So, Bruno and Zoe stopped going as far afield, and hired campervans instead, cramming items familiar to Louie inside them before travelling the British Isles. Bruno didn’t care where they went as long as he was surrounded by his family. But sometimes, as the campervan drove itself from destination to destination, he’d catch sight of Zoe staring wistfully from the window at the passing countryside. He feared she hadn’t found the happiness he had.
Later, she earned a promotion at work that saw her earnings far outweighing his, so he quit his career to be a full-time dad while she worked longer hours away from home. It bothered Bruno at the time that her absence didn’t seem to trouble her. But he chose not to bring it up. Now he wondered how many other cracks in their marriage he’d papered over.
Bruno mopped up the remains of his breakfast with a slice of thick white bread and pushed his knife and fork to one side of the plate. As a waitress refilled his mug with tea, he withdrew a second phone from his pocket, an unregistered one he’d purchased that morning. He double-checked that he’d disabled locations, cookies, emails and texts before using the cafe’s Wi-Fi to find the only website he planned to visit.
He allowed an Echo, a woman with a South African accent, to walk him through his implanted data on how to bypass password encryption. Once inside the website, he accessed the interior security cameras. One by one, he made use of them all to search each room until he finally tracked down who he was looking for.
Louie was sitting at a kitchen table in his residential care unit, mixing a bowl of ingredients. Just a glimpse of hisson after six months of separation created an ache inside that pushed against his heart. Louie appeared perfectly content as a staff member helped him to pour the contents onto a baking tray. And without being told what to do, Louie levelled it with a wooden spoon and placed it inside an oven.
It was a bittersweet moment. Bruno wanted to be the one teaching his son new skills, not a stranger. Louie was growing up without him.
‘They’re doing better with him in a few months than you did in twelve years, aren’t they?’ a second Echo sneered. ‘You weren’t enough for your wife and now it appears you weren’t enough for your son either.’
‘Go away,’ Bruno muttered, the elation at seeing Louie diminishing with the Echo’s cruel tongue.
‘Have you ever seen him looking so content?’ it continued. ‘If you didn’t know better, you’d think he was normal.’
Bruno clenched his fists and concentrated hard, trying to take back control of whoever was wrestling reality away from him.
‘I wonder what Louie would be like now if you’d given him up years ago? At least Zoe didn’t fool herself into thinking she was any good for him.’ The Echo gave a throaty laugh. ‘Yep, you failed her and you failed that retard.’
Bruno rose to his feet and slammed his hands on the table so hard, his cutlery and plate jumped. ‘Just fuck off and leave me alone!’ he yelled. ‘All of you, just fuck off!’
A speedy hush came over the rest of the cafe’s patrons as all eyes rested upon him. And as he hurried out, he couldn’t be sure if he was imagining them too or if they were real.
Chapter 31
FLICK, ALDEBURGH, SUFFOLK
‘But I know nothing about art!’ insisted Flick.
‘Hold still,’ Grace replied, ‘and keep your eyes closed.’ She took a brush from her make-up bag and began to dust Flick’s eyelids with a dark, smoky colour.
‘You don’thaveto know anything about art to enjoy it. It’s not like they’re going to quiz us at the end of the night, is it?’
‘I don’t even know what to wear?’
‘I’ve already laid out on my bed some of my outfits and a few pairs of shoes for you to choose from. Okay, now you can look. What do you think?’
Flick barely recognised the woman in the reflection of Grace’s mum’s dressing-table mirror. Aside from lipstick and a little foundation, it had been an age since Flick had made an effort with her appearance. ‘I scrub up okay, don’t I?’
Some time had passed since Flick had enjoyed a close friendship with a member of the same sex. Most of her friends had been in catering and the majority were male. But with Grace, she was able to be a girl’s girl again. They made their way to Grace’s bedroom where she chose a white-and-yellow summery floral dress and a pair of casual shoes with a kitten heel.
‘How can you travel so light?’ Grace asked, commenting on Flick’s near-empty wardrobe. ‘I need a team of Sherpas to get me from A to B.’
‘I don’t like baggage.’
‘Emotional or physical?’
Flick didn’t reply.
‘Both then,’ Grace said for her. ‘I know that you talk very little about the past but …’
‘I prefer to keep looking forward.’
‘Okay, I can take a hint.’
Flick appreciated her concern, and was tempted to make light of her offer, but held back because it was coming from a heartfelt place.
