And Frank. Frank is not where he’s supposed to be either. I go out to look for him, expecting to see him walking down the street towards me. He’s sulking, I reason. He’s staying late at the garage to pay me back.
I walk, miserably, to the end of the street, tempted to keep walking and walking, right along the seafront until Sandybanks peters out. I could do that. I could just keep walking. There’s a mile or so of countryside and then the next town, posher than ours, where the chip shop does scallops and lobster, and people flock to it from miles around.
However, at the end our street I stop as a battered old Land Rover turns into our road. I blink at it. A young woman waves from the passenger window, and I turn and watch as it slows down, and then stops, outside our house.
I hurry back towards it as Lyla, and then her uncle Oliver climb out. ‘Hi!’ she says brightly. She is roundly,splendidlypregnant. The sight of her causes my eyes to well up instantly.
‘Lyla, hi! Oliver! Nice to see you!’ So it’s real. Of course I knew it; but now her bump is high and round beneath a lightweight sweater.
‘You too,’ Oliver says with a wide smile. ‘This is really lovely.’ He looks up and down the street. ‘What a view you have.’
‘I know, we’re ever so lucky,’ I gush. ‘Anyway, do come in!’
As I lead them into the house, I’m aware of seeing the place through newcomers’ eyes. The scuffs on the walls, the worn stair carpet, the dated lamps. What must they think? ‘Eddie?’ I call out. ‘Lyla and her uncle Oliver are here!’
He emerges from the kitchen and smiles unsteadily. ‘Hi, hi …’
Then Dad appears, making his way downstairs. ‘Hello?’ He looks quizzical.
‘This is Kenny, my dad,’ I start. ‘Dad, this is Lyla, Eddie’s, um … and this is her uncle Oliver. We met that time I went up to Suki’s place in Perthshire—’
‘Oh yes, when I ended up in hospital,’ he announces.
Oliver seems to flinch. ‘So sorry about that. I hope you’ve recovered?’
‘Never been better,’ Dad says firmly.
A pause hovers. ‘So, Eddie, d’you want to show Lyla your room?’ I suggest. ‘I assume you’re staying, Lyla?’
‘Just tonight, yes. If that’s okay?’ She smiles brightly.
‘Of course it is,’ I say.
‘Great.’ She fishes into the pocket of her loose, silkytrousers and hands Eddie his phone. ‘It was down the side of the sofa. Sorry I didn’t get it to you before now …’
‘Thank you so, so much,’ he exclaims, like a man being thrown a lifebelt in stormy seas. He takes it from her and presses it to his heart. Then up they go upstairs together, and Dad, Oliver and I settle in the living room, where no one wants a drink of any kind, and Dad is literally twitching, wanting to put the TV on.
‘Have you lived here long?’ Oliver leans forward, hands pressed together, and glances out at the view.
‘Erm, yes. Twenty-two years,’ I reply.
‘Wow. A long time.’ He nods.
‘It is. We thought it’d be a good place to raise a family.’
‘Yeah, I can imagine. It really isgreat.’ I can sense a hormonal flush coming over me as the conversation limps on.
‘So, you live close by?’ Oliver asks my dad. No, he lives here! He rules this house!
‘Few miles up the coast,’ Dad replies. He doesn’t ask Oliver anything about his life, and seems to be observing him archly as I turn to grilling him about his latest beaver reintroduction project which, as it turns out, is why he’s in the area.
‘Just doing an exploratory visit,’ Oliver explains. ‘And Lyla wanted to see Eddie, so …’ He tails off and smiles. ‘I’d better get going. Nice to meet you, Kenny …’
‘So, it’s all right to bring beavers to an area so they destroy the forestry and remodel the waterways, is it?’ Dad blasts out.
‘Dad!’ I exclaim in shock, but he only shrugs, self-satisfyingly.
Now standing, Oliver takes a beat to reply. ‘It is a controversial issue,’ he concedes, levelly. ‘We always do a really thorough survey, though. And of course everyone has to be in agreement that it’s the best thing for the location. Because you’re right, they do change things dramatically. They’re little engineers really, as I’m sure you know—’
