Down London Road (On Dublin Street 2)

‘I think Elodie’s going to kill you.’

‘She said I could.’

‘She said “a poster”.’

‘Well, I just heard the permission part.’

‘Come on, you,’ I grinned, gesturing to the door. ‘Let’s enjoy dinner before Elodie discovers your bedroom’s been transformed into a groupie’s paradise.’

Before I could exit Hannah asked quietly, ‘Are you really okay, Jo?’

Looking back at her over my shoulder, I was warmed by the concern on her face. ‘Baby girl, I’m fine. In fact, you know what? I’m more than fine. I’m great.’

‘But your dad …’

Needing to vent, Joss had told Ellie what had happened to me, and Ellie had told Elodie and Elodie had told Clark and apparently Hannah overheard the conversation between her mum and dad. I reached out for Hannah’s hand, giving it a squeeze. ‘I know it must be difficult for you to understand because you’ve got such an amazing dad. I could let the fact that my dad doesn’t care who he hurts, including his own children, get to me. Or I could find what he can’t give me somewhere else. I have Uncle Mick. And I have family in all you guys. It doesn’t change what my dad did, but you know, it goes a long way to helping me get over it.’ I smiled reassuringly at her. ‘Some people are born with family, and others have to make family.’ I shrugged. ‘I can live with that if it means I get to spend time with you sarcastic buggers.’

Hannah laughed, the sadness fading from her eyes. She squeezed my hand back, and I led her to the dining room, where our family was waiting:

Cam, Cole, Uncle Mick, Olivia, Joss, Ellie, Braden, Adam, Elodie, Clark and Declan.

What a beautiful sight for sore eyes. I smiled at Cam across the room as he pulled out a chair for me.

Once we were all settled around the table and the others were chatting loudly, Cam leaned over me. ‘How are the ribs holding up?’

I looked into his concerned eyes as I held a roast potato to my mouth. ‘Just as they were when you asked me that question twenty minutes ago.’

‘Well, excuse me for being a concerned boyfriend.’

I made a face at him, and we shared another silent conversation.

You just want to know if we can have sex yet.

Cam’s lips twitched around his mouthful of food.

Damn right.

Amused and turned on in equal measure, I searched for distraction from Ellie, who was talking about the bridesmaids’ dresses for Joss and Braden’s wedding.

‘I saw these beautiful fuchsia gowns on this Spanish wedding designs website. I was thinking –’

‘That I’m out of my mind if I think Joss will have the colour fuchsia in her wedding,’ Joss finished for her drily.

Braden and Adam immediately began working diligently on their meal and I wondered just how many times they’d been pulled into a disagreement about the wedding between the bride and the maid of honour.

‘Why don’t we go more muted on the bridesmaids’ dresses?’ I suggested, throwing Ellie a pleading look.

Ellie looked so adorably disheartened I wanted to hug her. ‘But fuchsia is such a romantic colour.’

Clark’s eyebrows dipped together. ‘What colour is fuchsia again?’

‘Pink,’ Joss bit out.

Braden snorted, and apparently unable to help himself, he gave his wee sister an incredulous look. ‘You’re really trying to get pink into our wedding? My wedding … to Joss?’

‘It’s not just pink,’ Ellie argued as if they were idiots. ‘It’s a luxurious pinkish purple magenta colour.’

Joss raised an eyebrow. ‘It’s pink.’

Ellie pouted. ‘You’ve not taken on any of my suggestions for the wedding.’

‘Ellie, I love you dearly, I do, but you are all sweetness and rainbows and I am everything that is not that.’

I ventured forth with another idea. ‘What if we go for something in a metallic for our dresses?’

Ellie stewed over that for a moment and then her face brightened. ‘We would all look good in champagne. I think even Rhian would wear champagne.’

Rhian was Joss’s best friend from university and the two didn’t get to see each other as much as they used to because Rhian lived in London. They kept in contact all the time, though, and they were to be in each other’s upcoming weddings.

‘Hmm.’ Joss swallowed a piece of chicken and shrugged. ‘I could work with that.’

Everyone stopped eating to look at her. She glanced up, her eyes round at all the attention. She grimaced and shot Braden a dirty look. ‘What? I can compromise.’

He laughed. ‘It’s just the first time I’ve heard you actually agree about something to do with the wedding.’

‘That’s because our wedding planner sucks. No offence, Els.’

Ellie rolled her eyes. ‘Well, you could plan it yourself, you know.’

‘I only agreed to marry him under the condition that I didn’t have to do that.’

Cam swallowed a chuckle beside me.

Braden narrowed his eyes on his fiancée. ‘Why don’t I plan the wedding, then?’

All of our eyebrows rose at that suggestion.

‘You?’ Joss gaped.

‘Me.’ He shrugged and took a sip of water before adding, ‘We have the same taste, so you know you’ll probably like what I decide. And I think I can get it done faster than you two squabbling mares.’

‘But you’re so busy as it is – I can’t ask you to do that.’