Christmas at the Little Waffle Shack - Helen J. Rolfe Page 0,79

we soon realised friendship was as far as we should’ve taken it. It sounds ridiculous but there wasn’t any kind of spark. There was a strength we had when we were together but it was one that worked when we were friends. So we divorced, I moved out, I got a job with a catering firm somewhere along the line and apart from the odd meet-up and then phone calls, we both got on with our own lives. It’s now that Giselle’s with her partner Stu and they’re expecting a baby that Peter has started to wonder about his own place in the world. And I know what that’s like.’ He saw Harvey glance his way. ‘The kid doesn’t know what my role is, what Stu’s role is, whether he’s supposed to treat us both the same or favour one over the other. Giselle’s here because she’s worried about him. He’s a great kid, he really is, and he deserves to be happy. All kids do. And his own dad sounds a real piece of work, not even interested in his own son. I can relate to that.’

‘We both can,’ sighed Harvey and, after a beat, added, ‘You want a beer?’

Daniel shook his head. ‘No, because a beer means this will stop and I think if we don’t talk now, that’ll be it.’

‘It won’t be, because I still have plenty to say. You haven’t let me get a word in yet.’

Daniel grinned. ‘I can’t believe you’ve let me talk. Go on, then, get a couple of beers before round two.’

When Harvey went to get the drinks, at least it gave him a chance to prepare himself for what came next.

‘Any sign of Melissa downstairs?’ Daniel asked as he thanked his brother for the beer, cold to the touch and a welcome refreshment up here at the top of the house he’d once vowed he’d never set foot in again.

‘Nope.’ He swigged his beer.

‘Do you think she’s worried you’ll have a go at her?’

Harvey laughed. ‘You’ve forgotten, Melissa can hold her own. The possibility of me having any kind of go at her wouldn’t deter her at all.’

‘That’s a good point. I remember you two as teenagers – you always seemed like equals. I was always jealous of that, you know.’

‘Not many people meet their soulmate so young, I’m lucky. Even more lucky she came back.’ He swigged his beer. ‘Can I ask why you wanted to come back to the Cove all of a sudden?’

‘Given how hard you were going to make it for me, you mean?’

Harvey glared at him but not for long before his focus returned to his beer. ‘I guess I deserved that.’

‘I’d been thinking about it for a long while. I called Mum often and every time I did I could hear in her voice that she was happy I’d turned my life around, but I knew she was breaking inside that her sons hadn’t spoken in years and weren’t likely to either. I’d found what I was looking for when I moved into the catering arena, and I knew that one day I wanted my own business. It all happened quickly when Mum mentioned the old beach shop had come up for sale. It was almost a sign.’

‘You never believed in those,’ Harvey harrumphed.

‘No, I never did. I thought it was just a way of looking for a reason to do something rather than having the guts to admit it was what you wanted or needed.’

‘I wasn’t happy when I saw you back here. I didn’t even have any warning.’

‘Would it have made any difference?’

‘Probably not.’ Harvey took his beer and went to stand by the window. He had to duck at the section of roof approaching but up close to the glass he was at a point that was high enough to cope with his height. ‘I’ve spent so long being angry at you that I don’t remember how not to be.’

‘Why are you so angry? I mean, I know I upset a lot of people around here, but as far as I knew, apart from leaving I didn’t do anything to you. There was a time we hung out together, had a laugh even.’

Harvey didn’t reply straight away and when he did he kept his gaze directed out to the blackness of the night. ‘I was just as angry at myself as I was at you. You’re my younger brother, I wasn’t there when you needed me. I ran to Barney’s and found