‘Almost didn’t recognise you with your clothes on, lad,’ chuckled Tom.
My eyes met Mum’s as the two men shook hands. It felt as though we’d all been drawn together by an invisible thread and stitched into a strange patchwork tapestry. For a moment I wondered if I was the catalyst that had brought us together, but then I looked over at Amelia, smiling with satisfaction from the settee, and I realised the thread drawing us together wasn’t me at all, it was my sister.
With perfect timing the oven pinged from the kitchen, this time announcing that lunch was ready. There was an awkward little shuffle as we took our seats, with Nick and me on one side, Mum and Amelia opposite us, while Tom hesitantly took the position at the head of the table. My eye caught Amelia’s and it wasn’t just a twin thing to realise that we were sharing the same thought. Dad had been gone for many years now and all we wanted was for Mum to be happy. As unlikely as Tom might be on paper as a candidate for that role, there was something about the elderly fisherman that had brought a new sparkle to our mother’s eyes.
There were two things I hadn’t had to worry about today. One was the food, which was delicious. Mum blushed delightfully with every compliment received, although perhaps a little deeper when the praise came from Tom. The second was whether we’d find anything to talk about. Thankfully, between Nick and Tom there were enough amusing stories and funny anecdotes to last a whole month of Sunday lunches.
It was all going well until Amelia decided that polite boundaries no longer applied to her. Midway between passing Nick the Yorkshire puddings and Tom the gravy boat, she casually asked, ‘So, are you and Lexi a thing again now?’
‘Amelia,’ I hissed, hitting every single syllable of her name.
‘What? I’m only asking the question we’re all thinking. Are you and Nick…’
Her hands fluttered, and for one dreadful moment I thought she was going to elaborate with graphic gestures. If she had, she’d have been wearing the lunch she’d so far only pushed from one side of her plate to the other.
‘We’re together,’ Nick confirmed, giving me a long, slow smile that, God help me, made me blush like a teenager.
‘And how’s that going to work out transatlantically then?’
‘That’s not even a word,’ I said, my eyes pleading with her to drop it. Nick and I hadn’t discussed the logistics yet and I didn’t really want it served up for a group debate around the dining table.
‘We’ll figure it out,’ Nick said, sensing my discomfort far better than my sister had done. I wasn’t used to having someone know me better than she did. I kind of liked it.
Amelia still looked vaguely disappointed. She wanted everything all sewn up and I thought I knew why. The reason made my eyes sting with tears. She wanted to know we were all going to be alright when she wasn’t with us any longer.
‘Actually, I might be done with New York for now.’
Four pairs of startled eyes flew my way. I couldn’t blame them. I don’t think I’d known it myself until the words were tumbling from my lips.
‘If I’m good enough to do that job in New York, then I’m good enough to do it anywhere.’ Nick looked like he was about to interject, but I cut him off. ‘Everyone I love most in the world happens to live in one tiny corner of Somerset and the idea of being anywhere else right now is just plain crazy.’
We made it all the way to the apple pie and ice cream without any further awkwardness. We were almost home free, but then the elephant in the room, the one we’d all been studiously ignoring, finally broke free.
‘Did you know, Nick, that Lexi thinks I must have seen you walking your dog on the beach at some point and somehow the memory of it got lodged in my subconscious.’
Nick nodded slowly, as unprepared as the rest of us were for the way Amelia emphatically shook her head. ‘I don’t believe that. I know my memory has been a bit flaky recently, but I doubt I’d have forgotten seeing you – you’re a pretty distinctive-looking guy.’ She took another sip from her wine glass before continuing. ‘I imagine you’ve heard the “Man of Steel” thing before?’
Nick’s eyes flashed to mine and there was a smile in them that belonged to me.
‘Once or twice,’ he replied, his voice warm.
Amelia took it all in: our shared look, and the secret smile that passed between us. She gave a small, satisfied nod.
‘And if I’d been close enough to have committed your features to memory, it stands to reason you’d have remembered seeing me too?’
It was a simple question and one I’d asked Nick myself, so it was hardly surprising that Amelia had homed in on it.
‘Probably,’ Nick replied with understandable caution. Like the rest of us, he wasn’t entirely sure where my sister was going with this.
‘As far as anyone can tell, this fantasy of mine began when those two doctors found me on the beach and restarted my heart after it had stopped beating.’
There was a lot of clinking of cutlery and shifting in seats as we collectively stepped into an area we weren’t comfortable occupying. Beneath the table, the serviette that had never quite made it to a pyramid was clenched tightly in my fist.
‘My body received one hundred and fifty joules of electricity and I woke up convinced I had a whole history with a man who looks just like you. And that belief stayed with me for months, until my heart was shocked again to restore its rhythm. And then it simply disappeared.’
‘That’s it in a nutshell,’ I said, getting to my feet to begin clearing the table.
I had an armful of crockery and glassware and I have no idea how I didn’t drop it when Amelia shared her bizarre conclusion.