Page 6

6

Julia had anticipated an uneasy night of tossing and turning, haunted by the sight of Graham’s body, heartbroken at Jane and Hannah’s loss, troubled by the hows and whys of the terrible accident, and knocking elbows and knees with Sean with each toss and turn. Instead, she’d fallen immediately and deeply asleep, and to the best of her knowledge, hadn’t moved at all.

Sean wasn’t in bed when she woke up. She hoped she hadn’t driven him away with her snoring. Or her sleeping with her mouth open. She still hadn’t quite got used to how exposing and mildly nerve-wracking it was to take a new lover in her sixties. She and Peter had been in their twenties when they’d met, and she’d given not a moment’s thought to how she looked asleep.

She found Sean in the kitchen, whisking eggs in a bowl while keeping an eye on a serious heap of bacon that was crisping in the pan on the stove. On the counter next to him was a pile of neatly sliced tomato, and another of mushrooms, as well as a smaller pile of finely chopped chives from the garden. Sean was a precise chopper, something that Julia half-jokingly put down to his medical school experience with the scalpel, but was more likely the result of his precise personality.

‘Good morning,’ he said. ‘I’m making a slap-up breakfast, a proper Sean Special. I’m starving, aren’t you?’

‘Absolutely ravenous. The Sean Special is exactly what I need.’

It had been after 10p.m. when Sean had arrived back from delivering Jane to Hannah’s house, and he and Julia had both agreed that they had neither the energy nor the appetite for even a light supper. They turned in, exhausted, as soon as Jake and Leo had settled down from their ecstatic reunion.

She flicked the kettle on. ‘I’ll make coffee. And shall I get the toast in?’

‘Yes, please. And do you think we should give the dogs their breakfast before we eat?’

‘Probably a good idea, if you don’t want your bacon ripped from your fingers. I’ll do that while the toast cooks.’

‘I’ll start cooking the eggs when you get back.’

Jake and Leo were doing their very best presentation of Two Extremely Good Boys, sitting in the doorway between the kitchen and the garden, bums on the ground, tails in restrained motion sweeping across the floor like two metronomes. Only a line of drool stretching from the side of Jake’s mouth gave away their extreme eagerness for a bit of bacon. The outside door was open despite the morning chill, to air out the bacon smell. Just beyond the doorway sat the glossy brown form of Henny Penny. She, too, would like to partake in the Sean Special, although presumably not the scrambled eggs.

Henny Penny was the Houdini of chickens, and perhaps the Einstein of chickens, too. She mysteriously managed to get out of the coop often – the other chickens could only get out if Julia opened the door for them and made clucking noises and sweeping arm gestures, or proffered delicious treats. Despite her very small head, Penny seemed to understand and obey the rule that chickens were not welcome in the house. She and Jake had wordlessly developed an arrangement whereby they could sit together in the doorway, but she was outside, as per the rules, and he was inside, and thus in close proximity to both the hen and the bacon. Julia knew that this idea must have been Henny Penny’s brilliant solution, because – love him as she did – she recognised that Jake was certainly not strategic enough to come up with such a complex plan. Presiding over the whole scene from his place on the windowsill was Chaplin, looking snootily down his nose at the other beasts.

‘Come on then, chaps. Breakfast time.’

The dogs turned and ran into the garden, narrowly avoiding Henny Penny, who had the good sense to jump out of their way in a huff of feathers. Jake sat in front of his bowl expectantly. Julia brought another bowl for Leo, and filled them both with pellets. Jake looked mildly disappointed – he’d been hoping for bacon, after all – but didn’t let that get in the way of wolfing down his food.

Julia went back for the bowl of kitchen scraps, and tossed them into the coop for the chickens. There was plenty of grain left in the feeder, and water in the bowl. Last up, Chaplin, who got both pellets and pouches of soft luxury cat food, as well as fresh water. She’d rather spoiled him in an effort to make him feel welcome, and there was no going back now.

‘Right, everyone sorted,’ she said to Sean. ‘Toast’s ready. I’ll put another round in for something sweet after. You can cook those eggs now, I think.’

She cleared the table and set it. She put out rich farm butter, her own home-made blackberry jam, and the honey that her beekeeper neighbour, Matthew, kindly gave her a couple of times a year. ‘Half of the nectar probably comes from your flowers,’ he’d said cheerily, as he’d handed over the glowing, golden jar. She got out the milk and sugar, and put the coffee plunger on the table alongside two generously sized coffee mugs. The Sunday Times , which Sean had picked up off the mat, lay waiting for their attention.

Sean brought over the fresh tomato and grilled mushrooms, the bacon – crispy, the way they both liked it – and the pot of scrambled eggs with its scattering of chives.

‘A feast!’ Julia said. ‘Looks great, thanks. You are an amazing breakfast-maker. Amongst your other talents, of course.’

Sean beamed. ‘Dig in.’

She did just that, filling her plate, buttering her toast, making free with the pepper grinder before handing it over to him – one of the little things they shared was a liking for a lot of ground black pepper. Despite being ravenous after no dinner, they ate at a lazy Sunday-morning pace. Julia was trying not to dwell on the next activity of the day – her 11a.m. appointment with the Berrywick police. She hoped the conversation would be short.

