Mr Hughes straightened his tie. ‘Right. Well, I’ve signed the paperwork so I trust this doesn’t alter things.’
‘Don’t worry, I’ll still buy it,’ said Cleo, her tone glum. Her phone rang and she excused herself to answer it.
‘Great,’ said Mr Hughes, perking up. ‘How old’s thebaby?’ he asked, nodding at the blanket bundle Regan was cradling.
‘We’re not sure,’ she said, and Mr Hughes’s eyebrows did something akin to the worm. ‘Probably a couple of weeks old.’ Regan angled the bundle so he could see.
Mr Hughes was so startled by the sight of the wriggling hoglets that he almost sat on the table in his haste to retreat.
‘Hoglets,’ said Regan, trying not be offended by his dramatic reaction to her babies.
‘Oh, I see. Lovely,’ he said, with a twitch of his nose. ‘I need to get going. Bye.’ Regan watched him shake his head all the way to his car.
Cleo ended her phone call and returned to the table, her expression one of bewilderment. ‘That was Oscar,’ she said. ‘He’s been arrested.’
Chapter Thirty-Eight
‘You’re home early,’ said Regan, when Charlie strolled in at five o’clock. ‘You can feed the twins if you like.’
‘Sure,’ he said, and he followed her through to the living room.
‘You won’t believe what happened today …’ started Regan, but then something in his eyes stopped her. ‘What’s wrong?’
‘I’m fine.’ She held him with her stare and he shrugged. ‘Okay, I went for a scan today.’
Her guts plummeted to her feet as she felt the now familiar sensation of her world crumbling. ‘Why? What happened? Do you feel all right?’ Her voice constricted in her throat. The thought he might be getting worse scratched at her eyes.
‘It’s routine. Nothing to worry about.’
‘Has the …’ she pointed to his head.
‘The tumour,’ said Charlie. ‘You can call it by name – it’s not Voldemort.’ He managed a smile.
‘Has the tumour grown?’
‘They don’t tell you anything on scan day. I’ll see my specialist in a week or so and he’ll update me.’
She was struggling to see what had affected his moodso greatly if there wasn’t any news. ‘Then what’s wrong?’
Charlie lifted a hoglet from the crate. He cradled Trevor and his blanket in his arms. ‘They show you a slide show whilst you’re in the scanner. Just a bunch of pretty pictures.’
‘To take your mind off what’s happening?’
‘Exactly. It’s all landscapes and scenery. It’s quite calming.’
‘Like looking at someone’s old holiday photos. Sounds like my granddad after he’s been on a coach trip,’ quipped Regan.
‘Yeah. It is a bit. There was one of the Northern Lights. It was stunningly beautiful.’ His eyes drifted off when he spoke, like he was seeing it again. ‘It’s something I’ve always wanted to see. And I guess I thought that one day I would. And then today, when it popped up, this wave of reality hit me …’
Regan gripped his hand and he returned the squeeze. ‘I’m sorry, Charlie.’
‘It’s okay. It’s the oddest things that bring it home.’ He took a deep breath. ‘I’m wondering if I should have done a bucket list after all.’
Regan pondered this. ‘I think your live-each-day-the-best-you-can plan is better. I know someone who spent a fortune going to see the Northern Lights and when they got there they weren’t on.’
Charlie was laughing. ‘You know they don’t get switched on by a celebrity like Brighton Christmas lights?’
‘Ha, ha. You know what I mean. I think we could all learn from you.’ She didn’t like to admit it, but there were things she regretted. She’d only recently really taken control of her life – she’d wasted a lot of time coasting. ‘There’s a list of things I wish I’d done differently.’
