Two Purple Gloves (A Pear Street Christmas #2)

CHAPTER SIX

“I mean, that’s what Mum and Dad would do.”

HARRY

“D id you even get anyone’s drink order?” Nel asks as the garage door closes behind her.

“No,” I chuckle. “Everyone’s still got wine.”

“Oh,” she says, clearly confused. “Then what do you need my help with?”

“I didn’t need your help, I just wanted to talk to you.”

“Oh,” she says again and then gives me a soft smile, like that pleases her. Because over the last year, my sister and I have actually made an effort to get to know each other and spend time together because we want to and not just out of familial obligation. Turns out we get on pretty well. “What’s up?”

I shuffle on my feet slightly and look at the floor. “Uh, you and Lisa…talk, right?”

She narrows her brown eyes at me suspiciously. “Yeah.”

“Has she, uh, said anything to you? About me?”

“Like?”

I shrug, going for nonchalance. “I don’t know, I just feel like something’s been on her mind for a while, but I don’t know what’s bothering her.”

I see it. Maybe someone who didn’t know my sister well would have missed it, but I see it. A flash of understanding and maybe even a little guilt. She knows something.

“Tell me,” I demand, standing straight .

Her shoulders slump. “I don’t know anything, Harry.” She’s as convincing as Oscar telling us he definitely didn’t steal an extra doughnut from the kitchen when he has jam smeared all over his cheeks.

“Nel,” I warn. “Tell me. If I’ve done something to piss Lisa off, I need to know what it is so I can fix it.”

Her head tilts and her lips tip down in a sympathetic smile. “Harry,” she says softly. “I’m sure you’ve not done anything to upset Lisa.”

I drag my fingers through my hair. “But you know something ? I’m just worried I’m going to make things exponentially worse if I ask her.”

She frowns at me. “Why would you think that?”

I look at her wide eyed in a way as if to say, come on, you know why . She only shakes her head. “I thought you and I had a good relationship for twenty-eight years before you told me I’d basically been bullying you your whole life.”

She snorts like a pig, throwing her head back and laughing out loud. “Oh, Harry.”

“What? Why’s that funny? It’s given me PTSD, Nel!”

She laughs some more. “Big brother, we did have a good relationship, we do have one. You can’t let mistakes you’ve made between us affect your relationship with Lisa. You two are perfect together, I’ve never seen two people with such a good…vibe. You and I established a dynamic when we were both dumb kids, you being a cocky little shit—” I glare at her, and she smirks but continues “—me being a weak little pushover.”

“You weren’t—”

She holds up a hand to stop me. “But the point is, when we both grew up and actually sat down and talked about it, we built new dynamics, a new relationship, and we’re good, Harry. We’re so good right now.”

I kind of want to hug her. So, I do. Of course, it can’t be too sentimental, so I squeeze just that little bit too tight and hold her head to my chest so her cheek is squidged and she can’t escape. “Love you, kid. ”

“Love you too,” she mumbles, her voice muffled by my embrace. When I let her go, she bats me away and straightens out her perfectly straight hair. “Listen, if anything, you should take what happened last year as a sign that you can fix anything by just having an open conversation. Talk to your wife.”

I roll my eyes. “God, you sound just like Jake.”

That makes her smile. “Lisa and I spoke a little while back and something was mentioned that might be what you’re picking up on, but it was nothing you’ve done. But if you want my honest opinion, you’d be doing both of you a favour by talking about it.”

I sigh in resignation. “Yeah, okay.”

There’s a moment of silence where we both just kind of look at each other and then I bring up the other thing I wanted to say.

“Hey, you okay? You know, after Cami’s little mother of the bride speech.”

She smiles sadly and nods. “Yeah, just caught me off guard.” She holds her hand out to look at the diamond Jake gave her. “This only happened a day ago and I haven’t really thought about an actual wedding or how hard it’s going to be to do it all without Mum and Dad.”

I nod slowly, unsure what to say. My wedding was a grand affair. I was allowed to be involved in the organising, but between my hyper organised wife and her efficient to the nth degree mother, I really didn’t have to do anything. I have no idea what Nel will be facing.

