‘Just what was on her staff record from the hospital,’ Finn said. ‘Her parents were both dead by the time the war began, even though she was quite young to have lost her mother and father.’
‘Poor Elsie. Did she have any other family?’
‘A brother. But he was killed during the evacuation of Dunkirk.’
His casual words jabbed my heart. ‘Oh gosh,’ I muttered, taking a large mouthful of gin and swallowing it quickly, feeling the icy cold liquid swill down my throat. ‘Goodness. That must be why she was keen to collect people’s messages. Maybe she was thinking about the last thing she said to her brother?’
Finn nodded. ‘She might have had things that she had always wanted to tell him and didn’t get a chance.’
I swirled my finger in a pool of water left by my cold glass on the table. ‘That’s really sad.’
Finn was looking at me oddly. ‘Are you okay?’
I forced my gaze upwards and met his eyes, which were furrowed in concern.
‘My relationship with my brother is tricky,’ I said carefully. Then I sighed. ‘He’s in prison.’
Finn raised an eyebrow. ‘Okay.’
‘It was really messy, and it’s complicated to explain, but we had a huge argument and I said some horrible stuff. And then, for a little while, I thought he’d died. And then he went to jail and I felt a bit responsible.’ I swallowed. ‘I sort of know how Elsie felt.’
‘That’s a lot to deal with.’ Finn put his hand on mine and squeezed my fingers gently and quickly, then let go again. ‘I’m sorry to hear that.’
‘I know how important this is,’ I said, trying not to think about how cold my hand felt now he wasn’t touching me anymore. ‘I’ll do the grant application when I get home later. Strike while the ideas are hot.’
‘I always think it’s best just to do these things,’ Finn agreed. ‘Don’t overthink them. Write it down like you’ve told me all your ideas. Just let them all flow.’
‘Flow?’ I said. ‘Okay.’
‘Good for you.’
We looked at each other for a moment, and it was almost like the rest of The Vine vanished, until the doors opened, bringing in a burst of cold air and the five-a-side football teams who always came for nachos and beer after training.
‘God, I forgot that it’s Thursday,’ I said. ‘I need to go and help Tara.’
Finn drained his pint. ‘I have to head off anyway. But keep me posted on how you get on with the application, won’t you?’
‘Of course,’ I said.
I slid back out of the booth in a slightly ungainly fashion and went to help Tara pull ten pints of lager.
‘He’s cute,’ she said to me. ‘Really cute. And he likes you.’
‘Do you think?’ I glanced over to the door, where Finn was just leaving. He saw me looking and raised his hand in farewell.
‘Hell, yes.’ Tara nodded vigorously. ‘He’s all shy and blushing when you talk to him like a young Hugh Grant.’
I scoffed, putting another pint on to the bar for the thirstyfootballers and picking up a clean glass. But I was secretly quite pleased. Because I liked Finn too.
*
When I got up the next morning, Micah was in my kitchen eating my cereal.
‘Why are you here?’ I said, looking bleary-eyed at the clock on the wall. ‘It’s school time.’
‘I’m going to an appointment.’ He held his spoon up to his face and studied the Cheerios floating there. ‘About my worries and stuff.’
‘Oh well done.’ I was pleased he was getting help.
