‘Don’t have that attitude,’ he’d told her. ‘You can do anything you want, Mum.’
She smiled. ‘Thank you, love.’
‘What for?’ he asked, genuinely not knowing.
‘For saying that. For believing in me.’
He’d shrugged and sipped his beer from the bottle, amazed that she hadn’t even known that – that he’d always believed in her. There was never any doubt about that.
*
She bobs like a seal, just her head visible in the glittering sea. Only it’s not a seal. It’s his crazy mother who tore off her clothes down to her black swimsuit and plungedright in. ‘This is brilliant!’ she yells. ‘Honestly, Charlie. It’s amazing!’
‘I believe you,’ he calls back, grateful that she isn’t nagging him to join her. She’d tried to coax him gently a few times when he was younger, after Mexico. But he’d literally start shaking the instant a wave lapped at his toes. He couldn’t bear the feel of it against his skin. So she’d let it go and, even though he was a good swimmer once, he’s never been in the sea again.
She’s out of the water now, simultaneously pink and blue with cold and pulling a huge towel around herself. ‘Kim was right!’ she announces with a smile. ‘I always wondered what she was going on about. But it’s an incredible feeling—’
‘C’mon, Mum, let’s get you warm and dry,’ Charlie says, as if he’s the parent. They hurry along the narrow path that leads steeply to the cottage. While she’s showering – thankfully there’s plenty of hot water – he lights the wood burner and fixes lunch.
They fall into this pattern, with him disappearing off to the cabin to study for the early part of the evening and then joining her in the cottage later. The days are spinning too fast, Charlie realises. He loves it here.
Then, miraculously, on their last night the sky clears and he calls her upstairs to the glass-walled room to look through the telescope. ‘Oh, Charlie. This amazing,’ she announces. ‘I’ve never seen anything like this. The stars are incredible …’
‘It is pretty special.’ He is glowing with pride as if he’d put them there.
‘I thought we had clear skies back at home. But it’s nothing like this, is it?’
He shakes his head. ‘This is one of the best places in Britain for stargazing,’ he tells her.
‘Really? Where else is good?’
‘The very best place is meant to be a little island off Scotland,’ he replies.
‘Well, I’m sorry I didn’t take us there,’ she says, laughing.
‘Mum, this is great.’ He smiles. ‘Thanks. I mean, I’m sorry James didn’t come but—’ He breaks off, not wanting to upset her by going into it now. They’ve hardly mentioned him while they’ve been here, and he assumes it’s over.
‘It’s fine, Charlie,’ his mum says as they head downstairs to sit by the fire. The walls are rough whitewashed stone, the floor stone-flagged and scattered with bright stripy rugs. There’s a shelf crammed with books, and several lamps glow invitingly. Solar panels, bottled gas and the wood-burning stove ensure that they have everything they need.
‘Isn’t it amazing to live so simply?’ Charlie remarks.
His mum nods. ‘It actually reminds me a little bit of Gran and Granddad’s place, you know? It just has the essentials and it’s all the cosier for that.’
‘Yeah, it is a bit like theirs.’ There’s a lull then. As the fire crackles he can sense her building up to asking him something.
Here it comes. ‘Charlie,’ she starts, ‘why were you so fed up in Corsica last summer?’
‘Oh, I dunno,’ he mutters.
‘Was it because Remy didn’t come with us?’
‘No, it wasn’t that,’ he says quickly. ‘I …’ He pauses because he’s not quite sure how to explain it. ‘I just … needed a bit of space, Mum.’ He shakes his head. ‘I’m sorry.’
‘You don’t need to be sorry,’ she says. ‘You’ve nothing to apologise for. D’you remember I was trying to actuallyput sunscreen on you, as if you were a little kid? I’m the one who should be sorry …’
‘Yeah, maybe.’ He laughs awkwardly. ‘The thing is, Mum, I was trying to work things out.’
He can sense her trying to figure out what he might mean. She does her best not to pry but she can’t help herself from trying to read the inside of his head. It drives him mad sometimes.
