‘You never lived here then?’ Lucy asked.
‘Wales, you mean, or here?’
‘Either,’ Lucy said. ‘Both.’
‘We lived in Cardiff until I was six,’ Rob said. ‘But then we moved to Margate. So Wales, yes, but never here.’
‘Why Margate?’ Lucy asked.
Rob shrugged. ‘Why does anyone move anywhere?’
‘But they moved back here and you stayed on?’
Rob nodded, then looked down at his swinging feet.
‘How old were you then?’ Lucy asked.
‘How old was I when?’
‘When they moved back?’
I swallowed with difficulty. She was pushing the boundaries and she knew it.
‘Seventeen,’ Rob said.
‘Wow,’ Lucy said. ‘You were young.’
‘Yeah,’ Rob said. ‘Anyway… What I suggest is that I leave you here to explore all this beautiful countrys—’
‘I want to come,’ Lucy said, interrupting him.
‘Well you can’t.’
‘I want to lay eyes on my grandparents,’ she said. ‘At least once in my life. Surely that’s not too much to ask, is it?’
‘I’m going over there, getting the box, and then I’m leaving. In and out, that’s it.’
‘Come on, Rob, Lucy’s got a point,’ I said. I was thinking how this too – an actual desire on Lucy’s part to do something that had nothing to do with drugs – was new. ‘I’d quite like to catch a glimpse of them myself.’
‘Please, Dad,’ Lucy said. ‘I never ask you for anything.’
Rob guffawed at that and I joined in with a snort, so Lucy changed her tune. ‘OK, maybe I’ve asked for lots of stuff. But it’s not like I’m asking for drugs here,’ she said pointedly, pressing the most powerful button she had available. ‘Or even money for drugs. I just want to see them. Just so I have a picture in my head.’
‘Come on, Rob,’ I said. ‘Where’s the harm?’
He sighed and looked out across the mudflats to where a fisherman was digging up bait. I knew he was weighing up what was best for him with what might be best for Lucy.
‘OK,’ he said with a shake of the head. ‘Whatever. But I’m warning you, it’s going to be in and out. I’m not staying more than five minutes, and I don’t want either of you hassling me when I decide to leave.’
‘That’s fair, isn’t it, Lucy?’ I said.
‘Sure,’ she said. ‘It’s a deal.’
After lunch on the bay we drove along the coast to Moelfre, where Rob’s parents’ current house was located. He was silent and brooding during the drive.
‘Why did you fall out with them?’ Lucy asked unexpectedly. ‘What did they actually do?’
I was shocked that she’d asked so directly. I felt sure that she understood just as well as I did that both the question and the answer were taboo. But then as we sat there in silence, as we waited to see how he’d respond, I thought,Maybe he’s going to actually tell us. Maybe someone just needed the courage to ask.
