Grace Bush has a problem; she is irrevocably in love with her best friends brother.
I mean who isn’t? Brandon Holder is an up-and-coming Hollywood actor, but to her, he will always be her first and only love.
But Grace is keeping one very big secret, luckily for her though it has become second nature, and she has gotten pretty damn good at it. But it’s messy, heartbreaking and painful, and very much to do with a certain best friends brother.
When tragedy strikes Grace’s past and present collide in a public and messy way, and those very secrets could destroy everything, including her chance at love.
Grace Bush has a problem; she is irrevocably in love with her best friends brother.
I mean who isn’t? Brandon Holder is an up-and-coming Hollywood actor, but to her, he will always be her first and only love.
But Grace is keeping one very big secret, luckily for her though it has become second nature, and she has gotten pretty damn good at it. But it’s messy, heartbreaking and painful, and very much to do with a certain best friends brother.
When tragedy strikes Grace’s past and present collide in a public and messy way, and those very secrets could destroy everything, including her chance at love.
I’m nervous. Why am I nervous?
Okay, I know why I’m nervous: it’s the one time in the year that I see him. Which means it has been exactly 364 days since the last time (not that I have been keeping count or anything, because that would be creepy). But, yup, 364 days since I last saw him, since I walked out on him, leaving him sleeping in his bed.
Brandon Holder.
I feel like I could shit and vomit simultaneously, although that would be gross and somewhat unattractive, and I am totally trying to be attractive.
Actually, that is a lie.
I am trying to be hot, with a “not trying too hard” vibe. So, of course, I have spent the last four hours getting ready. I have shaved, exfoliated, buffed with one of those weird loofah things that I randomly found in the airing cupboard and moisturised every part of my body.
Even my feet.
I turn around and look at the bombsite that is my bed. Half of my wardrobe has been thrown across the surface as I pulled out every outfit that fit into the “looking hot, but not trying” category.
Do you know the really annoying thing about this whole bed shitstorm?
Can you guess what outfit I have decided on?
The first one I pulled out of my wardrobe. But it has taken me 10 changes and five texts to my best friend, Danny, for final confirmation. In the end he told me to sod off and get a move on; otherwise his dad would have aged another year by the time I sorted my life out. Which is probably accurate, and Ted isn’t exactly a spring chicken.
So here I stand in front of my mirror, looking at my reflection. My “looking hot but not trying” attempt, in my opinion, has worked well.
Well done me.
I am wearing skinny white jeans, a brown belt and brown pumps, teamed with a white vest top under a partially open denim shirt (so you can see my cleavage in a subtle “Oh look, my boobs are here, and they are looking seductively at you” kind of way). My make-up is “natural,” which means it has taken me well over an hour to apply. I am wearing a neutral eye shadow colour, which I’ve even blended—yes, blended, just like Danny taught me—and my grey eyes are framed by mascara-coated lashes that look even longer than usual. Danny tells me regularly that people pay to have eyelashes like mine. I have attempted contouring and it hasn’t ended up looking like a paint-by-numbers picture. My caramel hair has been allowed to dry naturally into beach waves.
As well as being my best friend, confidant and brother from another mother, Danny is my style guru. If it were up to me, I’d be wearing PJ bottoms and a baggy hoody everywhere.
But it isn't up to me. It’s up to Danny.
I am his walking, talking, annoying life-size Barbie doll.
My usually disheveled look has been tamed, and I want to give myself a high five. Instead, I reach for the glass of rosé sitting precariously on top of my chest of drawers and take a big gulp.
My phone starts to vibrate.
I can hear it.
I just can’t see it. The noise seems to be coming from the pile of clothes on the bed. I groan.
Typical.
Of course it’s in that shit storm. Pulling at tops and shirts I follow the vibrations, scooping the phone up to see Danny’s name and stupid face flashing brightly on the screen. Smiling, I instantly answer it.
“Seriously, woman! I came out the closet quicker than you have gotten ready, and that took me six years. Can you get your ass over here? Mum is making me help with the appetisers. Doesn’t she know Grace… I can’t fucking cook.”
I laugh and grab my purse off the bed. “I’m coming. I’m coming. Red or white?”
“Jesus, woman, no one is expecting you to bring anything. Just get your cute little tight butt over here, would you?”
