Red Leather (Book 2)

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Gwyneth's house, however, was a piece of shit.

"I love the interior," I complemented, slowly making my way around what was going to be my new house for the next few weeks, taking in the mugs and discarded quilts. Gwyneth bustled around us, trying to fix everything up as much as she could.

She'd greeted us very enthusiastically before, tightly embracing the brother she'd long left behind her, before coming over and embracing me as well.

"You must be Renee," she stated, smiling warmly with her golden hair in soft waves. I smiled back, tugging at my own ponytail with self-consciousness.

"It's lovely to meet you."

"Sorry for barging in like this, Gwen," Daddy apologised for the millionth time. "It's just until the house has been furnished-"

"Oh, nonsense, Teddy. Come right in."

As soon as we were settled down, and our entire weight in luggage had been dumped into our temporary bedrooms, Daddy had left straight away to check on the progress of our house. I still didn't know what it looked like, but I trusted Daddy's sense of style.

And if I didn't like anything, I knew I was more than capable of convincing him otherwise.

"I'm sorry," she apologised breathlessly. "It's not usually this messy. Jess and Nate are visiting, so the place has been a wreck for a while..."

I nodded thoughtfully, taking note of all the photographs hanging on the walls. There were plenty of the infamous Jessabel, smiling and frowning and laughing, with her unnaturally long hair framing her face. I felt a twitch of envy at the sight of all her locks, but knew that I was being silly.

To some degree.

"Who's that?" I asked curiously, my gaze on the very attractive, and very happy redhead holding Jessabel in his arms.

"Oh, that's Nathan," she somehow found something funny about the photo, because she laughed quietly to herself.

I turned to her. "What's so funny?"

"That's photo was taken while Jess's leg was still in its brace," she explained. "She kept stepping on Nathan's toe for about an hour. Had to get it bandaged up afterwards."

I laughed along, though I didn't think it was that funny, seeing as I didn't know who Nathan or Jessabel were.

But I would soon.

"And who's he?" I asked, pointing to the photo of her standing with a stern man in police uniform.

"That's Glen.  The man I'm engaged to."

Interesting. "Oh?"

She grinned. "We agreed not to get married until Jess has completely moved out."

"Isn't she in the process of moving out?"

"She pretty much moved out the day she met Nathan," she joked. "She's almost never home, and I try not to think of what they could be doing at his house every night."

"Playing Scrabble?" A voice said from the doorway.

She laughed. "Ah, that's it. Playing Scrabble."

I turned sharply, my face already posed for a smile. Jessabel was taller than I thought she would be, but it was nothing compared to her boyfriend, whose head grazed the ceiling. They both looked on curiously.

"Jess, this is your cousin Renee. We visited your uncle Ted when you were little. Do you remember her?" Gwen asked.

Those blue, blue eyes grazed at me. "No, I don't think so."