Consequences

Part 95

On Sunday Doug met Marina and Rafe. Isabelle insisted that he came with her when she went round to their house for lunch. He wasn't quite sure how they'd take to him being in Isabelle's life on a permanent basis given the differences in their background, but he hoped that Marina had her sister's thoughtfulness and empathy. Doug liked Marina. She was bubbly, charming and quick to include him in family talk. Plus he kept remembering that she thought he was sexy.

The meal had gone well. Much to Doug's relief. One less hurdle to deal with, he thought as he and Isabelle sat in his car and made their way back to his place.

"You are very like your sister." He told Isabelle. They were driving to his house to pick up some more clothes.

"Oh." Isabelle flicked him a quick look surprised to hear that comment.

"Same wacky sense of humour. Same quirkiness."

"Rina's boisterous." Isabelle corrected with a smile as she thought about her youngest sister and her usual array of antics. How Rafe put up with her constant teasing was beyond Isabelle. "She was always the naughty one!"

"So are you." And when she simply quirked a haughty brow at him, Doug added in a whisper, "In bed."

"Doug." Isabelle warned.

He grinned, not at all put out, "Just saying." He was going to take a leaf out of Rafe's book. Seeing how he handled Marina had been an eye opener. Marina was, as Isabelle said very boisterous and cheeky, in a charming sort of way. The fact she spent most of her time teasing her husband had not gone un-noticed by Doug, and as he noted, Rafe knew that Doug knew that Marina had her husband in the palm of her hand. And Rafe did not mind one little bit.

Isabelle looked over at Doug and then with a rueful smile said, "When we were kids my parents used to call us twins. Rina's the youngest, and I was the oldest but we were very alike in looks and behaviour when we were little apparently."

Doug heard the tone in her voice and knew that she was revealing a lot more than just an anecdote from her childhood. His agile brain sifted through the changes and demands that must have hit that family when their parents were no longer there. "Then you had to take over." He said softly as understanding dawned.

Isabelle nodded. She'd had to grow up fast.

"And take responsibility." He murmured.

"Something like that." She did not want to sound maudlin. But for a period of time, life had looked pretty bleak. Everything moved at a rate of knots and she, as the eldest in the family had the reins thrown at her. So she had held them, and done her best to steer a path through an unexpected minefield. Her grandmother had been a rock, but as her grandmother had said at the time, she did not have a clue about anything financial!

Silence descended for a minute.

"Anyway, as things turned out, we still have the same sense of humour, as you noticed." She conceded given she and Rina had teased Rafe and Doug for most of lunch. "And Rina might appear to be a social butterfly but underneath that façade she's a dedicated doctor. And a really hard worker."

Doug glanced over at Isabelle for a second before returning his attention to the road. "Looks to me like all of you are." He knew they were approaching a junction he could take to head back to his house. "Do you fancy staying at my place tonight?' He asked.

"Tonight?" She turned in her seat, "I haven't got any stuff."

"You can use mine." Doug glanced across at her, doing his best not to show how nervous he was about her response. He'd never asked a woman to stay over. Never.

Isabelle smiled and nodded, "Ok." Her heartbeat escalated. Surely going back to his place meant he was thinking about this being more than a short term fling.

He grinned and hadn't realized how much of a relief her affirmative response would be.

Some twenty minutes later they arrived at his home, and within minutes she was in his house and enjoying the views from his sitting room.