The Law of Attraction (17 page)

“Thank you,” Alec said, touched that Ed had remembered. “I hope you have fun with your family.” Ed’s face registered surprise, so Alec added, “I heard you talking to Maria about it earlier. Have a good weekend, Ed. I’ll see you on Monday.”

Ed smiled before patting Alec’s knee and removing his hand. “Thanks. Bye.”

“Where to next, mate?” The cabbie asked as Ed got out.

“Pimlico.”

As the taxi pulled away from the kerb, Alec closed his eyes again. Ed’s smiling face floated into his imagination. Until recently, Alec had always thought of his flat as a sanctuary. Peace and solitude away from the noise and bustle of the rest of his life. Now it felt as though he were heading towards an isolation chamber. He wished he could have asked Ed to come home with him, but surely Ed would have refused. Alec sighed. For once he was grateful for the bone-deep tiredness at the end of the working week. He’d have no trouble sleeping tonight, no matter how miserable he was feeling.

CHAPTER TEN

Ed was up bright and early on Saturday morning. He’d been too tired to pack before he went to sleep the night before, so he had to hurry now. He showered, had breakfast, dressed, and brushed his teeth, packing a few things into an overnight bag as he went. He hadn’t booked a train ticket, so it didn’t matter too much what time he got to the station, but he wanted to try and get home as early as possible so he could spend the maximum amount of time with his family.

He made it to Victoria Station shortly after half nine and was on a train by ten. He texted his mum to let her know what time he’d be getting in and told her he’d get a taxi so he wouldn’t need a lift from the station. Ed settled back with his earbuds in, listening to Vampire Weekend as the train carried him south, towards the coast and home.

As always, in the moments when his mind had time to wander, Ed found himself thinking of Alec. Regret tugged in the space below Ed’s ribs, like a fish hook trying to reel him in. He replayed that final conversation they’d had in the hotel for the umpteenth time in his head, wondering again whether he’d made the right choice. Then he sighed, closing his eyes and letting his head rest against the cool window pane. Deep down he knew he’d done the right thing, despite how difficult it had been to turn Alec down. Ed couldn’t be in a relationship with Alec while he was in the closet, no matter how much Ed wanted him.

Ed’s train pulled into Worthing an hour and a half later. He went through the ticket barriers and was heading for the main doors with his bag on his shoulder, earbuds still blasting music, when he was knocked sideways by two small bodies slamming into him with no warning. They tackle-hugged him, screaming his name so loudly he could hear them even over the music.

“Blimey.” He steadied himself with a hand on one small blonde head, pulling his earbuds out. “You guys nearly gave me a heart attack!”

He put his bag down and crouched so he could hug his sisters properly.

“Did you see my hair, Ed? Look! Isn’t it awesome?” Alice drew back and waved the tips of her hair at him. They’d been dip-dyed bright red.

“And look at mine too!” Ava demanded. Hers was dark blue where Alice’s was red. “Which do you like best?”

“I think they both look brilliant,” Ed answered diplomatically. He had years of experience at refereeing twin rivalry and knew better than to encourage it. “I bet your teachers are glad you had different colours. It’ll make it easier for them to tell you apart.”

“We’re on holiday next week, and it will have mostly washed out before we go back to school,” Alice said. “That’s the only reason Mummy did it. In the Easter holidays, I’m going to do mine purple and Ava’s going to do hers green.”

“Or maybe turquoise. I haven’t decided yet.”

“You said green.”

“I can change my mind.”

Alice frowned and put her hands on her hips. “But you can’t do purple because I bagged purple.”

Ed laughed, standing up to finally greet his mum, who was waiting patiently, a smile on her face as the twins carried on bickering.

“Hi, sweetheart.” She opened her arms and wrapped him up in a hug that warmed him down to his toes.

“Hi, Mum.” He hugged her back hard, his nose in her hair, an ash version of the twins’ blonde. “You didn’t need to come and meet me. But thanks.”

“It’s no trouble.” She released him, and Ed stooped to pick up his bag. “Anyway, I think Alice and Ava would have exploded if they’d had to wait any longer to see you. They’ve been looking forward to it all week.”

Their argument over hair forgotten, the twins were now fighting over who got to hold Ed’s free hand.

