When The Boys Are Away

Part 66

The morning of meeting day was chaos to say the least. Every member of the family was swanning around Tommy's house; having breakfast or just generally getting in the way of one another. Harlow couldn't understand how such a big house could result in so many collisions in the hallways and cross overs on the slim kitchen steps. 

The younger Wentworths had arrived from Hull about ten in the morning, receiving a warm welcome from the Shelby brothers, Harlow and Jay who greeted them on the steps of the house. 

Fortunately, Jack had fully recovered from his wounding during the takeover of Sabini's clubs and that flirtatious smile was permanently back on his face. Harlow could tell that he'd been winding up Marvin and Callum for the whole drive to Birmingham, whereas Theodore just had the gift of ignoring all of his brothers most of the time. 

Not long after the arrival of their brothers, Dale, Levi and Nick pulled up from London, completing the full set of Wentworths for the first time in a while. It was nice to see them reunite after spending some time apart. 

Soon after their arrival, Dale and Tommy drifted away to talk about business unsurprisingly in his office whilst everyone else relaxed in the dining room. Harlow knew they were waiting for Alfie Solomons, as did Polly and Dale, but nobody else did. 

Arthur still had a chip on his shoulder after being framed for the murder of Billy Kitchen, which was completely understandable. However, rather than placing any blame on his brother, he had uncouthly decided to layer it all on Alfie, meaning that their reunion was unlikely to be a pleasant affair. John, of course, had taken the same stubborn mentality, seeing Solomons as the enemy regardless of the facts. 

Harlow was just lucky that Tommy, Jay and Michael were on civil terms with the Londoner, otherwise it would be game over for the thought of peace in the house. 

"How's that cut looking now, Jack? Did Ada do an alright job?" Michael questioned as he slapped his hand down on the Wentworth's suited shoulder, sliding into the seat a few down from the brunette man. Jack nodded proudly, bringing his hand down to pull up his shirt before one of his older brothers interjected. 

"Nobody needs to see it Jack. There are children present." Levi warned with a light smile on his face, taking a sip of water from his glass that had been brought to the table on their arrival. Jack smirked at the group teasingly, "Oh come on, who doesn't want to see these abs." He pulled up his white shirt, revealing his stomach and well healed wound, boasting contently as his brothers rolled their eyes. 

Lizzie tried to not sneak a look in his direction, but the temptation was too much for the woman, even with her husband sat beside her. Lizzie and Harlow exchanged a look, laughing silently at their actions, pretending to be captivated by things elsewhere in the room, rather than Jack's chiselled figure . 

"Ada's stitches are getting much better actually." Polly commented analytically, openly gazing at the line of stitches on the Wentworth, proud of her niece's work. It wasn't a surprise that her methods of first aid had improved, someone was injured every other day. 

"Hold on, where is Ada?" John questioned in confusion, glancing around the busy room as his arm shifted around Rose's shoulder. The family shrugged, and Harlow bit her lip, trying not to let out a snigger. She knew exactly where Ada had snuck off to, it was just a matter of time before the Wentworth's realised they were also another brother down. 

"Where's Nick? Dale wants him in the office." Callum asked as he entered the dining room, leaning his palms against the end of the table, scanning the room for his brother that clearly wasn't there. A round of shrugs went up around the room, and nobody seemed interested in having a game of hide and seek to find either of them.