Page 49 of The Girlfriend’s Secret

If it seems like a very rigid, formal introduction for two brothers to take part in, I think that too, which is why I decline to offer my own hand. Usually, we would hug, or slap one another on the back, or simply smile, shrug and start teasing one another. But given the current circumstances that our relationship exists in, I don’t do any of those other things.

I just sit down and have a sip of my beer.

‘Okay,’ Joel says as he retakes his seat. ‘So I guess you’re mad at me.’

‘Oh, I don’t know, bro. Have a guess. Your girlfriend is running around telling everyone that I killed Grandma and, as far as I can tell, you’re still with her, so yeah, I guess I am a little mad at you.’

‘Haven isn’t running around telling everyone that you killed Grandma,’ Joel tries to correct me, but I just laugh sarcastically.

‘Sorry, you’re right. She’s only told you, Mum and Dad so far, so just the closest people in the world to me, so that makes it all better, doesn’t it?’

Joel has never appreciated my sarcasm, and it doesn’t look like he is going to start now.

‘We need to sort this out,’ Joel says, picking up his beer. ‘We need to figure out a way for things to go back to normal between us all.’

‘That’s easy. Get rid of her,’ I say simply.

‘I’m not going to do that. I love Haven.’

‘Wow, I always thought I was the smarter one out of the two of us, but now you are really proving it. How can you love a woman who accuses your own brother of murder?’

‘Look, I get it, you’re upset. I would be too if someone thought I had done something crazy. I don’t know where Haven has got the idea from, but she is stubborn, and once something is in her head, I’ve found that the best thing to do is to just let it run its course before she gets bored and moves onto something else.’

‘Gets bored? So she’s threatening to blow up my whole life because she’s bored?’ I cry, throwing my hands up in the air.

‘No, that’s not what I’m saying. What I mean is Haven needs to realise in her own time that her idea of you killing Grandma is a false one and, once she does, I am sure she will apologise and feel bad about all of this.’

‘You’re sure, are you? What if that doesn’t happen? What if she goes to the police?’

‘She won’t.’

‘But what if she does?’ I repeat, my voice loud enough to attract the attention of a few other patrons of this bar, who all look over with differing levels of disdain on their faces.

‘Then you’ll be fine because you have absolutely nothing to hide, right?’ Joel asks me.

‘Of course I have nothing to hide!’ I lie. ‘But it’s not as simple as that. What if the police don’t believe me? What if they see that I have a criminal record?’

‘That guy you punched outside a pub when you were eighteen? That’s hardly relevant to anything.’

‘Yes, it is! It could be used against me. If Haven says I am violent, that only proves her point!’

Again, some of the people in the bar look over in my direction and, again, they don’t seem impressed with me.

‘You don’t have to worry about any of that because Haven isn’t going to go to the police,’ Joel assures me. ‘Seriously, this will all blow over soon, I’m sure of it.’

I stare at my sibling and wish I was blessed with his innocence.

‘I love you, but you are so naïve,’ I say with a sad shake of my head.

We share an awkward silence then as we both sip our beers, and I’m sure it is a silence that is appreciated by the other people in the bar.

‘So what are you doing here?’ I ask when I’m finally ready for more conversation.

‘We needed to get out of Mum and Dad’s house,’ Joel replies.

‘We?’

‘Me and Haven.’