“Shall I take that for you?” His mum grinned, holding out her hand for his bag.

Ed chuckled. “I think you’d better.”

With peace restored, the twins tugged on his hands as they led him towards the car, both chattering away non-stop.

In the car, with the twins in the back, Ed’s mum could get a word in again.

“So, how are you?” she asked. “You look tired. Are they working you too hard?”

“Depends on your definition of too hard, I suppose.” Ed was pretty sure his mum wouldn’t approve of the hours he’d been putting in since he started at Baker Wells. “But you know it goes with the job. This is what I want to do, so it’s worth it.”

“Hmmm. I suppose.”

Ed got the feeling she had a lot more that she wanted to say, but he appreciated that she kept her thoughts to herself. His mum had always been supportive; thrilled for him when he’d done well at uni and even more so when he’d landed this job. She worried too, but Ed knew it was only because she loved him.

“How’s Gemma?” he asked. “Too cool to come and meet her brother at the station?”

His mum laughed. “Maybe a little. She was busy baking when we left—while simultaneously talking to a friend on FaceTime—so she couldn’t have come even if she’d wanted to.”

“Gemma’s got a boyfriend,” Alice announced from the back seat. “He’s called Zac.”

Ava chimed in. “Yeah, she spends
all day
texting him.”

“Sounds serious.” Ed glanced at his mum, who was smiling.

“Young love these days mostly seems to involve texting and messaging each other on Instagram. They don’t see each other much out of school—which is fine by me.” She chuckled. “Speaking of boyfriends….” She trailed off hopefully.

Ed groaned. “Mum.”

“Oh, come on, you know I keep hoping you’ll meet someone.”

“I don’t have time for relationships,” Ed said evasively. It was almost true. He certainly didn’t have the energy to go looking for someone to distract him from Alec, even if he’d wanted to.

“That’s a shame.” His mum sounded disappointed.

Back at the house, Gemma flung her arms around Ed as she greeted him. “Hey,” she said.

“Blimey, Gem. You’ve grown again.” Ed looked her up and down when she pulled away. She must have shot up at least another inch since he’d seen her at Christmas, just a few weeks ago.

“Well, obviously.” She rolled her eyes, but the pleased flush on her cheeks gave her away.

Greg, Ed’s stepdad, stood up from his seat at the kitchen table. “Hi, Ed. Good to see you.”

“You too.” Ed moved forward to give him a quick hug.

Greg was the only father he’d ever really known. Ed’s dad had left when he was five, and he hadn’t seen him since he was seven. Greg had come into Ed’s and his mum’s lives at around the same time. Greg had filled the space Ed’s biological father had left behind, loving Ed unconditionally and never making him feel he was less important than his sisters.

“What’s cooking?” Ed sniffed. The smell of baking permeated the warm air in the kitchen.

“Double choc chip muffins.”

“Awesome.” Ed turned to his mum. “Shall I put my bag upstairs? I assume I’m in my old room. You haven’t turned it into a gym or a man cave for Greg yet?” The twins liked sharing, so Ed’s bedroom had remained nominally his when he went away to uni, even though most of his stuff was in the flat in London now.

Greg laughed. “I should be so lucky.”

“You’ve got your shed. What more do you need?” Ed’s mum teased. Then she turned back to Ed. “And yes, it’s still the same in there. I made up the bed for you.”

“Thanks, Mum.”

Ed carried his bag upstairs, smiling as the fourth step creaked as it always had. He opened the door to his room and was assaulted by memories.

He looked at the desk, where he’d sweated blood revising for his A levels, the narrow bed where he’d lain and fantasised about David Beckham for years, and where he’d eventually had his first awkward, fumbling hand job from Jeremy who lived up the street and was in the year above him at school. The walls were still painted in the too-dark shade of blue he’d insisted on when he was thirteen and the duvet cover was the Harry Potter one he’d got for his sixteenth birthday—a joke gift from his mum that had ended up being his favourite. She still always put it on when he came to visit. It made Ed smile.

Ed sat on the edge of the bed and ran his hand over the cover. Quiet contentment filled him as he relaxed properly for the first time in weeks. Some things never changed. The girls got bigger, Greg and his mum got a few extra laugh lines, but home still felt like home.

It was good to be here.

