Page 61 of Second Chances at the Board Game Café

‘You’ll be fine, Mum.’ Max had a slurp of his milkshake. ‘What are all the other Ticket to Rides, Ludek?’

Ludek began to reel off a list, outlining the nuances of each version. Periodically, Max interjected with comments like, ‘Ooh, I’d like to play that one,’ or ‘That sounds great, doesn’t it, Mum?’

‘There are loads of fan versions too,’ Harry said, feeling he should contribute something to the conversation.

‘Fan versions?’ said Max. ‘What d’you mean?’

‘People who love the game have created their own version of it,’ said Ludek. ‘Different countries. Different cities even.’

‘There’s even an Alice in Wonderland version,’ said Harry, ‘and a Halloween version.’

‘Can we make a Yorkshire one?’ said Max. ‘Can we, Mum?’

‘There might already be a Yorkshire edition,’ said Harry, then wished he hadn’t. He shouldn’t spoil the boy’s fun. ‘But I could help you make one. If that’s okay with you, Taylor.’

She smiled at him. ‘Sure, Harry. That’d be lovely. Now are we going to play this game, or just talk about it?’

The game began. To Harry’s surprise, Max had a good grasp of the rules. He not only played well on his own turns, but told his mother what to do on her turns too. Harry watched the two of them, and his heart ached. He wasn’t sure which he was yearning for more: parenthood or Taylor herself.

She didn’t seem in the slightest bit bothered that he was into board games. All that time he thought he had to hide his favourite hobby, in case she thought it was boring and nerdy, yet here she was, happily choosing a yellow train card and then a random one from the top of the pile and frowning in an exaggerated way that made Max laugh, because it wasn’t the one she wanted. But they had both made assumptions about each other; whilst he’d thought that his geeky hobby would put her off, she’d been harbouring the illusion that he wouldn’t want to date a single mum. Nothing could have been further from the truth.

It had felt like she’d slammed a door shut in his face when she’d ended things with him so abruptly. Had that door been opened a tiny crack, so that a glimmer of light was shining through? Could they stay friends? It would be a poor consolation prize, but it was at least something. Her son looked to be in his element as he picked up two cards; he surely wouldn’t have an issue with Harry if he and Taylor were just good friends, would he?

‘Your turn again, Mum.’ Max leaned over to look at her hand of cards. ‘You could use your blue cards to go from Zwolle to Arnhem.’

‘Sure.’ Taylor put four blue cards down on the table and Max began to put her little trains in place.

Ludek moved her counter along the victory points track, before laying some of his own trains on the board. ‘Arnhem to Enschede. Ten points to me.’

‘Pay me your toll,’ said Max triumphantly. ‘I played that one first.’

Harry glanced at the board. He’d also wanted to go via Enschede, but he’d have to go the longer way round via Zwolle now. He took two random cards from the top. ‘Do you like trains, Max?’

‘I love trains.’

‘It’s all he talks about,’ said Taylor.

A boy after his own heart, thought Harry. The sort of child he longed to have. He swallowed hard and looked at his cards, trying to focus on the game, counting the trains he had left and working out if it was possible to build the route he wanted via Amsterdam.

‘Can you excuse me for a moment?’ Taylor stood up and disappeared in the direction of the ladies’.

Max watched her go, then said, ‘Harry, do you like my mum?’

Harry swallowed hard. Taylor had said he was difficult to read, yet her son clearly didn’t have that problem. He glanced at Ludek, who shrugged and said, ‘Well?’

‘She’s very nice,’ said Harry.

‘I mean, do you like like my mum?’

‘Like like?’ Harry wasn’t sure what he should say. He didn’t want to upset the child, so tried to pretend he didn’t understand what he was getting at.

Ludek laughed. ‘Come on, Harry. Do you like like Taylor?’

‘Because I was thinking,’ Max said, ‘that you could ask her out. On a date.’

‘It’s complicated,’ said Harry slowly. ‘Now whose turn is it? I think it’s yours, Ludek.’

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