‘Good to keep a clear head,’ he said, smiling. ‘I’ll have the same. Well, maybe not the diet version but a Coke sounds good. Won’t be a minute.’
He wandered over to the bar where Seb’s lad Sam had evidently replaced Briar, and was perched on a stool, reading the local newspaper.
‘All right, Sam? Can I order, please?’
Sam glanced up and smiled, shifting off the stool immediately. ‘All right, Mac. Ah, Briar said you were on a date. I see she’s arrived.’ He nodded knowingly to where Alison was sitting, gazing out of the window into the darkness.
‘Just two old schoolfriends catching up,’ Mac said. He hesitated. ‘Your dad could join us, if he likes. He was in our class, too.’
Sam’s face clouded over. ‘I wish. Even if I asked him he’d say no. He barely shifts out of his room these days except to wander down to Kels Point, and he hasn’t done much of that over the winter, what with the rain and that. I’m hoping that, come spring, he’ll get a bit of his get-up-and-go back. Mind you, it’s been three years now, so maybe it’s got up and gone.’
‘I’m sorry, lad.’ Mac shook his head. ‘Do you think he’ll ever come back to work? He’s young to have given it all up to do nothing.’Oh, the irony!
‘You’re telling me.’ Sam sighed. ‘I keep hoping but… Ah well. What can I get you, Mac?’
‘A Diet Coke and a regular Coke, please. No ice.’
‘Steady on. I don’t want to have to carry you both home.’ Sam laughed and poured two drinks into glasses. ‘There you go, mate. Do you want to start a tab? Pay before you leave.’
‘Great. Cheers, Sam. Give Seb my best, won’t you? Tell him if he ever wants to come round to Watersmeet for a chat I’m usually in. It would be great to see him again.’
‘Will do. Thanks.’
Mac carried the drinks carefully back to the table and sat down with a sigh.
‘Oh dear. That sigh sounded ominous. What’s up?’ Alison asked, taking her glass from him with a nod of thanks.
Mac glanced towards the bar, but Sam had gone back to his paper. ‘We were just talking about his dad,’ he explained. ‘It’s a crying shame, the way Seb’s hiding away from the world like that since his wife died.’
Alison took a sip of her Coke. ‘I guess everyone reacts differently to grief,’ she said cautiously. ‘But you’re right. It’s been three years, and though I feel for him – God knows, I really do – I think it’s time he stopped wallowing and started living his life again. Donna wouldn’t want this for him.’
‘What was she like?’ Mac asked, having never met Seb’s wife.
‘Donna? She was lovely. Proper landlady material, all jolly and friendly and welcoming. She was the heart of this place.’ She glanced around. ‘It’s not really been the same since she died.’
‘I don’t know how it stays open,’ Mac murmured. ‘I’ve been in here three times now since I got back, and there’s never been more than a handful of people in. How do they keep going?’
Alison laughed. ‘Oh, don’t be fooled! It’s quiet now, but you wait until spring. When the crowds return to Kels Point and the nature lovers and birdwatchers come back and invade the wetlands this place’ll be heaving. Always is.’
‘I remember when I was a kid,’ Mac mused. ‘Mum and Dad used to come here for the shanty night on Saturdays. Me and Stella used to climb on the benches outside and peer through the windows to see what was going on. The windows were open in the summer, and the music used to blare out, so Stella used to sing along with it. She loved it.’ He shook his head, smiling at the memory. ‘Hard to imagine her singing along with sea shanties these days.’
‘Hard to imagine you climbing on benches and looking through the windows,’ Alison said wryly.
‘What do you mean?’
She laughed. ‘Well, you were such a goody-two-shoes! Can’t imagine you doing anything so rebellious. Shouldn’t you have been at a Scout meeting or something?’
He took a long drink from his glass of Coke. ‘Ah. That’s how you saw me, was it?’
‘It’s how you were!’ Alison spluttered. ‘You were always so neat and tidy with that bloody satchel of yours, and you went to Cubs and then Scouts. I mean…’
‘I couldn’t help having a satchel,’ he protested. ‘Mum bought it for me! What was I supposed to do? Throw it in the river?’
‘Yes!’ She burst out laughing when she saw the shock on his face. ‘Sorry, but you were such an easy target at school.’
‘Don’t I know it,’ he said grimly. ‘I’ve still got the bruises.’
Her laughter died. ‘What do you mean? You weren’t ever beaten up or anything, were you?’