‘I shouldn’t think you’ll be long with Hayley,’ Sean said, as if reading her mind. ‘Shall I wait for you, and we can take the dogs out for a good long walk after? It’s a lovely day for it.’

‘Just what I will need to blow all the horrible things out of my head,’ Julia said. ‘Let’s go to the lake for a change. We haven’t been there in a while, and the chestnut trees might already be turning.’

‘Good plan. I shall peruse the comings and goings of the great and the good and the not so good in the Sunday papers while you’re gone. Message me when you are on your way home and I’ll harness the hounds.’

They were interrupted by the buzzing sound of a silent phone vibrating against a hard surface. ‘Sorry, that’s mine. I thought I had turned it off,’ Sean said, standing up and reaching over to the countertop to grasp the thing. ‘I’ll turn it off…Oh. It’s a London number. I wonder who…? Do you mind if I…?’

‘Please, go ahead.’

The way Sean’s brow furrowed made her sad. Julia knew that the London number had made him jump to concerns about his eldest son. Jono lived in London, and he was absent, although not exactly estranged, from his father. He was at sea in his life, perpetually undecided on his direction, starting jobs and courses but never quite finishing anything. Sean worried terribly about him, but couldn’t seem to find a way to connect with him, or help him. ‘Dr O’Connor here, I missed your call…Yes, I am…’

There was a long pause, during which time Julia could hear the faint, tinny sound of agitated speaking on the other end of the phone. Sean’s side of the conversation was not encouraging. ‘I quite understand…I’m very sorry about that. I do apologise, and of course I’ll pay for any damage…’

A shorter pause, and then Sean said, ‘If I could speak to him, perhaps we could sort out…’

The agitated tinny sound seemed somewhat louder.

‘I see. Thank you. Please ask him to wait there for me. I’ll come. Thank you, and again I’m very…’

Whoever was on the other side must have ended the call because Sean let his hand fall, the phone hanging at his side. He looked utterly dejected, standing there by the sink. Julia got up and went to him.

‘Is it Jono?’ Julia asked gently. ‘Is he all right?’

Sean exhaled, a long, exhausted breath. ‘No,’ he said. ‘He’s not all right.’

The relaxed Sunday-morning feel had fled, a worried melancholy in its place. The eggs congealed on their plates, the crispy bacon cold and hardening. Sean sat down. Julia sat next to him.

‘That was his landlady. He hasn’t paid his rent for two months.’

‘Oh dear. Can you help him out?’

Sean didn’t speak immediately. In spite of the closeness between the two of them, there was some reservedness around discussing each other’s children. Without expressly negotiating that particular piece of marshy ground, Sean and Julia had somehow come to an agreement that delicacy should be observed in this matter. This was particularly so when it came to Jono. Julia tended not to ask questions or offer observations, but instead waited to be informed or, occasionally, consulted.

Sean cleared his throat and answered. ‘I did. He messaged me that he was short and I sent him the money for his rent. It seems it didn’t make its way to the landlady. She’s evicting him for non-payment. Apparently he didn’t pay the full rent the previous month, either.’

‘I see. Do you think you can convince her to take him back?’

‘I doubt it. He got upset – or “freaked out”, as she put it – when she told him he had to go. Refused to leave. He went out at some point and she locked the doors. He’s outside on the pavement. She called me as his emergency contact.’

‘Oh, Sean, I’m sorry. What a mess.’

‘It is a mess. He’s a mess. I’m going to go and see what’s going on. Perhaps I can sort things out, although it doesn’t sound likely. It’s not just the money. His room is an absolute tip, apparently. He doesn’t take the rubbish out. She’s worried about rats.’

‘What will you do? Will you bring him home with you for a bit?’

Jono hadn’t been to visit his father in all the time Sean and Julia had been together. First he had been studying music, and had apparently been too busy. After that, it had been one excuse after another. Sean had visited him in London on occasion, but Julia had never met him.

Sean looked at his watch. ‘I’d better go. It’ll take me about three hours to get there, and he’s out on the street. The landlady said she won’t let him in until I arrive. And I’ve got to go home first to drop Leo. ’

‘What time is it?’ Julia asked, remembering her own appointment with Hayley Gibson.

‘Ten past ten.’

‘I’ll have to go soon, too.’

He looked at her blankly.

‘To the police station.’

‘Of course. Sorry. I just…It slipped my mind.’

‘You’re worried about Jono. Why don’t you finish your breakfast? Another five minutes won’t make a difference, and if you don’t eat you’ll be ravenous by the time you get to London. And you can leave Leo here, he’ll be fine with Jake while I’m out.’

‘Thank you, you are right on all counts.’ He looked at her, and said with a tired smile, ‘As usual.’ He ate efficiently, with none of the easy enjoyment they’d started out with. Sean wiped his mouth and picked up his plate.

‘Leave it, I’ll tidy up. Go on, Sean. Go to your son. Do what you need to do.’

‘Thank you, Julia. And I hope your meeting with DI Gibson is quick and painless.’

‘I’m sure it will be. Good luck. And drive carefully.’