Page 35 of Retrograde
‘Come on! Admit I brighten your day.’
‘It’s like having my grandchildren at work with me.By the way, they loved the signed caps you sent them. Haven’t taken them off.’ All the sarcasm dropped from the woman’s tone and she lit up.
‘Any time.’ He took the drinks from her and she ambled her way back down the aisle, pushing her cart as Brett passed a cup to Lucie. ‘Want to watch a movie with me?’ he asked.
‘Which movie?’ They never agreed, they just sucked it up, but it did mean that Lucie had managed to slowly convert Brett into a romcom fanatic, and she bet she could convince him to watchHow to Lose A Guy In Ten Daysif she said yes.
As if he’d read her mind, he said, ‘I’m in a Matthew McConaughey mood.’
‘Make room, I’m coming over.’ They had established this routine years ago. On a long-haul flight, rather than trying to sync up the on-board entertainment systems, Lucie would sit in Brett’s lap for the duration of whatever they were watching. They even had a headphone splitter especially for these situations. The only period of friendship when they hadn’t done this was when Brett was dating Sienna; even Lucie knew it would be inappropriate. She wouldn’t want a girl curled up on her boyfriend’s lap, no matter how innocent it seems.
Lucie took the blanket with her, which may have given the elderly man next to Brett a heart attack if he looked over and got the wrong idea, but she didn’t care. She needed warmth and Brett was her human radiator.
She snuggled into him while he set about organising cables and navigating through the romcom category,ultimately settling on the exact one she wanted without her having to ask.
Laying her head back on his chest and letting Brett wrap his arms around her, chin resting on top of her head, Lucie was fast asleep before Andie and Ben had even met.
‘I’m so happy you came back here instead of going to LA.’ Brett’s mum squeezed her arm as they walked along Palm Beach. They had left Brett to take his sisters to the aquarium, much to his disgust, but the girls hadn’t wanted a beach day. They lived here, it was nothing special to them. But Lucie and Maggie loved getting away from the chaos and having a gossip.
Lucie was too embarrassed to admit to them all that the main reason she’d been grateful when Maggie offered her an escape route was because this was where they filmed one of her favourite Aussie soaps, and if Brett could see the way her eyes lit up when she spotted the film crew, he would never let her live it down. His mum, on the other hand, was just as much of a fan.
‘Well, you know, LA has plenty of celebs, but it isn’t home to the River Boys.’
‘Brett told me off once for gawking at them so openly when they were filming a surf scene years ago. Apparently, they noticed, but it’s not like I was ushered away from the set, so clearly it wasn’t a problem. They’re probably so used to it. He acted like I’d thrown myself at them.’
‘Ah, sounds like jealousy to me!’ Maggie chirped.
‘Brett, jealous of a couple of actors? Maggie, have you ever noticed your son’s massive ego? I don’t think he was jealous; I think he was embarrassed by me literally drooling over a bunch of shirtless men.’
‘You two are the biggest idiots I have ever known.’ Maggie rolled her eyes playfully, and Lucie felt no need to push her further. She knew exactly what she meant.
‘But you love us.’ She nudged her.
‘You have no idea how much.’
‘I’m sorry, Maggie,’ Lucie’s voice softened, ‘for not taking better care of him.’
‘What are you talking about? You take better care of him thananyone.’ Maggie looked genuinely shocked, her greying hair pulled back off her face. Her eyes looked exactly like her son’s. Maybe that was one of the reasons Lucie felt so at home around her.
‘I feel like I let him down, and you.’
‘Of course you didn’t! He’s a big boy, Lucie. He makes his own choices. All that matters is that you were there when he realised his mistakes, and you were there to guide him back on the right path. You could so easily have abandoned him and left him to screw up his life, but you stuck by him. That’s not letting him down, Lucie, that’s lifting him up.’
‘I don’t know if Piper will see it that way. She still scares me.’
‘They’ve got that whole twin thing going on, and I think it’s just hard for her to accept that maybe she didn’t know him as well as she thought she did. Pipes loves you, too. When we got the text that you two were comingto Sydney, she was almost bouncing off the walls. Cleo said it was like she’d been possessed. That girl never gets excited unless she knows she’s seeing you.’
‘Really? I genuinely thought she hated me for taking Brett away from you guys so often.’
‘You’re not taking him away, Lucie. He was in this long before you came along, it was in his blood. We wouldn’t have you in our lives without the IEC. You two have incredibly exciting lives, and yes, we envy you both and we miss youboth, but we’re so proud of you. Brett could’ve let his dad’s death get in the way of all this success, but because he had you by his side and he wanted to make Jack proud, he prospered.’
‘He had a very strong woman behind him.’
‘He has two.’
‘Luce, you want a sparkling water?’ Brett shouted through from the kitchen, his voice echoing, the only sound in the whole apartment.
‘No, I do not want TV static! Stop with the stupid questions, Anderson! You know me better than that!’ she shouted back.
