The Billionaire's Housekeeper Mistress(54)
‘Street cricket?’ Ethan looked bemused.
‘It’s a family tradition. Every Easter Sunday morning.’ She nodded to her brothers who’d spotted her car and were waving at them. ‘That’s Ken and Kevin standing on the corner, watching out for any incoming traffic and fielding any long balls anyone hits.’
‘Sounds like fun. Can I join in?’
‘If you want to. Though you’ll need to meet everyone first. Mum and Violet and my sisters-in-law will be in the kitchen preparing lunch.’
They alighted from the car and Daisy watched her brothers eyeing Ethan over as they walked up to meet them. They were older than him, in their forties, and they were both grinning as though they were happy to see their baby sister with a man in tow. They made the introductions easy, warmly welcoming Ethan and calling out to the children to say ‘Hi!’ to their aunt Daisy and her friend. The game was briefly interrupted for yelled greetings and clamours for Ethan to play with them after he’d said hello to Nan and Pop.
There was no awkward hitch in any of the introductions. Ethan impressed everyone with already knowing their names and enough about them to strike up a friendly conversation. When her father led him out of the kitchen to join the street game, her mother gave Daisy a big hug, declaring him a lovely man.
‘He is a bit much, though,’ Violet commented with a worried look. ‘What I mean is…he must be used to women falling all over him and getting his own way. Be careful about giving him your heart, Daisy. He might not be good husband material.’
‘That was part of why I was reluctant to become involved with him,’ she confided, understanding precisely what her sister meant. ‘But the more I’ve come to know him, the more I like him, Violet. Not for his wealth or his good looks. They were stumbling blocks to me, too. I don’t know where this relationship is going. I just like being with him. Okay?’
‘Okay.’ She smiled and raised her hand. ‘Fingers crossed that it works out fine for you. Now tell us more about him.’
Daisy carefully chose to give what she thought was sympathetic information, concentrating on Ethan’s family background—parents wrapped up in their academic careers, how he learned to love cooking from his grandmother, being sent to boarding school, his pleasure in games. It seemed to satisfy the general curiosity and gave a more rounded view of the person he was.
Her mother was roasting the traditional leg of pork with all the trimmings. The men had already set up a long trestle table in the family room with the twenty-four chairs needed to seat everyone, and as the women chatted, they did all the settings with colourful Easter motif serviettes and bon-bons. The centrepiece was a large round white chocolate mud-cake with a hole in the middle which was filled in and piled high with brightly wrapped miniature Easter eggs. They mixed a fruit punch for the children and put out wineglasses for the adults. It all looked wonderfully festive and Daisy hoped Ethan would enjoy what was always a rowdy luncheon with her family.
She slipped out to the back garden and hid her Easter eggs for the treasure hunt before the children trooped inside from the street. When everything was done and ready they called everyone in to clean up and sit down, which they did in high good humour. From comments flying around, Ethan had endeared himself to the children by hitting lollipop catches when he was batting, and the easiest to hit balls when he was bowling. Masterly control, Daisy thought, and was pleased he’d applied it to make the game more fun.
She actually started to relax over lunch. Ethan happily joined in the many topics of conversation raised, though he listened more than he talked. He complimented her mother on the pork crackling—the best he’d ever eaten. He laughed at her brothers’ jokes. He really seemed to be having a good time.
After the cake had been served and eaten, the children were allowed to leave the table and go on the treasure hunt. They leapt from their chairs excitedly, eager to add to their hoard of chocolate—all except Joshua, who remained seated, counting and recounting his share of eggs from the cake. Violet left her seat to coax him into joining the others. He ignored her efforts and when she took him by the hand, he lashed out, hitting her arm to leave him alone, then flying into a major tantrum, screaming and throwing a flurry of punches at her.#p#分页标题#e#
They were all used to this kind of sudden eruption from him, but Violet was upset and embarrassed that it was happening in front of Ethan, breaking into tears and throwing them a helpless look of despair at her inability to control her autistic son. Her husband, Barry, rushed to her side, swooped on Joshua, lifted him up to his shoulder and carried him out of the room.