I nodded. “I missed you too.” I grinned, running my hands over his face. “I love the glasses, by the way.”
He grinned broadly, looking adorable. “I just need them for reading and writing, which I don’t do much of at the park. I’ll uh…leave them on twenty-four-seven if they float your boat, Miss Dempsey.” He kissed me again. “Thanks for waiting for me.”
I shrugged. “I was enjoying watching you…”
He raised his eyebrows. His hands had settled on my hips and I settled my arms around his neck, my fingers finding the bottom of his hair, running through it. I loved how silky it felt to my touch.
“Oh yeah? Enjoying the view were you? You see why I got a five hundred quid tip now, do you?”
I smiled a little and nodded. “Oh yeah. I got a tip for you right now…”
“Yeah…?” he said, obviously intrigued.
I nodded; I was feeling brave, so much braver than I had in a long, long time. I allowed my hands to slip down his back, slowly and with purpose and settled on his gorgeous, tight bum.
“These trousers? Need to be just a little bit tighter…”
The left corner of his mouth twitched in amusement. “Is that so, huh?” I nodded, giggling. “Well, I have a tip for you too, Jewls.” He leaned in closer to me, his mouth close to my ear and whispered. “Say yes…”
I leaned back just enough to look into his eyes and nodded slowly. “Yes.” I said quietly and he looked at me incredulously.
“Yes?”
“Yes.” I repeated and then squealed as he lifted me and spun me around.
“You won’t regret it.” he said, setting me down again. “I swear to look after you. You’ll be so glad you let me in.”
“I already am.” I beamed.
Someone cleared their throat, making me jump and I tried to jump away from Micah, but he kept a tight hold of me and pulled me back to him as the man walked to us.
He was dressed the same as Micah, but also wore a black waistcoat and he was smiling broadly.
Micah gave him a one-armed hug, the other arm still with a tight hold on me, and grinned.
“Honestly, Micah…I leave you alone for five minutes and you’re kissing the clients!”
“Oh, I’m not-” I started but Micah laughed.
“Jewls…I would like you to meet Nic, my boss and my big brother. Nic, this is Jewls. My girlfriend.”
For a moment I was so surprised I couldn’t say anything. I just stood there, mouth opening and closing trying to form some sort of sentence, failing that, a word of any description would do.
Nic extended his hand and I saw mine reach out to him seemingly beyond my control, to shake it. Instead, he raised my hand to his mouth and kissed the back of it.
Wow, it runs in the family. With the exception of Marco the man-whore…
“What an absolute pleasure to meet you at last, Jewls. Micah has told us so much about you.”
“It’s lovely to meet you too.” I heard myself say.
“Micah, are you wanting to eat, or head straight off?”
“Is there anything left in the kitchen?”
“Yeah, I reckon so.” Nic said, “You two sit, I’ll go see your sister. If you don’t mind me tidying around you, you’re more than welcome to stay and eat.”
“I’ll help you do that first, bro.” Micah said.
At last my senses seemed to have returned and I shook my head. “I’ll help too. I want to. If you need my help. Extra pair of hands. I don’t mind…” I trailed off when I realised Micah was looking at me, smiling.
“Okay,” he said, “I’ll show you what to do. Nic, you go ahead and balance the paperwork, me and Jewls got this.”
He nodded, “Okay, cool. I’ll send Mari out when she’s done in the kitchen.” He said and walked off.
Micah turned back to me. “You’re sure you don’t mind?”
“Course not.” I said.
“Okay. Well the candles, they go in the top drawer of that set over there, in the corner? The tablecloths go in the big blue bag behind the door marked staff behind us. We take them home every night and wash them, even if they haven’t been used. We don’t reset the tables until the morning. The chairs all stack along the far wall, ready for the floors to be cleaned in the morning. Menus on the shelf above the drawers with the candles.”
I nodded, strangely enjoying this.
