Reasons Why

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven

The next morning, she woke with a pounding head, the product of a nervous evening. Her attic bedroom was wonderful, a real haven, with the gingham curtains and matching quilt on the white wood bed. The serenity was short-lived as Chloe spotted the time. Just before seven, Phil and Didi were due to leave in a few minutes. Stretching, she climbed out of bed and found the flip-flops she was using as slippers, then made for the stairs.

The door to the hallway was ajar...an unusual thing as Didi insisted she closed it to stop the boys wandering at night. As she reached the door she gasped, there on the bottom step, neatly folded were the top that she'd worn the previous night, and of course her bra. Last seen tossed away in the kitchen!

Heat flushed from her chest up to her face and she felt lightheaded with embarrassment. Suddenly she dreaded facing Phil and Didi with the knowledge that they had a good idea what had happened the previous evening.

 As she opened the door fully, she literally bumped into Phil coming out of the bathroom, already dressed and ready for work. He grinned at her, "do you fancy a few beers tonight? Dee's got some friends coming over for a work meeting thing?"

She nodded, "sounds good! We could go into town?"

He laughed, "if you want. I haven't been out downtown for ages!"

                "Phil! You're in your forties not nineties!" Play punching his arm; she slipped past him and down the stairs.

Didi was perfecting her makeup in the cloakroom mirror.

                "Hey Chloe. Sleep well?"

There was a glint in her eye as she awaited a response and Chloe realised that she was the one who'd retrieved her clothes. As the blush reappeared at the slightly loaded question, she shrugged, "nothing happened..."

Didi laughed, "I just didn't want Phil to find your underwear...other than that I don't mind what happens here. Ok?"

                "We weren't neglecting the kids..."

Giving her a hug, the older woman smiled, "Chloe! Mikey's fine. All kids get bugs, fevers...and you coped more than admirably! I'm very pleased at my new childminder!"

Chloe returned the hug, feeling a little choked at the camaraderie her sister-in-law was displaying.

After a fairly uneventful day with the boys, she had changed into jeans, a tight black t-shirt and her favourite converse for the stroll in to the centre of town. Phil started at a rapid pace, and Chloe was glad she'd opted for flat shoes and not her heeled sandals.

                "What's eating you?" she asked as he finally slowed a little.

He shrugged for a moment before glancing at her, "I really wanted to talk tonight...about Owen."

Chloe felt as though she'd been slapped around the head. Stopping dead in her tracks she waited for him to notice and turn, "why?"

He sighed, "because he was my brother too. I miss him, and you are the only person I know who can answer my questions about him."

                "Oh."

Starting to walk again she looked up at him, and he spoke again, "I only knew him a few years really. But unlike you," he winked, "he emailed me most days; he visited us here several times. We got on. But I didn't know his favourite colour, or whether he was a morning person, I never knew whether he was a jock or a geek at school..."

When he looked at Chloe he had tears in his eyes, and she could do nothing but hug him, for a few moments. She had been so encompassed in her own grief for so long, that maybe she was guilty of not appreciating the special relationship she had had with her twin.