“I can’t come empty-handed Danny. It’s Ted’s birthday.”
“And Ted is fine, Baby Girl. He’s showing off his new golf set to my aunt. Who, if I’m completely honest with you, looks like she wants to shove one of the clubs where the sun don’t shine.”
I let out a laugh and head down the stairs through our small semi-detached house.
“I’m literally just leaving. My mum’s there already, right?”
“Yes, dear. Along with half of the neighbourhood. Can you please come and save me? They keep asking me nosy questions, Gracie. I’ve managed to scare them off by talking about my sex life, but I can’t keep going on about anal. People think it’s uncouth.”
I locate a rosé from the wine shelf in the kitchen. It’s covered in dust, and for a split second I wonder whether it’s expensive, but knowing my mother it has sat there untouched for years. I wipe it roughly with a dishcloth then head out the front door.
“So who is there then?” I probe.
“Why don’t you just come out and ask whether he is here? I can’t decide whether I should be hurt that you’re more excited about seeing my brother than me.”
I walk out into the warm sunshine of a June afternoon, the sound of my footsteps crunching on the driveways gravel filling the quiet road.
“Because I see you every day. You’re the bane of my life, remember.”
“Hero of your life, more like it.”
I roll my eyes.
Danny is my oldest friend. It seems like just yesterday his little face first appeared at the window, but 12 years have flown by, leaving a haze of memories, laughter and tears in their wake.
“And in answer to your question, he isn’t here yet. Are you? I’ve aged another year.”
“Yeah, I’m here. Open the door.” I hang up and put my phone in my bag while attempting not to drop the wine. I can see a shadow through the mottled glass walking towards the front door, and Danny’s tall frame soon appears.
“Baby girl, it’s been so long,” he says, grinning, his brilliant blue eyes sparkling with mischief. He leans forward and hugs me, giving me two kisses on each cheek. “Holy shit, look at you—you contoured.”
“Did I do it okay?”
He holds me at arm's length and admires my handiwork. “Not too shabby.” He steps back and holds the door open for me, and I walk straight into my second home. “My girl’s all grown up.”
“Shut up.” I hit his stomach as I walk past to deliver the bottle of wine that I was told not to bring, to the kitchen.
“Sue, where do you want this?” I say, placing my bag on the table and walking to the petite brunette at the sink. She turns around and smiles, her blue eyes twinkling just like Danny’s.
“Gracie, you didn’t need to bring Ted any more booze—he’s already pissed as a fart, and we haven’t even had the appetisers yet!” Sue, my second mother. My heart swells, being surrounded by so many loved ones.
“You’ve made the assumption it’s for Ted, when actually it’s rosé and it’s for us,” Danny says, reading my mind. He takes the bottle out of my hand. “Although it’s a bit warm. Shame on you, Gracie!” He pulls open one of the wooden cupboards and grabs three wine glasses. Sue turns her attention back to the sink full of dishes and switches off the tap.
“Now, let me look at you,” she says, wiping her small hands on a tea towel tucked into her little white apron. “I mean, goodness, Grace, you’re still just down the street, but we never see you anymore. And don’t you look beautiful? Danny, doesn’t she look beautiful?” she asks over her shoulder. “It really is a shame you’re gay—you’re perfect for each other.”
He snorts and hands me a glass of wine. “Yeah, like chalk and cheese, Mum.” He passes his mother one. “A toast,” Danny announces. “Here’s to not doing anything stupid tonight,” he says, directing his glass to me.
Sue frowns and looks up at her son. He’s got his arm wrapped around her. Both boys got their father’s height, and Sue fits snuggly under his armpit. “What a strange toast. Mind you, saying that we should probably think about repeating it for your father in another hour,” she says, giggling at her own joke. She takes a long draft of wine. “Oh, that’s good. I’ve been so busy in here I think this is the first thing I’ve drunk that’s alcoholic.”
“Well, we can’t have that. Give the woman some more,” I say, grabbing the bottle and topping up her glass, sloshing some over the edge.
“Gracie, stop it,” she says, laughing. “Now, I need you to help me again Danny. Where did you get to with those salmon parcels?”