We worked quickly and efficiently and within ten minutes had the place done and cleared. I turned back to Micah to find him concentrating on a table in the middle of the restaurant. It still had the table cloth on, a cut vase with a single red rose and a candle. He was chewing on his lower lip in concentration and the gesture made me want to run to him, throw my arms around him and just…devour him. He noticed me looking and smiled brightly.
“Ta da!” he said quietly and pulled a chair out for me. I nodded, acknowledging him with a smile and sat down. He sat opposite me and then Nic appeared at our side.
“Sir…madam. Would you like to hear the specials?”
Micah pretended to think about that and nodded. “Yes, please.”
“Well sir…we have salmon with thick cut homemade chips, seasonal vegetables or a side salad…or you may prefer steak with thick cut homemade chips, seasonal vegetables or a side salad.”
I giggled and pretended to consider my options. “I think I’ll have the salmon please.”
Micah nodded too. “Salmon sounds delicious. Is the chef available at all?”
“Ah, the chef asked me to convey her best wishes, and she will be out shortly to-”
“Where’s my favourite brother!”
~~~~~~~~~~***~~~~~~~~~~
Micah
Mari came running out of the kitchen like she hadn’t seen me in a hundred years, and I just had time to stand up before she sprang into my arms, embracing me in a warm hug. I just about managed to catch her, laughing.
“Uh…Mari, I’ve been here all night.”
“Yeah, but I never see you as I’m stuck in the kitchen! And when Nic said Jewls was with you and you were gonna eat here…awe…” she turned to Jewls, who had stood up also. I could tell she was nervous. I guess in some ways, being a girl it was harder for her to meet my sister than all my brothers rolled into one. Women’s minds are a mystery, for sure.
But I knew my sister, and knew that first, she was going to love Jewls, and second, she would do everything possible to put her at ease. Mari was a people person, she could read people with an incredible sense that she had inherited from our mum. She sensed emotions in even the most closed off people and adapted her behaviour accordingly. I had been looking forward to her meeting Jewls, so I could then talk to her about her; see what Mari thought of her. Jewls harboured huge insecurities and sometimes I didn’t know how to handle her, hence I kept putting my foot in it. I needed some help to make sure I didn’t screw up again.
“Jewls, I’m Mari, Micah’s baby sister. I’m so happy to meet you.”
“I’m happy to meet you too.” Jewls said, extending her hand. Mari looked at it, laughed and let go of me, pulling Jewls in for a brief, enthusiastic hug.
“Ahh…you look so good together. You’re so pretty! We’re gonna be the best of friends, you and me. He loves you, you know. He told me. He tells me everything, and he is head over heels. ”
“Mari!” Nic said, grabbing her arm and ushering her towards the kitchen. “We’ll uh…get your food to you as soon as possible. Sir, madam.”
After they had left I looked back at Jewls and tried to smile, but the truth was, I was mortified and had a horrible feeling I might be blushing.
“Yeah, that’s my sister. Sorry about that.”
Jewls shook her head. “I like her. And she obviously adores you.”
I nodded, smiling fondly. I was going to throttle her later for that little stunt but knew I wouldn’t be able to stay mad at her for long. “We’re all very close. Shall we?”
Jewls nodded and we sat again. I instinctively reached for her
hand across the table and held it in both of mine, stroking her palms with my thumbs.
“I’m glad you agreed to come. I’ve wanted to bring you here for a while.”
~~~~~~~~~~***~~~~~~~~~~
Jewls
“It’s beautiful, like I knew it was.” I said, looking around. “You didn’t mention your brother owned it…”
“We all own it.” he said with a small smile. “Well, a share. As soon as we all turned eighteen we got our stake in this place. But Nic set it all up. He wanted us to have stability, financial stability and he wanted to make sure that no matter what we would all have a job to go into. I couldn’t resist the lure of the fairground, but I still do more than my share here too. I don’t think even Nic could have imagined just how successful it would be though. But thanks to him, we all have a great job, a wonderful home, everything we need. He worked hard to give us that, and now we all work hard to give back. And for us as a family, because it all could have gone so differently.”
I hadn’t noticed Nic was back in the room, he had sloped in so quietly, but sure enough, there he was, standing a respectable distance away from us, his posture mirroring that of Micah’s earlier.
