‘I … erm … How may I help you, ladies?’ he said, his eyes scanning them a second time, as if he couldn’t quite process what he’d seen on his first try.
His question, Rosie thought, was impressively polite under the circumstances.
‘Are you Mal?’ she asked, through chattering teeth, keen to cut to the chase.
‘I am. Who’s asking?’
‘I’m Rosie Butler, and this is my friend Niamh. I’m here to see Aled, if he’s in?’
Mal’s eyes widened with what Rosie thought must be recognition. She couldn’t decide whether this boded well or not.
Before he could say anything, though, a teenage girl poked her head into the doorway, grinning mischievously as Mal ushered them into the small entrance hall. She looked briefly at Rosie and Niamh, who were huddled together for warmth, then swivelled to face in the other direction.
‘Maaam!’ she shrieked, projecting her voice back inside the house. ‘There’s a girl here to see Al! I think it’s a girl. It could be a sea monster. It seems to have two heads!’
‘He’s playing pool in the shed with Geth, thank god!’ another voice yelled back. ‘First time he’s been out of his room all week, poor love. He’ll not hear you – I’ll go and tell him there’s a kraken here to see him, will I?’
Rosie cringed, then found herself amused by the contrast between Aled and his witty, confident and very loud relations.
‘Don’t mind Tiegan – or Gwyn,’ Mal said. ‘You’d best come right in. You’re drenched.’
‘Thank you,’ Rosie said. ‘But I don’t want to mess up your carpet. We’re soaked to the skin.’ At the mention of Aled’s mother, she’d become acutely aware of the need to make a reasonable first impression – and destroying the floor of her house didn’t feel like the best way to go about it.
‘Come this way,’ Mal said, directing them down the stone-floored hallway into a room where – mercy of mercies – a wood fire was burning.
‘Can I get you anything?’ Mal asked, as Rosie and Niamh fell to their knees in front of the grate, practically sobbing with relief. ‘Towels? Tissues? A stiff drink? And let me take your coats.’
Gratefully, both women peeled the sopping garments away, only to reveal the equally wet clothing that lay beneath. Mal winced in sympathy as Rosie pulled the hem of her jumper away from her stomach and the motion sent a shower of drips splashing onto the hearth.
‘What’s all this about a sea serpent, Mal?’ came Aled’s voice from just beyond the doorway. ‘I hope it isn’t some plot to get me out of the shed so Geth can rearrange the table without me noticing, because I’m having a blinder.’
‘Er – not exactly,’ Mal said as Aled entered the room.
Rosie shot to her feet and pushed her water-logged hair out of her face.
‘I’m the sea monster. It’s me,’ she said, newly amazed at her capacity for saying stupid things in front of this man she adored. ‘Well. Me and Niamh. She’s the second head …’ She gestured haplessly at her friend, who was sitting on the tiled hearth of the fireplace like a house cat. Steam seemed to be emanating from her.
Aled’s eyes didn’t so much as flicker in Niamh’s direction. Soft, dark and full of feeling, they were focused immovably on Rosie. She shivered under this intense scrutiny, then fought to gather her wits.
‘What I mean is, I wanted to talk to you. I needed to see you,’ she went on.
‘Whoa,’ another male voice said. ‘Is this the woman he’s been moping about all week? Did sheswimhere?’
This, Rosie guessed, was Gethin, who’d clearly been encouraged by his twin to abandon playing pool in favour of spectating.
‘My car broke down,’ Rosie said. ‘We walked the last mile up the hill.’
‘My god, you really are soaked,’ Gwyn said as she entered the room. Her reddish eyebrows knitted together at the sight of Rosie and Niamh, and she cast an appraising eye over Rosie – as if she were reconciling what she saw with things she’d already heard. Her shrewd gaze reminded Rosie powerfully of Aled’s.
Seeming to decide that Rosie wasn’t here to cause her son further emotional distress, she said: ‘Mal, fetch these girls a large brandy and some clean towels – in that order. The rest of you, be on your way.’
‘It’s fine,’ Rosie assured her, ‘everyone can stay. I don’t have anything to say that I’m in any way embarrassed by. Apart from the sea monster bit, obviously.’ Aled stifled a laugh, and Niamh put her head in her hands. Gwyn’s expression shifted, and Rosie thought she saw respect written there; it seemed her willingness to make a tit of herself was worthy of approval.
‘Firstly, I’m not back with James,’ Rosie said, her eyes fixed on Aled’s. ‘I did feel a bit sorry for him, but let’s face it – he’s an idiot. I told him that day at the hospital that there was no way I’d ever want him back because …’deep breath, Rosie, she told herself. ‘Because I know myself better now. I want different things. I wantyou. Because I love you.’
‘Bloody Nora,’ Tiegan said.
Gwyn poked her and hissed, ‘For god’s sake,hush.’
