“He didn’t share?”
“By the time we finished things, my brother was in no mood to share.”
Belle definitely caught that.
“So are things… finished?” she enquired carefully.
“Absolutely,” he stated firmly.
“Oh Jack,” she whispered, pushing her hands down so she could slide them around and hold him tightly too. “I don’t have brothers or sisters so I don’t know how this feels but it can’t feel good.”
“No, poppet,” he muttered, “it doesn’t feel good.”
“I don’t know what to do to help,” she admitted and felt his arms give her a reflexive squeeze as his lips twitched.
“You’re doing it.”
Her head tilted to the side. “Just this?”
“Just this, Belle,” he replied gently.
“This is easy,” she told him. “I could do this for hours.”
To that, his lips curled up but his head came down and he touched his mouth to hers before he moved back half an inch and suggested, “That’s good then. So let’s do this for hours.”
Belle gave him another small smile but she shared, “I’m afraid we can’t do that.”
His head moved back another inch. “And why’s that?”
“Well, first, Dad’s done with dinner. You’ll be pleased to know there was no open flame and he didn’t have time to make homemade barbeque sauce. They also didn’t have peppers that will burn out your throat so chilli was out. In the end he made meatloaf which doesn’t sound all that great but his is really delicious. And he also made apple pie which is definitely delicious.”
“Right,” Jack said. “That’s first, what’s next?”
Belle pressed even closer. “Well, yesterday, I told you all about my life. Tonight, you need to get started telling me all of yours. After dinner, of course.”
Jack’s arms gave her a squeeze and he reminded her, “I’ve lived longer than you, poppet. Yours took an entire day. I’ll need more than an evening.”
“It can be continued and you can tell me more tomorrow.”
He grinned.
“And the next day,” she went on.
His grin got bigger.
Belle pressed closer and got up on her toes. “And the next.”
“That’s a plan,” Jack whispered.
“Good,” Belle whispered back.
“Dude! Baby girl! What the f**k! You want it to get cold?” Belle’s Dad could be heard shouting. “Haul ass into the dining room. You got two minutes or we’re starting without you.”
To this, Jack asked bizarrely, “Is it Sunday yet?”
Belle’s head tilted again and she told him what he had to know. “No, why?”
“Because Saturday night we’re leaving all these mad people to their madness, we’re taking the dogs, we’re going to your cottage and we’re not coming back until Monday.”