“Who’s for coffee?” Diana asked cheerily. It was obvious that she was glad to have James back under her roof once again where he belonged.

Before anyone could answer there was a knock at the door. “I’ll get it,” James said, springing to his feet. He opened the heavy wooden door and standing there in front of him was Anna’s entire family.

Chapter 4

Anna was from a big family. She had two little sisters, Kate and Kelley, and a younger brother, Lachlan. The harsh fluorescent light lit up Lachlan’s untamed red curly hair. His face was expressionless as he stood awkwardly in the doorway just behind his parents, Kathryn and Brandon.

“Hey! How did you know we’d be here?” James asked, throwing a glance at his mother. They all trudged in slowly. Brandon bypassed everyone and raced to his daughter’s side.

Without thinking, Brandon wrapped his arms around his baby girl and held her tight, perhaps a little too tight. With a whimper from Anna, Brandon dropped his arms. “Sorry, sweetheart,” he mumbled.

“All good!” Anna assured him despite some very sore, squashed ribs, the pain causing her eyes to water.

“Hey baby girl! How are you doing? Why didn’t you call us?” Kathryn interrogated Anna. Anna knew her mother’s tactics and knew it was not a time to lie.

“You were on holiday. I didn’t want to spoil that for you when I was fine. There was nothing you could do, anyway,” Anna explained to her mother. “I’m okay, I promise.” She smiled at her sisters, who were gawking at the photographs of James on the mantelpiece.

“Do you have any idea what it’s like to hear that your daughter is missing in the paper and then find out that not only has she been found but is lying in a hospital bed?” Kathryn scolded, sitting down on the floor in front of Anna.

“Look, I really am sorry. But everything is fine. I promise,” Anna apologised. She didn’t know what else to say. Everything had happened so quickly that she didn’t even stop to think about how her parents would feel.

Soon enough they were all sitting around sipping coffee and eating cakes. James and Anna were dodging questions and criticism for not ringing as soon as everything had happened. Anna’s family had read about it in the paper and then phoned James’s parents to get the details. The only feeble excuse they could use was “There was nothing anyone could have done, anyway.”

Anna was completely exhausted, but having her parents there, even if they had cut their holiday short and rushed to her side, made her appreciate how lucky she really was. In two short weeks, Anna had been in a car accident and nearly stuffed up her engagement. Now, she was sitting in James’s living room, with her family and James’s family having coffee and cakes. It was funny how things worked out, Anna told herself.

James was sitting on the floor at Anna’s feet while Anna dragged her fingers through his hair without even realising it. James traced circles on Anna’s exposed ankle. Everyone in the room noticed but remained silent. James and Anna couldn’t keep their hands off each other. Kate and Kelley were laughing and making jokes at the photographs they had found.

“You think those are funny, look at these,” Diana said, handing Kelley one of James’s photo albums from when he was a little boy. A moment later the two girls were rolling about laughing hysterically at the naked photos of James running around the backyard under the sprinkler.

“Bring that over here!” James said, snatching the album. “At least I can explain the situation for each and every photo.” The girls moved to his side. As much as they fought it, which admittedly wasn’t very hard, they couldn’t contain their maniacal laughter. Despite James’s best efforts to tell them a bizarre story explaining the photos, the girls weren’t buying it. Kate and Kelley weren’t dumb. They knew that everybody had these types of photos but it was James’s reaction that was keeping them entertained.

Kate was teasing James relentlessly, “How much do you think I could make if I sold these?”

“Don’t even think about it,” James threatened, playfully putting Kate in a headlock.

“You know I can have you charged for that,” Kate told him. The whole room was laughing. Anna tried join in but her ribs were too sore; it was safer not to laugh.

“Did you want to stay for dinner?” Michael offered. “It’s nothing special, just a barbecue. We can call it a joint celebration. Anna is fine and their engagement is official. That’s something that definitely must be celebrated. We haven’t had a chance yet. What do you think?”

“Sounds great. Thanks.” Brandon was delighted at the idea.

Soon everyone was embroiled in dinner preparations. Anna was in the kitchen peeling potatoes, Kathryn was washing the lettuce for the salad, while Diana was searching the fridge for sour cream. Kate and Kelley had been stuck with table duty while all the boys stood in the backyard cooking the barbecue. Lachlan and James were annoying each other, acting as if they were five year old boys rather than grown men. Anna figured that James was the brother that Lachlan never had and always wanted. Michael and Brandon stood side by side, beer in hand, watching the steak intently. “Don’t cremate it,” Anna called out from the kitchen.

They were all sitting around the wooden table. Anna was completely worn out. As much as she loved everyone she couldn’t help but wish they would all head home. All she wanted to do was curl up in her nice, warm bed and sleep for a month. Instead she was sitting around the table in James’s backyard, with every person in the world she cared about, waiting for the inevitable. The only question that remained was who would go first? Brandon or Michael? As it turned out she didn’t have wait very long to get her answer.

Michael stood up. Here we go, Anna couldn’t help thinking, stealing a glance at the other.

“I would just like to take this opportunity, even though it is not under the circumstances that we would hope for, to officially welcome Anna to our somewhat dysfunctional family. Also, I would like to welcome our new friends, Kathryn, Brandon, Lachlan, Kate, and Kelley to our home. Let’s hope this is the beginning of a long and beautiful friendship. To family and friends.” He smiled, raising his glass.

“Family and friends!” they all chanted in unison.

Next was Brandon’s turn. Anna knew if one had a speech the other would not be out done. “Well…since Michael said most of what I was going to, I’ll just say congratulations to James and Anna. We all hope you are very happy. By the way, James…she’s your problem now.” Brandon laughed. “To Anna and James.” Once again they all lifted their glasses. Anna thought that the speeches were all over and now they would just sit there and enjoy a normal, civilised dinner. But that would be far too predictable. James was not one to be outdone; he had to have his turn as well.

“You guys have all had your two cents’ worth, so now it’s my turn. I want to say thank you. First to Mum and Dad for letting Anna stay here until she gets back on her feet. We all know she’ll be a stubborn pain in the butt until she can get out of that chair but, we love her anyway. I’d also like to say thanks to Brandon and Kathryn, who we all know were having a great time on their holiday but cut it short without hesitation to make sure Anna was okay. So thanks to all of you—” James was cut off prematurely.

“I guess that means me as well.” Kate laughed.

“As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted…” James winked at Kate. “I’d like to thank all of you, except Kate,” James coughed, “for everything. We really appreciate it.” James sat down, dropping a quick kiss in Anna’s hair on his way.

No more speeches, please, Anna was pleading to a higher power. She was so tired she was starting to become irritable. But hey, that would be too much to ask. First her brother stood up and mumbled something, and then her sisters each took it in turn. As Diana got up to say her piece, the back gate creaked open. In walked James’s big sister Renee and her husband Ryan. They were shocked at the sight of the full backyard. “Sorry. Are we interrupting?”