Page 26 of Strawberry Kisses

Chapter Twelve

Connor

My head continued to spin throughout the rest of the evening, replaying the sensation of Patrick’s lips wrapped around my fingers on a loop. We’d gone back to decorating the cake in near silence afterwards, but that had only made things worse. I’d just about recovered my senses by the time we got to dinner.

We all took our seats around a wide, wooden table that was obviously old and well loved. It was easy to see from the marks ingrained into the wood and the odd coloured stains across the tabletop. I ran my fingers across a reddish-pink mark, wondering what might have caused it and really hoping it wasn’t blood. That would ruin my evening.

“I think that’s a Patrick mark,” said Cara, who sat next to me. She’d been joined by her husband and her two sons, both of whom weren’t actually that much younger than me. I had to admit the eldest, Kyle, was kind of cute—even if that was probably slightly weird of me to admit. “He was helping ice a cake and he spilt a whole bottle of red food colouring on the table.”

“Oh God, I remember that,” Mary said with a chuckle from her place opposite me. “I was the one trying to clear it up, and I turned all mum’s tea towels bright red.”

“It looked like you’d massacred something.” Aoife laughed as she passed me a huge plate of lasagne. My stomach rumbled noisily, and I saw Patrick’s lips twitch as he passed me a bowl of salad.

“I was four. I was doing my best,” Patrick said.

“Don’t worry. When I was four, I ruined my mum’s favourite lipstick by drawing all over myself and her mirror and then I accidentally smeared it into the carpet,” I said. “The lipstick was bright pink, and mum’s bedroom carpet was cream. I was not popular.” I chuckled. “Especially not with the cat, who I’d tried to blame it on.”

“Do you remember when you tried to bring in all the farm kittens?” John asked, looking at Patrick as he passed him a plate loaded with thick slices of garlic bread.

“I do,” Aoife said with a chuckle. “You tried to put them in your chest of drawers.”

“Is this gang up on Patrick night?” Patrick asked, but he was still smiling.

“It’s because you’re the baby, and we’re not used to having you here to tease,” added Mary with a wink. “And it’s our family duty to embarrass you in front of your boyfriend. We did the same to Kyle when he brought his first girlfriend to dinner.”

“And I’m never, ever doing that again,” Kyle said.

“Hey, it could’ve been worse,” added Cara’s husband, who I think had introduced himself as Steven. “Do you remember when you brought me home?”

“God, I thought you’d never come back after that.” Cara shook her head and rolled her eyes. She smiled at me. “Da answered the door covered in blood. He’d been sharpening some knives and cut his fingers.”

“He was still holding a knife,” Steven said. “He just said ‘Oh, you must be Steven’, then tried to shake my hand.”

“Imogen had to take him to the hospital,” Cara added.

John laughed. “I remember that. Your mum said I was never allowed to sharpen knives again without supervision.”

“Well, you’d have cut your arm off like a bloody idiot.” Aoife rolled her eyes. “It’s like the time you tried to light a firework while you were still holding it.”

“You thought it was endearing.”

“I thought it was bloody stupid.”

“But you still married me.”

“For my sins, John Evans. For my sins.” She leant over and kissed him, and I couldn’t stop myself from smiling. I’d never had a family dinner like dinner with the Evanses, and it was oddly charming. I wondered if my family life would’ve been like this if my mum had still been close with her parents. But considering they were all fuckwits, I somehow doubted it. I was glad they weren’t in our lives.

“I can’t believe it’s been fifty years,” Mary said. “I think I’d have killed someone.”

“Me either,” Aoife said. “Especially since we nearly didn’t have a wedding.”

“How come?” I asked, suddenly intrigued.

“John’s best man decided it would be a great idea to go on an impromptu stag do the night before at the local pub. They all got absolutely wasted with my brothers and my father, and they decided it would be a great idea to tie John to a tree.”

John chuckled. “I still don’t remember that. I just remember waking up the next morning with a banging headache.”

“Thank God they came back for you. I’d have murdered Smiffy if you’d missed the wedding.”

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