My eyes widen. ‘That quick?’
She looks slightly guilty. ‘He’s only next door.’
Charlie’s searching my eyes for an answer. ‘If you do it now it would be done, you wouldn’t have to worry.’
And somehow, in spite of my split seam, I’m nodding. Furiously.
* * * *
‘No time for doubts.’ I’m yelling at Charlie into the breeze, and Jenny’s tussling Diesel’s stick.
Charlie’s yelling back. ‘That’s good then.’ Watching the lines of concern on his face, I’m wanting to hug him for caring so much as well as for making this happen.
It’s only yards to the sand and there’s no time to change into my Converse. We get there first, and I’m kicking off my boots, dipping to pick them up when I see a figure hurrying through the dune grass, hands in the pockets of his jeans, the wind tearing at his shirt. There’s no need to hyperventilate, it’s no big deal, I’m talking myself through this, telling myself all I’m doing is meeting Joe’s dad here. Even so my heart is battering against my ribs and despite the chill there’s sweat coursing down my cleavage. Despite the sand, this meeting is nothing like I’ve imagined all the times I have. But that doesn’t matter, because this time it’s real.
‘Clemmie?’ His hair is salt and pepper grey, and his broad face is weathered and a generation older than on the picture with my mum. And from his expression as we dip in for air kisses and he pats my back briefly he’s feeling as stiff and as shy as I am.
I’m brushing back my own hair and hanging onto the hem of my dress with my spare hand. ‘Lovely to meet you, Rob.’ It sounds way too formal. Another stranger with my eyes and ear lobes. Then I can’t help blurting: ‘Hey, you’ve got that same little finger as Joe and me that sticks out.’ The Billabong T-shirt I glimpse puts me at ease because it could belong to any of the million surfers around the coast. When I take in the same broad shoulders as Joe, it’s no mystery why I’m built. I’m already panicking I’ve run out of things to say.
Then he comes in closer. ‘I’m truly sorry I’m so late to the party.’
‘It’s not a problem. I’m just pleased we’re both here now.’ It’s my turn to shrug, because we’re both caught in the cliché rut.
There are crinkles at the corners of his eyes. ‘You’re just as pretty as your photos but in real life you sparkle more.’ As he lets out a sigh his eyes are shining. ‘I can’t tell you how wonderful it is to see you at last.’
Sparkle I can live with. When he comes in for another hug, a longer one this time, I find myself hugging him back. ‘I’m sorry too, I had no idea you were waiting. Or even wanting to see me. It’s only come up since I came back to Laura’s place.’
When he finally lets go of me a long time later he’s smiling. ‘Laura particularly wanted you to have the flat because she knew how much you’d enjoy it. After all, it was a bigger part of your history than it was for any of my lads. She knew as soon as you got back to the flat you’d start to ask the questions you never got around to when you were younger. I’ve been holding my breath these last few weeks since you got there.’
‘Really?’ It’s so strange to think of it and feel it from his side.
His smile is warm now. ‘I hear you’re as talented as Laura in the kitchen.’ From the way he glances across to Jenny and Charlie, they’ve been filling him in. ‘Laura was so good at baking, although she never bothered too much with savouries. She’d be so happy to know you’re getting so much out of the flat.’
I’m pursing my lips, swallowing back my tears. There’s a dull ache in my chest. ‘I’m so sad not to have spent more time with her. I can see she gave me so much when I was small, and the last few weeks it’s been amazing getting to know her again.’
He nods. ‘Laura was lovely. But most of all she’d be ecstatic to know her plan to bring us together has finally come off.’ He laughs. ‘For me it was a bit like Sliding Doors.’
I can see exactly what he means by that. ‘There were two lives and we ended up in different ones?’
He pulls a face. ‘It took me the best part of twenty years to find out there were two, and I waited another ten to cross the gap. I appreciate why your mum wanted to keep them separate, it was a lot simpler that way. But I’m very happy we’ve collided at last.’
I’m clinging onto my hair in the wind. ‘Me too.’ That’s a good way of putting it.
Jenny’s beaming at us. ‘If you’d like to drink to that with tea back at the house, I’ve made some of Laura’s special toffee crispie.’
‘You have?’ Rob and I both turn together.
I’m thinking of the recipe cards. ‘With the marshmallows in?’ Another of my childhood favourites.
Jenny nods. ‘That’s the one. It must be fifty years since she gave me that recipe, it seemed like the right choice for today.’
Rob’s smiling. ‘I always licked out the saucepan for that.’
‘Me too.’ My mouth is watering as I recall the taste. There was nothing quite like that sticky sweetness. Colliding is a good way to put it. Even though he’s a stranger, we’ve got Laura in common and now I’m feeling less tongue-tied there’s so much to talk about. Like all Laura’s recipes. It’ll be a dead cert he likes lemon meringue pie too.
Charlie’s eyes are lighting up at the thought of toffee crispie. ‘And then after we’ve had a drink, maybe we could go out for a pub lunch?’
We’re all nodding at him madly, relieved that Charlie’s got this.
