and pulled back to look at him. ‘I’ve caused a lot of bother, I’m afraid …’
‘Bother?’ he cried. ‘Is this your new line in understatements?’
She blinked and as a wave of sadness seemed to go through her she let her head fall forward onto his chest. ‘I miss them all so much,’ she said quietly, ‘sometimes it gets too hard.’
‘You’ve still got me,’ he reminded her.
‘And me,’ Holly put in. To Edward she said, ‘Hi, I’m Holly, Freds’s new BFF.’
Freda looked up, sadness retreating. ‘Best friend forever,’ she explained to her nephew, ‘just in case you didn’t know.’
Keeping an arm around her he shook Holly’s hand. ‘Thanks for taking care of her,’ he said.
Holly shrugged. ‘She’s cool. Weird, but cool.’
Freda said, ‘She has no idea just how weird I can be, but we can save it for later.’
‘I don’t think we need any more demonstrations,’ he cautioned.
Taking the coffee Callum was handing her, she regarded him closely as she said, ‘You’re better looking than I was expecting you to be. Have I already told you that?’
Clearly quite pleased with the compliment, he said, ‘You didn’t, but it’s OK to mention it.’
‘Oh God,’ Holly groaned, ‘you need to work on your taste in men Freds.’
‘Do I? I’ll be guided by you.’
Laughing, Edward said to Joely, ‘So it seems we’re kind of related?’ His tone was ironic, but there was a tinge of regret that amused her for the way it made Callum scowl.
‘It would seem so,’ she replied. ‘I haven’t actually worked out how …’
‘You,’ Holly told her, ‘are his cousin once removed, which,’ she said to Edward, ‘makes you my uncle once removed and Freds my great aunt with nothing removed, because we say so.’
As everyone laughed, Callum’s phone rang. Seeing who it was he said, ‘Seems like your other uncle’s just arrived in a taxi, and he only has euros. Now there’s a surprise.’
As Joely watched her brother come into the kitchen all long limbs, tousled fair hair and merry, but cautious sea-blue eyes, she saw straight away how like Edward he was, apart from the colouring, and could have kicked herself for not realizing sooner that he, Jamie, was who Edward reminded her of.
She noticed Edward curl an arm around Freda’s shoulders as Jamie greeted his mother, the bond they shared as evident as the pleasure at seeing one another. He came to Joely next, careful not to treat her to one of his more boisterous squeezes, but putting a hand gently to her cheek as he gazed at her. ‘I’ve seen you looking better,’ he decided, making her smile.
Not to be left out Holly pushed herself forward and was all but swept off her feet in the fiercest of uncle hugs.
‘You get more beautiful every time I see you,’ he told her, ‘and so tall.’
‘I’m the same as Grandma now,’ she informed him proudly, ‘although she might be shrinking.’
‘Charming,’ Marianne muttered, rolling her eyes, and as Callum stepped forward to remove Holly from the limelight, Marianne took Jamie’s hand in hers. ‘This is your cousin, Edward, and your aunt, Freda,’ she told him, her eyes unexpectedly welling with tears.
Edward stepped forward to shake his cousin’s hand, and as the two men regarded one another with interest Joely couldn’t help wondering if they recognized the features they shared. ‘It’s good to meet you, Jamie,’ Edward said warmly. ‘I confess it’s a surprise, but no less welcome for that.’
‘It’s good to meet you too,’ Jamie smiled, still holding Edward’s hand, or Edward was still holding his. Whatever, neither of them seemed in a hurry to let go. ‘Likewise with the surprise,’ Jamie said in the droll tone Joely loved so much. ‘I’m looking forward to getting to know you.’
‘That can definitely be arranged,’ Edward assured him. He turned to Freda and as he pulled her in gently Joely knew from the look in her eyes that she wasn’t seeing a nephew, she was searching for David. She raised her hands to his face and cupped it tenderly.
‘You’re like him,’ she murmured. ‘Not as much as I expected, but enough for me to see him in you.’
‘From everything I’ve heard,’ Jamie said, ‘he was a pretty special bloke.’
Freda nodded. ‘I’m sorry you never met him.’
‘I did when I was a baby,’ he reminded her.
‘But you’ve forgotten that. It mattered to him though. He didn’t turn his back on you the way the rest of us did. I’m ashamed, Jamie, for myself, my parents …’