Merry Measure - Lily Morton Page 0,70
it was worth a try.”
“Is that my son in the back of a police car? Well, the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree,” I hear a warm and very familiar voice say from behind me.
I spin around to find my mum and dad standing watching us hand in hand. “Oh my God,” I say. “You’re early.”
I step into my dad’s outstretched arms and feel him give me a tight squeeze. “We caught an early flight,” he says. “We wanted to see you all.”
I hug him back. He’s the best man I know. He looks like Lemmy from Motorhead, with his long grey hair and tattoos, but he’s the gentlest man I know, and he’s been the best dad. I never go a day without him telling me he loves me. I remember coming out to them and being hugged so tight I thought my ribs were cracking. He and my mum are my relationship goal. Despite women throwing themselves at him left, right, and centre, my dad has never looked at another woman. He’s completely in love with my mum.
I pull back and see my mum hugging Jack. She’s always loved him and smiles up at him as if he’s Brad Pitt. “Look at you,” she says. “You look so different.”
“Do I?” He smiles down at her. “How?”
“More relaxed. Happy,” she says. “It suits you, my lovely. You look like you’ve found love at last with someone you least expected.”
“Really?” Jack says incredulously. He’s looking at her as if she’s Psychic Susie.
I roll my eyes. “Get real,” I say. “Tom told her. Don’t be getting the idea she knows next week’s lottery numbers.”
Jack slumps. “That is a huge disappointment for me. I thought she’d turned into a seer.”
“A stoned one,” I offer.
My mum laughs and pulls me into a hug. “You okay?” she says, and I inhale the scent of the Body Shop’s White Musk perfume that she’s worn as long as I can remember.
“I’m good,” I say, and she smiles at me. She wears her age well. Lines bracket her blue eyes, but her hair is still dark, and she still has the figure she’d had when she met my dad.
“I’m so pleased,” she says, drawing Jack to her as well. “You’re made for each other.”
“Thank you,” Jack says, almost shyly. “You know I’ll take good care of him.”
“I’ve always wanted you for him,” my mum says fervently.
“That would be so lovely if we didn’t all know that she’s said that to you before about Tom and Sally,” I say.
Jack grins.
My mum rolls her eyes. “I’m just glad that after years of throwing my children at him, I get to keep Jack in the family. He’s always been my end goal.”
Jack looks unbearably touched, and I smile at him, my chest warming. “We’ve only just started going out together,” I say.
“Pah,” she says dismissively. “When you know, you know. I did with your dad, and you two are the same. I sense it.”
I look at Jack, and the moment spins out between us, sweet and warm with possibilities. “Maybe,” I say softly, and he nods.
“Maybe,” he echoes.
We turn as the others come up to us. My mum exclaims and hugs Freddy and Diana as if they’re long lost relatives. Tom’s wrapped in a blanket and Bee is hugged to his side. On his ring finger, is a platinum ring with a diamond set into it.
I smile at him. “Welcome to the family,” I say softly, bending to give him a hug. “Now you’re really my brother and that idiot can be the brother-in-law.”
“Not if your grandma is around,” he says. He laughs, but his eyes are shining brighter than the stone on his ring. “I’ll look after him, Arlo,” he whispers.
I smile. “You’ll look after each other.”
I stand back as my mum and dad converge on the newly engaged couple, hugging and cooing. Jack stands next to me, drawing me closer to him. “Well,” he says contemplatively. “That was a night and a half.”
I snort. “You can certainly say that.” I smile evilly. “And we’ve got the video footage to prove it.”
My brother extracts himself and comes over to us. He looks radiant. “We’re going back to the hotel,” he says. “I need a bath, and Mum and Dad are going to head off to get some food. We’ll see you in the morning.”
I hug him. It’s more in thought than deed though because he’s horribly soggy and smells like crap. “I love you,” I say. “Congratulations.”
He