I’m enjoying myself, he thought.I actually wouldn’t want to be anywhere else but right here, right now.
29
ROSIE
The rain had broken the hot spell yesterday, but the heat was rising again. ‘Right, Isabelle and Killian, we’re going for a swim now,’ said Rosie in the office. ‘The Forty Foot okay with you?’
‘YAAAAYYYYYY!’ They began charging around, arms held out behind them, as though mini superheroes on a mission.
‘SWIM-MING! SWIM-MING! SWIM-MING!’ chanted Killian, now like a football hooligan. He was doing a little robot dance, whereas Isabelle was doing a cartwheel and knocked into Grace’s fan, which fell over, making Isabelle guiltily jump up and put everything right.
‘Now, you’ve got everything with you?’ asked Rosie.
They nodded. ‘We like to stay by the steps and we wear our armbands,’ said Isabelle. ‘But I have my tadpole badge now and Killian has his newt.’
‘I don’t even know what a newt is,’ said Killian. ‘But apparently I am one.’
Rosie smiled at him. ‘After the swim, we’ll come back to help do the picnic. You two can help me lay out the blankets and pass around the sandwiches. Now go and bring in your swim stuff and we can get going.’
The twins ran out to Nessa’s car, where she’d left their little rucksacks.
Rosie turned to her sister. ‘Where’s Laurence? He was up late last night.’
‘I told you! He’s having a midlife wobble. I mean, he’s never been the most serious or most mature of people… but I liked that about him. He’s fun. But I never thought I’d say this, but I think he might be too much fun. He’s tipped over from fun to frantic. I feel like I need to lasso him, or to put him under house arrest. Or one of those tags prisoners wear that would beep if he came near the hotel.’ She sighed. ‘I just want the old Laurence back. The normal fun one, not this insatiable fun-monster. I feel like I have to wait until his batteries run out.’
‘Where is he now?’
‘Still in bed.’ Nessa rolled her eyes. ‘I’m thinking of getting an absolutely massive bucket of iced water and chucking it all over him. Where’s that ice machine you have?’
‘In the garage.’
‘Right.’ Nessa looked determined, just as the twins came back in, the rucksacks on their backs. ‘Kids, stay here with Rosie. And I’ll see you later.’
‘Are you still annoyed with Daddy?’ asked Isabelle.
‘Will you come back divorced?’ asked Killian. ‘Toby’s parents are divorced and he says he much prefers it. His dad is so cool and lets him stay up really late and they eat pizza and play Mortal Kombat until Toby falls asleep. They go to McDonald’s for breakfast and his dad told him not to tell his mum. His dad drinks beer and every time Toby fetches him one, he’s allowed a can of Coke. And he’s had so many he said he’s gone off them now. He’s so lucky. Imagine having so much Coke you’d go off them?’
Isabelle had a dreamy look in her eye. ‘So lucky,’ she repeated. ‘If you get divorced, we will have two houses,’ she said.
‘And two Christmases,’ said Killian. ‘And I’d never have to play golf again.’
‘He’s rubbish at golf,’ explained Isabelle.
‘No handy co-operation,’ agreed Killian.
‘No one is getting divorced,’ said Nessa, through gritted teeth. She looked at Rosie. ‘Yet,’ she said, quietly. ‘But I will come back feeling a little less angry with your father. He is going to regret being so useless once and for all.’ She stalked out, a woman on a mission.
Grace, who’d been quiet throughout this entire exchange, looked up. ‘You don’t think she’s really going to throw a bucket of iced water over him, is she?’
‘She’s done it before,’ said Isabelle.
‘On Christmas Eve,’ said Killian. ‘Daddy was working at the golf club every night in December. And if he says working, what he means is socialising.’ He paused. ‘What is socialising, anyway?’
‘It means talking to people,’ said Rosie.
‘It means drinking,’ said Isabelle.
‘Come on.’ Grace stood up. ‘You two can help me pack up the boxes for today’s picnic. First I have to go to the kitchen and check that François has everything ready.’ She paused. ‘The poor man is working his derrière off with all he cooking and preparations. He needs me to soothe his brow and… I don’t know…’ She glanced at the children. ‘Give him a foot massage?’
