‘Thanks, love.’ She smiled proudly.
His mum set the tea and cake down on a coffee table and sat opposite him. Her gaze seemed to linger on him for a minute,and Declan wondered whether she had spotted the bruising on his face.
‘Are you sure you can’t join us later for a carvery?’ she asked Declan as he sipped his tea. ‘You look as though you have lost a bit of weight. Are you eating properly?’
‘Of course, Mum. I had a huge meal last night,’ he told her, thinking of the takeaway he had ordered. ‘I go running to keep the pounds at bay.’ He laughed, patting his stomach.
They chatted about this and that, and his mum asked him, as she often did, whether he had a girlfriend.
‘Not at the moment, but there is someone living in the apartment block.’ He told her all about Jess and how they had met up at a dinner party.
‘She sounds nice.’ His mum smiled. ‘And a dinner party, hey, sounds lovely. Maybe you could ask her around here. I could make my shepherd’s pie.’ She winked.
‘Now that does sound good. But I haven’t actually asked her out yet,’ he told his mum.
He idly wondered whether Jess would agree to a proper date with him, rather than just going for a coffee, as he took a bite of cake. It really was quite good. He also wondered if there was any point, if they were soon to be going their separate ways.
‘Well, I hope things go well,’ his mum told him. ‘I would like to see you settled before I depart this world,’ she said, glancing upwards.
‘I know you would, although hopefully you will be around for many years yet, Mum,’ he said. ‘I would quite like to settle down myself, but the opportunity hasn’t really presented itself.’ He shrugged, although truthfully he had not really been looking.
A couple of hours later, Declan stood to leave as Norman tapped on the back door.
‘Hello there, young Declan.’ Norman shook Declan’s hand with the grip of a much younger man. ‘How are things?’
‘Can’t complain. How’s yourself, Norman?’
‘Good, good. I can’t complain either. I’m still here, waking up every day. We have to count our blessings, don’t we?’ Norman, a bear of a man, grinned broadly. ‘Fancy joining us at the pub?’ he asked amiably.
‘No, thanks, Mum has already asked. Another time, though?’ suggested Declan.
‘Whenever you like,’ Norman said, shaking his hand once more.
Declan kissed his mum on the cheek goodbye.
‘Tell me how it goes with Jess,’ she said as he stepped outside, where the sun had suddenly put in an appearance. He thought he saw her gazing at the cut above his eye, although she never said anything.
‘Will do, Mum. Speak soon.’
He felt good when he left and watched his mum and Norman wave until his car disappeared around the corner. His mum seemed to be doing okay these days, but even so he resolved to not leave it so long next time.Life is precious. None of us know how long we have got. Carpe diem, he thought to himself as he headed out of the estate, wishing he could close his eyes tightly when he drove past that damn park.
TWENTY-THREE
MARK
The following morning Mark made himself a coffee and took it outside to the newly refurbished garden. As he admired the surroundings, Alice’s words went round and round in his head and although he always felt better after spending time with Alice, her words weighed heavy on his mind. ‘Call your sister.’
As he stood watching a sparrow on the fence, he knew Alice was right. After Diane’s death, he realised how life could change at any moment. The sale of the apartments was another stark reminder of that. Perhaps he ought to seize the moment a little more. Besides, what kind of an older brother didn’t check up on his sister just because she was a big part of his mother’s life? How hard could it be to pick up the phone? But what would he say to her after all this time?
He tried to justify it slightly by reasoning that she had his number too and could have called him. Especially knowing he had lost Diane. She had been kind in the months following Diane’s death, though, there was no doubt about that. Maybe they had simply grown apart, or she was happy to have no contact, taking the easier road of keeping their mother happy. Who knew? One thing was for sure, he would never get those answers without speaking to her.
He had really enjoyed himself yesterday. Alice was such good company and although he hadn’t known her long, he felt completely at ease in her company. Life was strange, he pondered as he listened to the soothing sound of the water feature. He would have loved a mum like Alice, who was unable to have children, and yet was the son of a mother who might have preferred it if he had never been born.
Alice had divulged the information about not being able to have children without any emotion the evening he had stayed after the dinner party, and they were playing cards. He remembered thinking at the time that there was no justice in the world. She had told him all about George too, who sounded like a great guy. She had empathised when he told her how much he missed his wife and had asked him all about her.
He had been blessed to meet a loving woman in Diane, who had showered him with affection, which he had hardly known what to do with when they first met. But over time, he had opened up, and her love had poured through him like a river until he became a loving husband in return.
He took a deep breath and resolved to contact his sister. But right now there were more pressing matters at hand. Someone from the marina had called to inform him of an act of vandalism where some of the boats, including his, had been daubed with paint. He downed his coffee before heading down there to find out what the hell had happened.
