‘Hey!’ shouted Kerry, jumping back out of the way.
‘Little shit,’ muttered Joe, but he was laughing all the same.
‘Right, that does it,’ said Kerry good-humouredly. He thrust his beer bottle at Joe and strode across the grass. The lad screamed and, dropping the hosepipe, fled round the corner of the house.
Kerry picked up the hose and waited for the boy to come back into the garden. A movement caught Kerry’s eye and he squirted the hosepipe at the lad.
There was a scream and a curse.
A cheer went up from the guests in the garden.
‘Shit.’ Kerry dropped the hosepipe.
Standing in front of him wasn’t the lad, but Erin. Her clothes clung to her like she had entered a wet t-shirt competition. Water dripped from her hair. ‘Jesus, Erin. I’m so sorry,’ he said. He could hear Joe chortling in the background.
‘What the hell was that for?’ The man with Erin said.
Kerry noticed him for the first time. From the man’s accent, Kerry assumed that it was Erin’s English boyfriend. He wasn’t quite so wet, unfortunately. It seemed Erin had caught the full brunt of it.
‘Just messing around with the kids,’ said Kerry. ‘I didn’t realise you were there.’
Erin squeezed at her hair and pulled the t-shirt away from her body. It slapped back against her stomach.
‘So glad I came,’ she said, her face deadpan.
Bex appeared at her side. ‘Come on in, Erin,’ she said. ‘I’ll find you some dry clothes. Hi, you must be Ed. Erin said she was bringing you. I’m Bex. You’d better come in as well. I’ll get you a towel.’
The trio disappeared inside and Kerry returned to his beer. Joe was creasing up with laughter.
‘What a classic,’ he said. ‘Way to go, cuz!’
Some ten minutes later, Bex returned with Erin and Ed. Kerry couldn’t help doing a double-take. Erin had undergone some sort of transformation. Gone was the city slicker, with subtly expensive clothes and perfectly styled hair. Instead, was a country girl in a pair of Bex’s cropped denim shorts, a white gypsy top floated gracefully over her body and copper curls bounced off her shoulders.
Joe let out a low whistle. He gave his cousin a nudge.
‘I know,’ said Kerry. ‘What a difference a hosepipe can make.’
‘Now, that’s how I remember you,’ quipped Joe, as Erin approached them. ‘Curls galore. Curly Hurley.’
This remark earned him a thump on the arm from Bex, a glare from Erin and a muttering from Kerry to behave himself. Joe feigned innocence. ‘I was only saying.’
‘Well don’t,’ added Kerry, just to be sure Joe got the message.
‘Your hair is looking a bit wild and mad, thanks to someone,’ said Ed, throwing a cold glance towards Kerry. ‘Can’t you tie it back or something?’
‘Oh, I think it looks nice,’ said Bex, she flicked at her own long black-and-blue locks, a silent reminder that Erin wasn’t the only one with untamed hair.
‘Thanks, Bex,’ replied Erin. ‘Ed’s not a fan of the natural look, are you Ed?’
‘It’s not that. I prefer it straightened, that’s all.’
Kerry couldn’t resist joining in. ‘I’m all for the natural look myself.’ He offered a beer to Ed. ‘Don’t like anything contrived.’ Kerry was sure he heard Ed mutter something like ‘clearly’ under his breath, but he let it go. It was worth the smile Erin sent his way. ‘I’m Kerry, by the way, and this is my cousin, Joe. And you’ve met the lovely Bex already.’
Ed offered a tight smile. ‘I’m Ed Hamilton. Erin’s boyfriend,’ he said putting an arm around Erin’s shoulders and pulling her into him. Just then, Skip came trotting over and, with perfect timing, jumped up at Ed, his front paws resting on the cream-coloured chinos. Ed stepped back, brushing the little dog away with his hand. ‘Get off!’
‘Skip, come here, boy’ said Kerry, with less authority than he normally would.
‘Did you train him to do that?’ said Joe in his cousin’s ear.
‘No, but I think he gets an extra sausage off the barbecue for that,’ said Kerry. He called Skip again, this time with more conviction, and grabbing a sausage from the table, dropped it into the eagerly waiting dog’s mouth. ‘Sorry about that, Ed.’
Ed was brushing at two muddy paw prints on his trouser legs, muttering something derogatory about bloody dogs.
‘Now we’ve all met officially, let’s get down to business. Who’s hungry?’ said Bex, shifting the attention away from the incident. ‘Although I’m not sure what we’ve got left. I think there may be a couple of burgers going.’