Alec enjoyed the drive out to Newbury despite his trepidation. Living in Central London, he rarely used his car. It was an expensive luxury he could probably have done without, but he kept it anyway. What was the point of working the hours he did if you couldn’t enjoy some of the perks of the salary?

When he finally escaped the snarl of London traffic and hit a clear stretch on the M4, he settled back behind the wheel of his Saab and put his foot down.

The place his mother had booked for lunch was a new restaurant that Alec had never been to before. It was a purpose-built extension on the back of a country pub. According to his mother, it had rave reviews. No doubt it would be good. His family never settled for anything but the best.

Alec was heading straight there rather than meeting his parents at their house. That would mean he’d need to stay sober so he could drive his car back to their house later, but it postponed the family-only part of the day, and Alec was all for delaying that as long as possible. With the buffer of the other guests, the lunch would be all about keeping up appearances. Alec was good at playing the part of the dutiful son. He had years of practice.

He arrived a few minutes after twelve—the time his mother had told him to be there for pre-lunch drinks. Alec paused for a moment, gripping the wheel, and took a deep breath as he shifted gears in his brain ready to deal with his family. He found them exhausting. All perfect etiquette and genteel veneer on the surface, with a mess of ugly dysfunctionality lurking underneath. He fleetingly wondered what Ed would make of them.

“Alec, darling.”

His mother was the first to spot him as he entered the building. The restaurant had been set up with one long table to one side for the occasion, and the guests were currently filling the open space beside it, chatting with drinks in their hands.

“Hello, Mother. This looks lovely. Good choice.” Alec kissed her cheek, smelling expensive perfume and face powder. It was a social embrace, and there was no real affection in it. Alec couldn’t remember the last time his mother had actually hugged him.

“Oh, you brought a gift. Let me take that for you.”

Alec handed over the wrapped box, containing a bottle of Chivas Regal whisky for his father. It was hardly an original present, but at least he knew it wouldn’t go to waste. “I’d better go and greet the birthday boy,” he said.

His father was over by the window chatting with some people Alec recognised as ex-colleagues from his father’s legal days. Retired now, his father had been a highly regarded barrister before becoming a judge during his last years in the legal profession.

Alec picked up a glass of champagne from a tray set out on a table as he made his way across the crowded room.

His father saw him coming and raised a hand in greeting. The group around him parted to admit Alec.

“Many happy returns, Father.” Alec greeted him with a handshake, as was their wont. He grinned. “You’re looking good, barely a day over sixty-nine.”

“Alec,” his father said as the group around him chuckled. “Good to see you. How are you?”

“I’m well, thank you.”

They went through the usual social dance of polite chit-chat, superficial and scripted, with no surprises.

“How’s life in corporate?” Edgar, one of his father’s contemporaries, asked. “Still enjoying it? No regrets about taking that direction?”

“Not at all.” Alec smiled through gritted teeth.

His father had put a lot of pressure on him to follow in his footsteps. He’d wanted Alec to be a carbon copy of himself, but Alec’s interest lay in finance and mergers rather than criminal law. He’d always known that was the field he wanted to work in, much to his father’s irritation.

“Are you a partner yet?” Edgar asked.

Alec remembered the meeting next week and his heart thumped hard. “I’m working on it.”

“Can I have your attention, please?” Alec’s mother’s voice rose over the crowd and she tapped on her glass with a fork to cut through the chatter. “Don’t worry, I don’t have a long speech planned.” She smiled, all perfect teeth and immaculate lipstick, but the laugh lines that should have enhanced her expression were absent—blitzed away by Botox, no doubt. “I want to propose a toast to Giles, my husband. Three score years and ten today.” She raised her glass to him. “Happy birthday, darling. May there be many more.”

A murmur of assent followed as the guests raised their glasses obediently.

“Thank you.” Alec’s father acknowledged the attention with a nod. “I appreciate you all being here to help me celebrate.”

“They’re ready to serve the starters now,” Alec’s mother cut back in. “So please take your seats.”

There was a seating plan, so Alec went to look at the picture to see where he’d been placed. A little way down the table, near his brother, by the look of it. Alec hadn’t seen Caspar yet. He scanned the room. No, there was definitely no sign of his wayward brother. That was bloody typical. Their mother would be livid.