“Why don’t you see if Nic wants to join us?”
Micah smiled knowingly. “Because I am on a date here.”
I raised my eyebrows. “A date?”
“Yeah. And my brother and sister are more than happy to serve us. Honestly. Nic’s very proud of this place. Would you like a drink?”
“Uh…yeah, please.” I stumbled. That word had me in a tailspin. Date. Had I ever been on an actual date? No, I hadn’t. And if I’d realised this was a date I’d have…what? What would I have done? How would someone like me know what to do to prepare for a date?
Micah got Nic’s attention and smiled. “Bro? Bottle of your finest please, yeah?”
Nic nodded, smiling and disappeared, reappearing with a bottle of wine. He brought it to us, opened it and poured us both a glass.
“Will that be all sir?” he said and Micah shrugged him off.
“Yeah, that’s it for now, thanks.”
A nod/bow from Nic and he retreated back to a respectful distance again, shooting me a wink that made me blush. Damn, he was hot too. This family had bloody good genes.
I took a sip of my wine. “I didn’t realise this was a date, I’d have…”
Micah smiled and shook his head. “It’s not a proper date, when I take you on a real date I’ll do it properly. This is…a mini date. Either way, I wanted some time just me and you. Ah…here’s our food.”
Nic had disappeared again and reappeared with two plates which he set down in front of us. It smelled delicious and looked incredible and although I hadn’t thought I was especially hungry, suddenly I found myself salivating.
We ate for a while and I closed my eyes, humming appreciatively. “Oh my god, Micah. This is…amazing.”
“Yeah. Eli and Mari are the chefs, but when Mari is fully qualified she will take over as head chef and Eli will move over to the office side of the business to help Nic. Nic was…” he thought for a minute, “eighteen when mamma died. She died in the summer and my father left at Christmas. Nic was left with six kids to look after, and my sister was six months old. The he actually looked after her from the minute she was born.” He smiled sardonically. “Papa wasn’t a very nice man. From what I’m told…Nic and Eli’s dad…he was a real man, a good husband and a proper father. He was her first and probably only love. But…” he let out a sigh, “he died and she married his best friend.” He scoffed at that. “Some friend. And…he pretty much used her as some sort of…of baby making machine. He wanted sons, lots of sons. Well…he got them. Had her change Nic and Eli’s last names to his…he must have thought he’d hit the jackpot when she had me and Marco. Two for the price of one. And then Luca…and Kris. And then the doctors said…enough, you know? Told mamma, she was gonna risk her life if she had any more. He didn’t care about that. She fell pregnant with Mari. And she died giving birth. I can still remember…Nic, sitting us down and telling us…we had a new sister, but our mamma was gone. Papa just stood there and let him deliver the news.”
I frowned, horrified but also in awe of Nic. What an amazing brother. “My God, Micah…”
He nodded in silent agreement of what I hadn’t said. “He stuck around for a few months, but he did nothing, he was always out drinking and everything was left to Nic to sort out. You know, the more I think about it, the more I wonder why he even wanted so many kids. He didn’t hurt us, but he didn’t like us, we irritated the hell out of him. He and Eli in particular clashed like hell. I remember that much. I don’t think he was especially nice to mamma either, but I don’t remember an awful lot. I guess if he had loved her, he wouldn’t have kept on using her like he did. He wouldn’t have allowed her to risk her life. And he would have stuck around. But…Christmas he left us and then it really was all on Nic.”
“God…” I heard myself mutter, again. What else could I say? “So you were…?”
“Six. I cried for her every night for roughly a year. I didn’t understand, I think I thought…” he shrugged, as though he were embarrassed. “I thought she was coming back eventually. But of course she didn’t. Luca and Kris don’t remember her at all; they were only four and three, something like that. But I remember her surprisingly well. She smelled of…baking, and she always smiled. She had long brown hair like Mari’s, and she was a larger lady, beautiful. When she hugged you, she did it with her whole body, you know?”
I smiled at that. Like mother and son.