I think of my mum, not the wasting away version of her we lost eighteen months ago but the full of life and excitable woman who would be ecstatic that Nel and Jake found each other and that he was joining the family officially. My dad would probably give Jake the obligatory lecture on the importance of keeping Nel happy in life and that if he failed to do so, he’d have Dad and myself to deal with, but then he’d probably cry and pull Jake into a big hug. I smile at the thought and an unwelcome burn starts at the back of my eyes .

“They’d be so proud of you, you know?” I rasp, tears closing my throat up.

Nel looks up at me with a wobble in her chin and her own glazed eyes.

“I mean, they were proud of you. But they’d be even more so seeing how you’ve built yourself, your business, how you’ve found love. I’m proud of you, Nels-Bells.” There’s no point in fighting the tears as they fall, one look at Nel and I’m sobbing.

“Fuck.” I wipe my palm down my face. “They really loved him too.”

She nods, unable to speak.

“Pretty sure Mum preferred him to me most of the time,” I say, trying to break the weight of the moment.

“Oh, Harry,” Nel sobs. “It wasn’t just Mum, we all did.”

I laugh and she does too, both of us swiping our tears away, me with no finesse, her delicately dabbing to avoid ruining her pretty makeup. “So uh, I was thinking,” I say hesitantly, wondering if the idea that struck at the dinner table when Cami was talking about wedding dress shopping is actually a good one. “I’d uh, I’d like to pay for your wedding dress…you know, i-if that’s something you’d like…”

“You want to buy my wedding dress?” Her chin wobbles more and it makes me doubt everything.

“Yeah,” I say with a noncommittal shrug. “I mean, that’s what Mum and Dad would do. We could probably help out with more like the cake or something, but I should probably check with my wife before I go committing to that stuff. But the dress, that would mean a lot if you would let me do that for you—”

I don’t get to finish that thought because the breath is knocked out of my lungs when she flings her arms around me and shakes with silent sobs into my chest. I guess she could be crying out of anger or frustration, but I get the distinct feeling I’ve actually said the right thing and slump a little in relief. Dipping my head, I kiss her hair and allow myself to cry a little, too .

“Will you give me away?” she asks, muffled against my shirt but I hear it all the same and I close my eyes, resisting the urge to make a very unmanly sob.

“You’re going to ruin my mascara,” I say, trying to lighten the mood again. She laughs but doesn’t let me go and I’m okay with it. “Of course I will.”

The garage door opens, and Lisa stands on the small step looking at us, surprised by the scene. “Everything okay?”

Nel and I break apart. “Yeah.” I chuckle, wiping my face again. “I uh, I told Nel I wanted to buy her wedding dress.” Lisa’s eyes widen and I wince internally. Shit. “Sorry, babe. I should have spoken to you first, I just—”

Once again, I’m cut off by arms wrapping around me, except this time, it’s my wife. Lisa’s arms are around my neck and her feet hanging off the ground as I catch her. I’ve always loved the feel of her in my arms, her body against mine and the smell of soap and caramel. “You’re a wonderful man, Harry Forest, you know that?”

“Must be doing something right to deserve this treatment,” I mumble into her hair and place her back on her feet.

Instead of letting me go, she pulls Nel in so the three of us are hugging. “If he didn’t offer, I would have.”

“You two are really testing my makeup,” Nel complains.

“What’s going on? I heard—” Jake stops in the doorway, scowling as he looks at us like he walked in on us doing circus tricks. When he looks at Nel, he steps over and pulls her out of our embrace and into his. “What’s wrong? What happened? Who do I need to beat up?”

She hums over a smile, snuggling into him. “Harry.”

He glares at me and because I’m completely secure in my masculinity, I unashamedly hide behind my wife.

Lisa smacks his arm. “Oh, enough of that, we were just having a beautiful family moment,” she says, bringing us in again and initiating a very strange four-way hug.

After a moment and no sign of anyone breaking away, I shuffle awkwardly. “This is a bit weird.”

“Shut up, you’re ruining the moment,” Jake snaps .

“You don’t even know what the moment was!”

Lisa and Nel both laugh at us and Jake cracks into a grin at the same time I do.

“Arsehole.”

“Prick.”