"Yes, he did," Jasmine responded shyly.
"Come on in. Everyone's here already."
"Yeah. Everyone including me," Kane said in a miffed tone as they walked inside the house.
"Hey, don't be like that," Faye said, giving him a swift hug. "Mum didn't want you to feel pressured to come so she thought it might be better not to let you know. How are you?"
He caught the unspoken meaning in Faye's question and smiled at her. "Fine. Everything's good."
"Good," Faye responded. "We'll talk more later. I have to get back to making your favourite cherry cheesecake."
"How many are you making? There's more of us tonight. One won't be enough," he called after Faye.
"Kane!" his mother cried as she came out of the kitchen just as Faye went into it.
"Hi, Mum. I heard you didn't want to see me tonight."
"Oh, darling, that's not true. I always want to see you. I just thought you needed time with Hannah since she just came back yesterday. Did you bring her with you?"
"No," he said, about to tell his mother the current situation but she had already turned her attention to Jasmine.
"Hello, Jasmine. I'm glad you could join us tonight."
"Hello, Mrs. Summers. Thank you for inviting me to your family dinner."
"It's a pleasure, dear. And please call me Linda. Faye tells me you're staying alone at your sister's house. Are you enjoying your holiday?"
"Yes, I am. Thank you."
"Well, dinner is almost ready. Kane, why don't you take Jasmine to the games room? The boys are there. Then come to the kitchen. I want to talk to you about something."
"Okay."
He reached out for Jasmine's hand but she gave him a warning look.
"Oops. I forgot," he whispered with a grin.
"Hey, boys," Kane called out as he and Jasmine entered the room where his dad, his three brothers and Ray were playing pool.
"Jasmine!" Dylan exclaimed delightedly. "Great to see you again, beautiful."
Jealousy pricked Kane as his brother, the second oldest and almost his spitting image, gave Jasmine a big bear hug that went on for far too long.
"Enough, Dylan," he growled.
Dylan looked at him in surprise.
"You're making her feel uncomfortable," he said.
"Am I, Jazzie?" Dylan asked Jasmine with a flirtatious pout.
Jasmine laughed, which annoyed him even more. Whose side was she on?
"Yeah, Dyl. Don't hog her attention," his youngest brother said, prying Dylan's arms from around Jasmine to pull her into his embrace.
Kane suppressed a sigh. Would this night be all about his two single brothers vying for Jasmine's attention? It irked him that he couldn't lay claim on her tonight.
"Which one are you, Bradley or Riley?" Jasmine asked her present hugger.
"Can't you tell? I'm the best looking of all the brothers."
"Well, there's two of you that look exactly the same," Jasmine chuckled, glancing at the other twin who looked up from texting someone on his phone and grinned at her.
"He's the baby," Kane said dryly, scowling at his brother.
"There's nothing wrong with babies," his brother retorted. "They're cute, cuddly, adorable —"
"Yadi, yadi, yadda," Kane interjected with an eye roll.
"I'm Brad," his brother carried on. "And don't worry about my twin. He's too busy pining for his girlfriend who can't make it to dinner tonight."
"Well, don't get too comfortable holding Jaz. Her boyfriend won't like it," Kane said, keen to put a stop to his brothers flirting with his girl.
"Aww, are you taken, Jasmine?" Brad asked.
"I'm afraid so," she answered.
"You're afraid so?" Dylan asked slyly. "Does that mean you're not exactly happy with your current flame? Don't settle for anything less than me, Jazzie."
"Oh God. Listen to the two of you. Leave her alone," Kane ordered his brothers. They should listen to him. He was the oldest.
Faye appeared in the doorway. "Kane, Mum wants you."
"Oh, right." He got up to follow Faye, but not before throwing a glare at his two mischievous siblings.
~~~~~~~
"What's up, Mum?" Kane asked as he entered the kitchen where his mother was plating up some food.
"Kane. There you are. I've been meaning to ask you about Hannah. How is she?"
"She's fine."
"I spoke to her father a couple of hours ago."
His eyebrows shot up. "You did? Why?"
"He rang. He wanted to talk to your dad and me about providing Hannah some emotional support. He's very worried about her. Apparently her moods were up and down when she was in London. He wanted her to stay with them longer but she insisted on coming back here because she wanted to be with you."