“She loved music. Dirty Dancing, of course was her favourite film and she loved the songs from it, but she loved the eighties ballads too, you know? Spandau Ballet, that sort of thing. She always had music playing. She had time for every single one of us, she was…amazing.”
He had drifted off a little and then he seemed to come back to me.
“She left some money, money that belonged her first husband. She had managed to keep it quiet somehow from papa, and left it to Nic. He, somehow, managed to look after us, a baby and go to college to do a catering course. And then he opened up Carousel. It was just small then. He’s been teaching Mari to cook since she could stand, and now she’s studying catering and hospitality too. He built this place up into what it is now, and as soon as each of us were old enough, we each had a role to play here. And well…you can see what we’ve achieved.”
The pride in his tone was deeply, deeply moving. And he had a right to be proud, they all did.
“It’s a beautiful place.” I knew I had said it before, but I had to say it again.
“It is,” he said with a smile, “our reputation is as a high end restaurant selling real food and real portions. We don’t charge a fortune, but it is expensive and it does take a while on a waiting list to get a table. This place…this is us, our family. We’re a very, very strong unit. A unit…I want you to be a part of, Jewls. I’m serious about us, if I wasn’t, I wouldn’t have brought you here, and you wouldn’t have met my family. Are you still coming to the barbeque?”
How could he expect me to be capable of a coherent thought after that, let alone be able to form an actual sentence out loud? He wanted me to be a part of his family, and it was clear now bringing me here was a big, big deal for him.
I felt a weird mix of deeply honoured and utterly terrified. “Uh…yeah, sure.” I eventually said and he smiled, satisfied.
“Good. You’ll meet Eli there. He doesn’t live with us, he’s married. He lives close though. And sometimes he might as well live with us.”
“You must have a huge house…” I said absently, thinking aloud.
Micah nodded, “Yeah. Five bedrooms, but we still trip over each other a little. Nic’s in the middle of having a new bathroom put in on an extension. At the minute we have two bathrooms, but…one nineteen year old girl and five boys who are…slightly vain, shall we say?” I grinned as he continued, “two bathrooms just isn’t enoug
h. You can imagine what it’s like in the mornings.”
Oh, I could imagine alright, my mind was already there. Five utterly gorgeous Machvaya boys wandering around in boxer shorts, fighting over the bathroom, queueing up for the shower.
Whew.
I picked up my napkin and fanned myself a little. “Is it a bit hot in here?”
He shrugged. “No, I don’t think so.”
We had both finished and sat in a slightly awkward silence for a while. Nic came and took our plates and we thanked him as he nodded again, smiling and left us, disappearing back into the kitchen.
“I don’t know much about you, Jewls. You have any siblings?”
Suddenly I was very uncomfortable. “No, it’s just me and my mum.”
He raised his eyebrows. “Oh. Has she been to visit you up here yet?”
“No, not yet. Sure she will, eventually.”
“Are you gonna go home some time? See your mum and that?”
“No,” I said, a little too quickly. “This is home now.”
He nodded, and seemed to take the hint that I didn’t want to elaborate. “Well…her loss is my gain. You’re keeping in touch now though, with your phone and that.”
“Yeah…”
I talked to my mum almost every other day, or rather she talked to me and I did my best to follow the conversation well enough that I could answer if she asked a question. My mum was still more than a little shocked by my sudden departure. I think deep down she understood, but she couldn’t understand why it had taken me to the day I left to fill her in on my plans. And she thought I was mad taking off with no real plan of where I was going. I think she had relaxed a little once she knew I had a job and I was settled, but there were definite bridges to be built there. She didn’t know about Micah, because I was afraid if I gave her too much information on my life here it would somehow get back to Andrew. I was doing the best I could to keep my old life and my new life completely separate.
“Okay,” he said with a nod, letting me know it was okay, I didn’t have to talk about it yet if I wasn’t ready. I was very grateful, not for the first time, for his tact and intuition.
Gypsy Kiss: Book 1: Micah (The Gypsy Kiss Series) Page 15
