‘Like you feel sorry for me,’ Luke grumbled, nodding to a customer and pulling him another pint. ‘Everything is going to work out with Mia.’
‘I have no doubt.’ Phil began to collect the empties off the bar.
‘I mean, it has to, because we’re so flaming good together.’
The bar now clear, Phil began to wipe it down. ‘You are.’
‘Jesus.’ Luke huffed under his breath. ‘Stop being so bloody agreeable.’
Phil finally turned to look at him. ‘You want me to say you’re not good together? That things won’t work out?’
‘No, of course not.’ God, it wasn’t just pulling teeth. It was trying to yank on them while the dude with the teeth had his mouth slammed shut. ‘I want you say it like you mean it. And not like you’re trying to placate a gnarly animal.’
The corner of Phil’s mouth twitched. ‘You are pretty gnarly tonight.’
‘Yeah well, so would you be if the woman you loved was avoiding you.’
Phil opened his mouth to say something, but an influx of customers arrived at the bar. Luke pasted a smile on his face and acted like the cheery bartender they expected. And not the pathetic lovesick sod he felt inside.
It was only as the last customer left and they began to clear up, that he was able to touch base with Phil again.
‘Thanks for helping out.’
‘Yeah man, we appreciate it,’ Mateo called out from where he was loading the dishwasher.
‘No worries, it’s great to see the place so busy.’
‘The crowds I could have coped with,’ Mateo yelled before Luke could get a word in. ‘It’s your brother’s hangdog expression I couldn’t handle.’
Phil barked out a laugh. ‘I hear you, mate.’
Luke cleared his throat. ‘Do I need to remind you guys who pays your wages?’ He flicked a finger at Phil’s shirt. ‘And from the look of your wardrobe, you need the money.’
Phil grinned and rested a hand on each of Luke’s shoulders. ‘I promise not to wear this shirt again to your bar.’ Slowly the grin left his face, and his eyes fixed on Luke’s. ‘And back to what we were talking about earlier, I also promise to always tell you the truth. You and Mia will make it. You just have to be patient with her. Imagine if she was the one with the ex who lived next door? The one who she’d wanted to marry but had turned her down. How comfortable, how secure would you feel?’
‘I’d hate it.’
Phil beamed like a proud teacher. ‘Exactly.’
‘You really believe she thinks I’ve still got a thing for Freya?’
‘Put yourself in her shoes. The first time she stays over, Freya barges into your flat using her own key. She nearly gets stood up the other day because you were fixing Freya’s tap. Add to all that the fact that she thought you guys were over years ago and then finds out you slept with each other recently.’
‘Four fucking years ago,’ he reminded Phil between gritted teeth.
‘But that’s recently compared to the sixteen years ago Mia thought it had been,’ Phil pointed out.
And damn it, Luke hated it when his brother was so calm, so considered. And so flaming right. ‘Okay, okay.’ He drew in a breath. ‘Patient. I can do that.’ Unconsciously he drew out his phone to check his messages. A big fat nothing. ‘This patience. How many days does it have to last, exactly?’
Phil chuckled and gave him a hard thump on the back. ‘You’ll work it out.’
Just then his phone began to vibrate and Luke’s pulse kicked in. When he saw the message was from Grace, not Mia, he was ashamed that he felt disappointed. But when he clicked it open, his heart almost detonated.
You need to come home ASAP. Message for you in Mia’s window. G xxx
‘Shit, what is it? You’ve gone pale as a sheet.’
His hand trembling, Luke showed Phil the message. ‘Do you think it’s good news or bad news?’
Phil gave him a push towards the door. ‘Only one way to find out.’
Chapter Thirty-Eight
As he unlocked the door to his flat, Luke’s heart was pounding so hard he was half afraid it would burst out of his chest and start bouncing round the floor.
In his desperation to get to the spare room, he almost tripped over Pickles.
‘Damn it.’ The rabbit gave him a wary look and Luke scooped her up. ‘Shit, sorry love. I didn’t see you there.’
She nudged her nose against his neck. ‘Guess I’m forgiven, huh?’
The bigger question was, had Mia forgiven him, too?
‘Okay then, let’s do this together.’ He clutched the lop-eared fur-ball against his chest. ‘Sorry for the heart hammering. Turns out I’m more terrified of going into this room than I’ve ever been in my life.’
Of course, since she was a rabbit, he didn’t expect Pickles to give him much in the way of encouragement. Still, she didn’t seem to realise how shit scared he was. In fact the way she was nudging him, he had a feeling she was more bothered about getting fed.
‘Okay, okay, but you’ve got to wait. There’s more important stuff going on right now.’
Still holding her like a safety blanket, he forced his legs to walk along the corridor and into the spare room.
‘Christ, I almost can’t bear to look, but I don’t suppose you’re going to read it for me.’
Striding up to the window, heart in his mouth, he stared at the window opposite. The one that would, perhaps, seal his destiny.
And as his eyes took in the message, his mind became stuck. He had to read the single sheet of paper again and again before it finally sank in.
I ❤ U 2
Knees buckling, he slipped to the floor. ‘She loves me,’ he mumbled against Pickles’ fur. ‘She loves me,’ he repeated, voice stronger. Then he started to laugh, lifting Pickles up in the air. ‘Can you bloody believe it!’
Clearly less than impressed, Pickles wriggled out of his arms and scampered off but Luke took a moment to just sit and look at the sign. His heart felt so full now, brimming not just with love but with hope.
His phone beeped.
Did you see it? G xx
He wondered how she knew, but decided it was a conversation for another day, so he simply messaged back a yes.
A second later he received another message from her:
Aw, true love ❤❤❤
Just as he was clambering to his feet, his phone beeped again. And this time his heart skipped a beat.
Grace tells me you’ve seen the message. Can I come round? M xx
This was quickly followed by:
I feel the need to kiss the living daylights out of you. M xx
Laughter rolled through him at her use of his phrase, but being emotionally wiped out, he was fresh out of witty replies so he went with a heartfelt one instead:
Yes please. L x
It seemed like hours before she arrived, though probably it was only minutes. He just about had enough time to feed Pickles, stroke her ears and tell her not to disturb him for the next twelve hours.