“Are you sure you can’t stay?” Carole asked.
“Yes, we’ve got to try some of this Malbec,” John said, still standing over his twenty-four bottles like a protective mother hen.
“Another day,” Mark said with a sigh. “Unfortunately, duty calls.”
Bloody hell. I really wanted them to stay.
“Lovely to see you,” Audrey said, bending to kiss Carole.
“Thank you for getting the vases and the lamp,” Carole said. “Next time make sure you can stay for lunch at least.”
Very politely, Audrey excused herself and headed out with Mark. Nathan appeared with another box.
“I thought you bought a vase,” John said to Carole.
“I did. I also bought another vase. And a lamp.”
John mumbled under his breath and turned back to his wine.
Carole winked at me. “He’d have had much more to say if Mark hadn’t turned up with that wine.”
“Yes,” Nathan said, putting down the final Liberty box. “Thank goodness for Mark,” he said with more than a hint of sarcasm in his tone.
Considering Mark and Nathan had been friends for so long, there seemed none of the friendly familiarity I’d witnessed between Nathan and his brothers. Perhaps I was reading too much into the entire situation, or perhaps Mark suspected there was something between his wife and Nathan. Even though Mark and Audrey had left, their presence seemed to linger. I’d have to find a way to bring them back into the conversation so I could figure out what was going on.
Seventeen
Nathan
Audrey had sent me a message this morning, reminding me that she and Mark would be dropping by. But I’d been so focused on Madison—consumed by wondering what she’d think of Norfolk and my four brothers—that I managed to miss it. Madison was too smart not to have noticed the awkwardness I felt around Mark, but I hoped the Cove clan would prove sufficiently distracting. Wishful thinking had me hoping she’d just forget the whole encounter.
“You lot are driving me crazy,” Mum said. “Get these boxes out of here.” She pointed to the packages that Audrey and Mark had brought with them.
“Where do you want them?” Zach asked.
“In the office. And while you’re there, if there’s anything you want, take it now. I’ve boxed everything up and I’m sending everything in there to Oxfam.”
“You don’t mean that,” Jacob said. “All our things from when we were kids are in there.”
“Last time I checked, you are all grown men and we’re not a storage facility,” Carole said. “Take what you want or you won’t see it again. The office is being turned into a sewing room. Everything is out of there.”
I glanced at Madison, who couldn’t seem to stop smiling. I’d worried she might be horrified by my grumpy father, and brothers who seemed to regress in age as soon as they crossed the county border into Norfolk. Despite not having grown up here, it did feel like a family home—a haven where we could be free of our demanding day-to-day lives. Instead of CEOs or medics, we were just sons of two loving parents. Everyone was different here, but I’d not realized it until I saw us through Madison’s eyes.
“I can help,” Madison said, reaching for one of the vases.
“No need,” Jacob said. He approached Madison as if he was going to take the box from her. Before he could reach her, I swooped in and took it out of her hands.
“Come on. I’ll show you the office,” I said.
“Take your brothers with you,” Mum called out after us.
Jacob and Zach followed, carrying the other boxes, while Dax and Beau trailed behind. We headed for the office, which was a small building at the bottom of the garden.
“I swear I have a light saber in here somewhere,” Zach said as he pushed open the door. “She better not send that to Oxfam.”
“Zach’s always been a Star Wars nut,” I whispered to Madison, so she didn’t think light saber was a euphemism.
“Am I going to find all your posters of Heidi Klum?” Madison asked. I wanted to tell her blondes had never been my thing, but I knew I shouldn’t be flirting.
“God knows what you’ll find. It started off as a study for Mum before she retired about twelve months after Dad, and since then it’s been left doing nothing. It’s a dumping ground.”
“Whose bag is this?” Dax said, going to lift my weekender off the sofa bed.
“Mine. Leave it alone and focus on your own stuff,” I said, setting down the vase in the corner, away from the rest of the boxes. “Looks like Mum’s done most of the packing for you.” I swung around and saw the wall of certificates. It wasn’t like I ever forgot, but seeing all of them there, hanging side by side, still felt like a dull punch to my gut. Madison followed my gaze and stepped closer. I was grateful she chose not to say anything. I didn’t want to have to sidestep, defend, explain.