Peter had cried when he first showed up and saw Daniel, as though the separation for so long had balled up his emotions and this release had been a long time coming. After he’d had some fun at the shack Daniel had waited for a quieter moment and taken him out to the kitchen, where they talked. Daniel had assured Peter he didn’t have to make a choice between him and Stu. He’d apologised to the little boy who’d come to see him as a dad for letting the ending of his relationship with Giselle and him moving on with his own life overshadow the importance of making time for those he loved. Daniel had, of course, been talking about his relationship with Peter, but the same could be said about Harvey, about his mum. If he’d invested time in the both of them then maybe they wouldn’t all have ended up in quite the mess they were trying to find a way out of now. Harvey had said much the same thing during their time over the last two days, not in a deep-and-meaningful as such, but instead as a gradual process with little grievances or frustrations airing themselves now and again. They’d dealt with each as it arose, and rather than slinging all the mud in one direction at a single target, it was a smattering here and there and far easier to clean up along the way.
‘I’d like to meet him,’ said Harvey, surprising Daniel. ‘He’s been in your life more recently than I have,’ he shrugged, another little tug to unveil the cracks in their relationship that weren’t irreparable. ‘I’d like to spend time with him and hear about my brother.’
Daniel finished washing the whisk he’d used for the batter and set it onto the draining board. Harvey wanting to know Peter suggested his brother needed to somehow piece together the Daniel who had left the Cove and the Daniel who had become a business owner. Peter would perhaps show a side to Daniel that Harvey had no other way of seeing. The facts spoke for themselves – he was a mess when he left the Cove at eighteen and now he wasn’t, but maybe Harvey needed a way to marry up the two versions.
‘I’m sure he’ll be back,’ said Daniel. ‘Giselle’s happy to bring him and I think it’ll be good for him when the baby comes too, so I’ll let you know.’
Brianna called through to the kitchen that they had their first customers of the day and a tiny part of Daniel did a jump of relief. They’d been crazy busy, had more custom than he’d predicted when he planned to launch his waffle place in this village, but there was always that moment when the doors were locked and you asked yourself, could this be the day nobody shows up and you’ll have to stand there and call for customers to please come up and buy something? Daniel wondered if that feeling would ever pass.
Harvey went on his way. The takeaway coffees had no doubt been a pretext to come here without feeling overly awkward, forging their sibling relationship carefully one step at a time.
And, for now, Daniel threw himself into the busyness of his own life, because later on they had plans he hoped would work out exactly the way they both wanted.
*
Daniel and Harvey had both known all along that Melissa and Lucy were planning Christmas Eve carols followed by a few drinks at the pub tonight. Harvey had been invited as Melissa’s other half but he’d told Melissa he was spending the evening with his brother talking things through, which he and Daniel knew was a foolproof alibi she wouldn’t challenge when she wanted them to get back to being the brothers they’d once been.
And, now, here the men were, in the barn at Barney’s place – the phrase had a nice ring to it – and they were almost ready for the next phase of the plan. Harvey was all kinds of nervous. Daniel could see it in the way he kept fiddling with his collar, pacing the floor inside, muttering to himself. The other night, when he’d suggested they turn the tables and set the girls up the way they’d done to them, the truth had come tumbling out. Harvey had been wanting to ask Melissa to marry him since the day they got back together in the summer but things hadn’t felt right then. She’d only just