss Maud on the cheek.
And so the present opening went on, everyone taking turns until they were all sitting with a pile of gifts at their feet. Ed had enough pants and socks to keep him going for a year, not that he minded because it saved him the bother of buying them.
Frankie was looking delighted with her little haul.
His mum, Aunt Helen and Ma had obviously put their heads together because they’d bought her a wash bag, a make-up bag, and a folding jewellery organiser all decorated in the same pretty floral material.
‘We thought they’d come in handy, given all the travelling you must have to do,’ his mum had said when Frankie had thanked her profusely.
Ed thought about the gift still sitting in his rucksack, then decided to throw caution to the wind.
His dad was going around the room collecting the discarded wrapping paper into a bin bag.
Ed stood and offered to take it away, using the time out of the room to retrieve the small gold-wrapped box.
Resuming his seat next to Frankie, he reached over and placed the box on top of her pile.
‘What’s this?’ she asked, turning wide, wild eyes towards him.
Ed glanced back at the small square box and realised it could be mistaken for something far more significant than its actual contents. ‘It’s not a ring!’ he burst out. ‘I haven’t completely lost my mind.’
‘Oh, thank God!’ Frankie exclaimed to a great gale of laughter.
‘No need to sound quite so relieved,’ Ed protested, which only earned another chorus of hilarity.
Frankie recovered enough to pick the box up and Ed leaned back on his hands to watch as she unwrapped it.
Under the wrapping was a small navy box with gold edging on it.
She eyed him again and when he nodded in encouragement Frankie pried the lid up to reveal a silver pendant on a chain inside.
She picked it up and held it before her, the pendant twisting slowly as she examined it.
‘It’s a compass,’ Ed told her as he sat up. It wasn’t a casual gift so there was no point in pretending to be casual about it. ‘No matter where you are in the world, you’ll always be able to find your way back to Halfmoon Quay.’
To me.
‘It’s beautiful.’ Frankie’s expression was unreadable as she held it out to him. ‘Help me put it on?’
‘Of course.’ It took him a couple of goes to open the little lobster claw as his fingers were trembling, but he managed to fasten it around her neck. Frankie didn’t say anything, but her hand came up to cover the pendant.
The whole room was silent for a long moment and Ed cursed his impetuosity.
He should’ve waited until they were alone to give it to her.
Or better yet, should’ve left it in his bloody rucksack and forgotten all about it.
Frankie had made her intentions clear and he needed to stop pushing for something she wasn’t willing to give.
‘Right,’ his mother said in a slightly too loud voice as she got to her feet. ‘I think it’s time we tackled that veg mountain, Helen, don’t you? Issy? Frankie? Do you mind giving us a hand?’
‘I’m more than happy to help.’ Frankie scrambled to her feet like she couldn’t wait to get away from him. She left the room with his mother, her eyes fixed on the ground, her hand still covering the pendant. Issy stood too, shooting Ed a sympathetic glance as she walked past.
Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuckity fuck! Ed grabbed a nearby cushion, covered his face and lay back on the floor.
‘What’s the matter with him?’ he heard Uncle Davy ask in his gruff voice from across the room.
‘I think our Ed just took a shot at the goal and hit the post,’ Pa replied.
‘More like he scored a spectacular own goal,’ Harry said.
Ed gave a loud groan. ‘Bloody hell, why am I such an idiot?’
Pa let out his familiar chuckle. The cushion Ed was holding over his face was prised free from his hands and he found himself staring up into his grandfather’s amused, if sympathetic gaze. ‘Don’t give up now, lad, there’s still time in the game.’
With a sigh, Ed sat up and hooked his arms around his bent knees. ‘I appreciate the encouragement, Pa, but I think the ref’s about to blow his whistle and call time.’