Strain of Love

Chapter Six

I wanted the ground to open up and swallow me whole. All the attention was now on me as the guests in the other room cut their conversations short to watch us in the hallway. Eyes were hitting me at all angles, suffocating me a bit by their intensity.

I didn't like attention at the best of times, never mind in a house full of strangers. It was my idea of hell, but I didn't have long to worry before my saviour in the form of Henry, swooped in and rescued me by whispering something into Mabel's ear to encourage her to sprint into the room to take the attention off me.

"I have to agree with my daughter. You look gorgeous," Henry said, eyes moving over my face before settling on my mouth.

I tugged at the hem of my dress until it touched past my knees in a total fluster at his compliments and gentle gaze. "I wanted to make an impression on such a special occasion."

He swung his hand around in the air with a small shrug of his broad shoulders. "I'm not one for birthdays."

I tried my hardest to stop my hands from shaking, but the nerves running through me were taking over. I probably looked ridiculous twitching about the place. I needed to chill out. "I guess when you get older, your birthday tends to feel less important."

He bent over when the little toddler on his shoulders wriggled to get down, jumping from his back to rush on wobbly legs towards the other room. "It's only because I'm sad about getting older," he said.

"I feel the same way. I overheard the kids at school calling me old the other day," I responded, still feeling sour over it.

He ran his hand through his hair. "You're kidding."

I widened my eyes to the point of pulling a chuckle out of him, moving my head up and down to let him know that we were on the same page. "I know, right?"

The longer we stared at one another, the more confused we seemed to be over the matter. I swallowed a loud laugh, never being very good at eye contact.

Henry started to move when the guests kept trying to squeeze past us to get to the downstairs toilet, waving me towards the kitchen where Donna was preparing some drinks for her guests.

I pulled out the bottle of wine I purchased earlier from my bag to hand it over to her. Donna took her time in taking it from my hands, turning it over and over before settling it next to the other alcohol bottles with a small thanks.

Henry smiled over at me. "What can I get for you to drink?"

I glanced at the array, trying to forget the awkwardness of his sister and the wine. "Oh, I would love some wine, please."

"Do you want the bottle you brought?" Donna cut in, slamming a clean wineglass on the work surface next to me.

I blinked a few times, wondering why she was so uptight. I wasn't sure how I could have possibly offended her as we had barely even talked. I tried my best to be conscious of her feelings, understanding how protective they all were of Henry. But there was no escaping her, not wanting me around.

Both she and Beckett were making it pretty obvious.

"No, whatever you have open will be all right," I whispered.

Her reply was so angry it caused my stomach to turn over. "Well, I have no wine. So, it will have to be the one you brought along."

Needing to keep the peace, I let a few shaky breaths escape me before nodding my head at her. Why ask if I wanted mine if it's the only bottle in your home? "That's okay, thank you."

Henry moved away from me and towards his sister, trying to be discreet as he bent over to whisper in her ear, but I still heard. I picked up my glass and used it as a distraction. One that failed to work when their whispers travelled over here.