Danny turns around and looks at the workstation he is supposed to be manning, an expression of sheer terror on his face. The salmon is all piled up in the packet, the cream cheese has a knife sticking haphazardly out of it, and the dill is scattered all over the place. It looks like a massacre.
The poor dill. What has it done to him?
“Sorry, what’s that Dad? I can’t hear you. Coming!” he shouts and makes a speedy exit into the dining room.
Sue tuts. “Brandon does the same thing. You’d think as they got older they would help me out at these events, but nope they are both as useful as a chocolate teapot.”
I place my wine glass on the cream countertop. “It’s probably better this way Sue. He managed to burn a pizza last week. A pizza. After having put it in the grill for thirty minutes.”
“Thank goodness for you Gracie. You get on with the salmon and then we can go and join the festivities.”
I nod and then turn to the disaster that was Danny’s appetisers.
He really is shit in the kitchen.
“So how are you Grace? Danny tells me you recently got a promotion?”
I smile. Of course Danny has told Sue. He tells Sue everything as soon as he learns it, except of course that he’s gay. That took him a few years to tell her. But when he finally did, she said, and I kid you not, “It’s about bloody time. I’ve been waiting 10 years for you to realise that and now your father owes me a cruise.”
They had bet on it.
A bet on whether he was gay or not. I had been there, so had Ted.
Danny had made this huge thing about how he needed to talk to them, and his mother's reaction was that she already knew, and Ted groaned at the knowledge that he would have to take his wife on a cruise. This is the family of my best friend and my second family. I have spent half of my life here with them.
“Yeah, I need to make sure I keep making a good first impression. It’s only a matter of time before my unprofessionalism shines through and they realise they made a mistake, and that I secretly have no clue what I’m doing, and I’m making it all up as I go along.”
“Oh, nonsense,” she says, taking off her apron, smiling. “Your mum looks well. Is she still spending time in America each year? I haven’t manged to catch up with her properly yet.”
I pick up a piece of the scrunched-up salmon and unravel it. I walk across the kitchen and search for a glass bowl among all the plastic in one of the cupboards, and I smile to myself.
Tupperware. I wonder at what age you start the collection.
“Yes, she wants to move there if I’m honest. I think she’s counting down the days for me to bugger off and move out.”
I’m not sure how I would feel about that. My childhood home being put up for sale. I know that my mum needs to move on, downsize, and she wants to be closer to her family in America. That house holds some dark memories for her. For me too, but it’s also the thing that ties me to the Holders.
“It’s understandable dear,” Sue says, catching my eye. I turn back to the dill, pushing down the memories as I start chopping.
Let’s not kill the party buzz with bringing all that up. Sue knew, of course. I had been on her doorstep enough times in tears for her to understand my past. “So anyway, how’s Brandon?” I say, trying to change the subject.
“Why don’t you ask Brandon yourself?”
My whole body freezes, muscles tightening in response to that voice, and I almost slice my bloody finger off.
Wow, the author managed to cram everything but the kitchen sink into this one. There was so much happening in this book and it was a roller coaster from the first page to the last. Very enjoyable, a couple good steamy scenes and a whole lot of drama.
Grace has been in love with her best friend Danny’s older brother Brandon since she was a girl. But now Brandon is a huge Hollywood star and Grace definitely stand a chance. She’s the girl next door from his childhood pitted against stunning actresses.
When Brandon and Grace reconnect a year after a fling that ends in heartbreak, Grace can’t reveal her secret now. But secrets have a way of coming out, especially when Brandon’s brother and Grace’s best friend, Danny, dies tragically. And Danny was harboring a secret of his own.
I liked Brandon as a leading man. Grace sometimes annoyed me with her choices. If I was in Brandon’s shoes I would have been equally upset too finding out what Grace had lied about. Grace didn’t ultimately seem to apologetic to me for what she had done. And Danny was equally complicit in it too, especially with lying to his own brother about something so critical. Although the ending wraps up nicely, I’d love to see a sequel and see where their story goes after this, especially with their love story coming full circle and ending off under similar circumstances as to which it began. Oh, baby!
An enjoyable read. Short and sweet, easy enough to get through in a day. I would call this a light beach romance despite some of the heavy themes. My only complaint was that there just wasn’t enough steam. We got a little taste in a few scenes that definitely left me wanting more! Overall, a good romance.