Heartbeats in Moonlight

Chapter 46

Amelia and Jack had a small informal lunch party for their bridal party.

"How's it going?" Jack asked when David stopped by the beer fridge to get another pack of four.

"What?"

"Don't kid a kidder." Jack told his brother with a smile. "You and Ella?" He prompt. " I thought you guys had sorted things. Looked cosy."

"For a shark." David pulled the tab and poured a beer into his glass. Jack scowled at David's blunt statement. David looked up at Jack as he waited for his beer to settle. "She was at that Business dinner."

"Why would you call her a shark? Come on David. That is nonsense.  I thought you and Ella had sorted this!  You ask her to do your house." Jack narrowed his eyes as one word registered again, "What business?"

David watched the froth on his beer as if that would help him curb his temper. "You remember, where they gave..."

"Oh yeah." Jack remembered, nodded in confirmation. "Yeah, yeah I forgot that. Amelia said you and Ella were at that thing." 

It still surprised David, that nearly two weeks on, he was still bothered about seeing her with another man. He realised, that over the last couple of years he'd managed to avoid her with her dates. Though, when he thought about it, he wasn't sure that she had actually gone on any dates! There were lots of rumours about her dates. Lots of speculation about who her latest 'friend' was, but now that he thought about it, he'd never seen her out on a date, not a proper date. Seen her out with her friends, at parties, at social events, but not alone with guys.

"She wasn't on her own." David reminded his brother. "Have you ever seen her on a date?"

"Er, no." Jack blinked. "But I know she was on a date. Amelia said." He knew that Ella had gone to the same business dinner that David had gone to. Amelia had told him how hard she had pleaded with Ella to go in the first place. And Amelia had told Jack that Ella had enjoyed her date.

"With some random guy!" David snapped. Obviously staring at his beer was not helping him.

Jack snorted at David. "Hardly, She went with Ben's share-milker. Amelia told me."

"You didn't tell me!"

"No. Why would I tell you?" Jack replied, he looked at his foster brother, a question in his eyes when he said, "You were going with Elise. I didn't tell Ella that. You didn't ask me about Ella."  Jack knew, from Amelia's conversation with Ella after the event, that Ella didn't tell Amelia that she saw David at the event. She did say anything about David at all. Amelia was pretty sure that  Ella was in love with David!

"She didn't even notice." David sighed loudly.

"Who? Elise?"

"No, idiot! Ella. She didn't see me." David knew he was giving away more than he'd hoped, but it still annoyed him.

"Ah." Jack, rolled his lips in, and looked at his brother. So that's how things were. Not as simple as he'd thought. "What did you expect? You took Lise remember? Ben's share-milker took Ella. In any case, why would that matter to you?" But Jack was certain his brother was in love with Ella. 

David growled. "You know why! You are rubbing salt in my wound!"

Jack's eyebrows headed for his hairline.

David took a breath. "They sat and talked. The whole bloody night!" David huffed. "Practically in each other's fucking laps!" The emotion he'd banked for the last two weeks were heard and felt in the last sentence. 

Jack watched David. Yep, he was sure his brother was in love with Ella.

 "I don't get it." David murmured as he perched on the breakfast counter. He glanced over his shoulder, and watched as Jack shifted the other three cans of beer to one side of the counter, and propped his hip against the edge. "We kiss like our lives depend on it." David said in honesty and Jack's eyebrows moved closer to his hairline, again. David sighed. "Then she goes out a few days later with some random guy." He poked his tongue in his cheek, but that didn't stop his fury. "Chatting and laughing like they are joined at the hip. I could have strangled them!" David continued, "She bloody ignored me. Didn't even come over to talk."