Zac raised a curious eyebrow. “What do you have to show me? Is it good?”
“Come and see.” Liam opened the bedroom door and pointed to the bed. “Jump on that.”
“Jump on it?”
“Well, flop on it, whatever. There’s something I didn’t tell you about it.”
Zac shot Liam a look that made it clear he thought Liam was off his rocker, but approached the bed anyway. He sat tentatively on the edge and lurched backwards. “What the fuck?”
Liam chuckled. “Water bed. My nephews caught me at a weak moment and convinced me there was no place in this house for normal beds. Conventional mattresses are banned.”
“Bloody hell.” Zac lay back and rolled over, letting the sloshing mattress propel him to the end of the bed. “This is awesome. It’s warm too. Is it heated?”
“Yup, it runs off the solar panels in the roof.”
“The what?”
Liam shook his head. “I’ll give you the lecture on renewable energy tomorrow, if you’re staying?”
“Do you want me to?”
“Yes, but it’s up to you. I can run you home anytime—”
“Fuck that.” Zac bounced on the bed. “I want to stay.”
Hope flared inside him again. Liam tried to switch it off, to contain the grin that threatened to split his face in half, but he failed spectacularly, and Zac’s answering smile was mesmerising.
Liam forced himself to break the spell and moved to the window to close the curtains, to shut the cold, windy late afternoon out of the warmth simmering between them. At some point he’d have to go down and walk the dogs, but for now, his world was all about Zac. He took one last look at the beach path beyond his garden wall, the trees, the sand, the emergency phone box, and the lone figure in the distance, heading towards the sea in nothing but a pair of shorts. What the fuck? Liam stared harder, squinting in the fast fading light. The man was far away, but the set of his shoulders seemed familiar, his gait, and the slight limp. “Jesus fucking Christ!”
“What? What is it?”
Zac shot upright, but Liam hardly heard him as he scrabbled around the room for clothes, yanking on the first jeans he found. He dashed from the room and down the stairs, throwing the front door open and racing out into the night barefoot, the gravel on the driveway biting into his toes.
Heart in his mouth, he sprinted to the beach path, barely aware of Dave hot on his heels, her bark disappearing into the howling wind. His feet hit sand. He cupped his hands around his mouth. “Dad! Dad! Stop!”
Len didn’t look around, set on his wavering path to the sea. Panic surged in Liam’s veins. The North Sea was nippy at the best of times, but with winter approaching it was cold enough to give a man hypothermia in moments, and that was without the deadly tides and rip currents.
Liam yelled for his father again, desperation spilling over as he realised he wasn’t going to reach him in time, but the dogs were faster than Liam, and they overtook him, crashing into Len just a foot from the rolling waves.
Like she’d read Liam’s mind, Dave dodged around Len and jumped up at him, pushing him away from the sea, sending him stumbling into Liam.
“Dad?” Liam steadied Len, gripping his ice-cold shoulders. “What the hell are you doing out here?”
Len smiled, beaming at Liam like he’d just opened the door to him on a Sunday afternoon, his tiny cottage full of the scent of his famous lamb stew. “Hello, son. How are ya, lad?”
“Never mind me. Let’s get you inside.”
Liam grasped Len’s arm and tried to pull him back up the beach. Len resisted, wrenching his arm free. “Not today, son. I’ve got things to do.”
“Dad, you’ve got no bloody clothes on.”
“No clothes on? Wash your mouth out, boy. That’s no way to talk to your father. Go and get dressed and help your mother.”
Liam gazed at his father and the faint light in his soul faded like it had never been there at all. Dear God, they’d known this was coming, but now? Really? Did this shit train never stop?
“Liam?” Liam turned his head. Zac was behind him, holding both dogs on their leads and clutching Liam’s old winter coat. “Put this on him.”
Dazed, Liam took the coat and held it out to Len, who stared at him like he’d grown horns. “Dad, please. Put it on. It’s freezing.”
