“Call me Simone, dear. I'm glad you could come,” She smiles at Jess. “And this must be the lovely Jessica that I've heard so much about.” She squats to be at her eye level, and Jess smiles at her. “Lucia’s told me lots about you. Why don’t you go with Lucia into the kitchen and get an ice lolly?” Jess nods, her eyes lighting up, and she follows Lucia into the house.
“Alright, Mum?” Nate says, leaning in to kiss her on the cheek.
“Yes, apart from your dad not listening to anything I have to say, as per usual. You get burned food, that’s raw inside - you’ll have him to blame.”
“I can hear that she’s badmouthing me again.” A man near the barbecue shouted over. I take him in . . . wow . . . this is definitely where Nathan gets his good looks from, he’s an older version of him. If Nathan looks like this in twenty years, I’ll be okay. It’s wrong to think that his dad is dishy - but I have eyes!
He strides over to us. “Well, Nathan, see you got a beautiful one to agree to go out with you – how in the hell did you manage that? She’s totally out of your league, son.”
I feel my cheeks heat up.
“I'm Max . . . lovely to meet you.” He picks up my hand and kisses the back of it. Charmer... now I know where Nate gets it from.
He turns me around so that I face the garden. “Let me introduce you to everyone else. This is Nate's sister, Maggie, her husband Steve and her kids, Harry and Joseph are on the climbing frame there.” He nods over to the climbing frame.
I glance back at his sister and smile.
“Hi, I'm Maggie.” His sister is a couple of years older than he is. She has light brown hair, is slim, and has big blue eyes - she resembles her mum. Her husband, Steve, is bald—or getting there—and has a nice, kind smile.
“Come and sit with us so that we can have a chat and get to know you. We’ve been dying to meet you for ages, thought Nate was trying to keep you hidden!”
Nate speaks. “I’ll go and get us a drink and check on the girls.” He bends to kiss my cheek and walks inside. He loves me. I smile to myself as I watch him leave.
I walk over to her, and she pats the chair next to her, which I take. “So, bet you’ve been dreading coming here today, haven’t you?”
I wince, “I've been nervous about today.”
She nods and pats my knee, “Don’t worry, we don’t bite.”
We talk for a while about the kids, and she tells me about hers. There’s no sign of his uncle, brother, or grandma yet, so they're still to come, but at least his mum and his sister seem nice.
His sister, Maggie, puts me at ease right away; she's lovely and funny. The uncle turns up with his wife and grandma; I get the once-over from Grandma, but no one seems to take her seriously. My nerves settle after having a few drinks, and I enjoy the company. They welcome me into the family as though they’ve known me forever. I should have guessed that they’d be like this - that's exactly how Nate is.
Everyone is laughing at a story Nate is telling when I hear, “Hello, brother and brother’s new hot girlfriend.”
I turn around to see a boy... well, a man, who must be Nate’s brother. Nate told me he’s twenty-two. By his body, he works out a lot - I note that he doesn’t resemble Nate at all, but he’s still good looking - in a cheeky chappie kind of way.
He eyes me speculatively and walks over to us
Nate introduces us. “Ryan, this is Kate.”
I smile at him, “Hey Ryan, nice to meet you.”
His eyes drop to my legs, which are bare and crossed under the table. “Well done, Nate . . . she’s a MILF.”
“RYAN!” Maggie screams
“What? It’s a compliment!”
I blush and say, “Thank you, I think!” I glance over at Nate, who is frowning.
“Ok, little brother, you can stop ogling her now.”
He looks at Nathan, and slides his eyes to me, grins at me, winks, and turns and walks away. Obviously, a smoothie in training.
“Hey mum, can we get the paddling pool out for the kids?” Maggie asks
“Yes, honey, sort it out, will you? While I'm sorting the food.” Maggie goes to get up.
