I Let Love In

Chapter XLVII: A Very Special Man

"Fuck, it's even hotter in here!" Angus muttered as I closed the door behind us. His neck was shiny with sweat and my hormones quivered. 

"Sorry, our A/C is broken," I said. He sighed with a smile and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. 

"Course it is," he said before kissing my hair. Mum came out from the kitchen and saw us. 

"Oh, hi," she said giving her best hostess smile. Angus smiled back and offered his hand for her to shake. Finally, someone who was shorter than him. "Is this your friend, Hannah?"

Uh....I looked at Angus who only grinned at me. Sure, let's go with friend for now. "This is Angus. I met him last year." 

"Huh. Nice to meet you," she said trying to be polite. I could see her surveying him, probably wondering why he was so short and despising his long hair. She also apparently saw him with a cigarette when she met him at the door and she must have hated that. 

"You too, ma'am," he said nodding. "Real great daughter you have here." You couldn't measure the temperature in Kelvin in that room. I smiled shyly and looked down at my bare feet. "Found her when she came to England."

"Oh. So...you two were together on her holiday?" Mum asked sounding awfully suspicious. 

"I stayed with Maude," I explained. "But I ran into him once in a while." Angus beamed at Mum who looked back and forth from me to him. 

"Oh. Did you want anything to eat? Have you had breakfast?" We followed her to the kitchen where a giant fan was oscillating. Angus looked at the bacon on the counter. "We have bacon...I can cook an egg if you want."

"Uh...nah, I'm alright," he sniffed. "Had a bite at a bakery this mornin'." Ivy and Magnolia raced across the floor, sliding on the hardwood. "Woah," Angus said stepping aside. "Didn't know you had kids."

"They're new," I said. Ivy paused her scamper to sniff Angus' hand when he stretched it out to her. Magnolia's eyes were wide and her tail was swishing. Angus yanked his hand back as Magnolia attacked, her and Ivy rolling across the floor. "They like to wrestle."

"No kiddin'...." Angus said bewitched. "Look at 'em, it's Mal an' George..."

"You want anything to drink?" Mum asked washing her hands. Angus straightened out and shrugged. "We have Cokes, or....coffee?"

"Coke sounds good. Or...have you got milk?" he asked. "Jus' wonderin'." Mum opened our fridge and pulled out a bottle of milk and grabbed a glass from the cupboard. She poured him a glass and he took it, having a quick sip. "Thank you," he said. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "Have I...come at a bad time?"

"No, this is actually a good time, the baby we usually watch today is out sick."

Angus took another drink. "Uh, I was wonderin'...if I could maybe have a word with your daughter? With Hannah?" he asked. Mum eyed me suspiciously with a smile. 

"Sure. I'll be here if you need me." I led Angus back outside to the backyard. 

"Thanks for the milk!" he called. 

**********

We sat on the steps of the deck sweating under the sun. It was the only place where we'd have privacy without going into one of the bedrooms. 

Mum didn't need to see that.

Angus drank the rest of his milk and hiccuped. "You guys have good milk," he said setting the glass down beside him. "It's a little thin up in England."

"You can have as much as you want," I said fanning my face. 

"Don't you want any?" he asked. "What if I drink it all an' you have no more for tea?"