His Second Chance

Chapter Eighteen

I walked up the narrow gravel pathway towards the quaint cottage that sat at the centre of the small garden.

"This is a lovely place," I said as Julian closed the gate behind me and walked next to me.

"Thank you, it wasn't like this when we moved in," he said," Mum's got a gardening addiction, so when we saw this place we thought it would keep her occupied for a while."

She certainly was good at it, the garden looked immaculate. I let Julian lead me up the path and towards the door, which ironically was an old stable door that had been painted light blue. He opened it for me, allowing me in first before following.

"We're here," he called through the house.

"Albie, is that someone in the house?" The voice came from a lady, but she sounded too old to be Julian's mother.

"Yes, Mum, its Julian, he's brought his new friend round for you to meet." That was definately one of his brothers.

Julian led me through to a small living room where everyone was waiting, and by everyone, I meant his mother and his brother. I raised an eyebrow; I thought he had two brothers.

"Mum, this is Amy," he said quite loudly, and the old woman looked up at me with a sweet smile," Amy, this is my brother, Albie."

To my surprise, he got up, took my hand and planted a gentle kiss on it. I blushed. Both brothers were clearly very gentlemanly.

"Its a pleasure to finally meet you, Amy," he smiled," Julian never stops talking about you."

I looked up at him with a smile on my face. He gave his brother a glare, before kneeling down next to his mother who was still sitting in her old flowery chair.

"Mum, this is Amy," he said softly.

She looked up at me with kind brown eyes and a smile spread across her face. She looked up at her son and said," She is pretty."

"Mum," he said, laughing nervously.

"No, it's alright," I smiled," Thank you, Mrs Carr, you're very kind."

There was silence for a moment, before Albie looked across at his brother and said," Sorry Ju, I've only just got back from the hospital, I haven't even started dinner."

"Forget about it, I'll order a takeaway," he said.

I could tell from the tone of his voice that ordering food was not what he had planned, but rather a home cooked meal, but I didn't mind. Of course I didn't mind. Julian offered me a seat on the little sofa that sat just next to his mother's chair. He was about to sit down next to me, when Albie gave him a look that indicated he wanted a private word. I heard Julian sigh as he gave me an apologetic look. He followed his brother into the kitchen and let me alone with Mrs Carr. As soon as they'd left the room, she turned to me and asked," Tell me, what is your name?"

"Uh, Amy," I answered, confused as to why she was asking me this, seeing as Julian had already introduced me twice.

"Amy," she said softly to herself," You are a very pretty girl."

"Thank you," I said.

"You know, my sons never bring anyone home to visit," she said," I hear talk, but we haven't had a female visitor for years. That makes you special."

I blushed as she asked," Are you staying to watch the rugby?"

I raised an eyebrow. I watched as she stared away into the distance, looking as if she wasn't quite with me. I cleared my throat, not really knowing what to say. I was about to open my mouth to speak, to ask her about herself when she called through into the kitchen," Albie, when is your girlfriend coming round to visit again?"