Page 33 of New Beginnings At Pencarrow Bay

Patting his arm, she said, ‘Yes, so do I. But you certainly need a break, sweetheart. Let’s focus on you for now, get you back on track.

’ She wanted to ask why he’d lost his job, but this didn’t feel like the right moment.

He seemed wound up enough about his brother as well as the problems in his own life.

Liam stared blankly at her, letting out a long, tired breath. Then his eyes focused. ‘So it’s okay if I stay for a while, Mum?’

‘Of course it is,’ she said, wondering nervously what he meant by ‘a while’. ‘But if you’re going to be here, you’ll have to shape up with Ted.’ She saw his mouth tighten, but she pressed on. ‘This is his home as much as mine. He’s my partner. You weren’t very polite to him last night.’

She felt the old mothering instincts, so long dormant, kicking in.

She’d been quite a tough mum, insisting on good manners and a regular routine– homework, mealtimes, bedtimes– when the twins were growing up.

Although whenever Max was around or in charge– which wasn’t often in the early years, but progressively so as teenagers– he would blow a hole through all her efforts.

The more out of control and badly behaved the boys were– first fuelled by sugar rushes, later by the alcohol with which Max plied his teenage sons– the happier their father seemed to be. It had driven Peggy mad.

‘I wasn’t rude, was I?’ Liam looked surprised. ‘What did I say that was rude?’

‘It’s what you didn’t say. Not even hello.’

Her son frowned. ‘Really? I’m sorry if I didn’t. It wasn’t intentional.’

Peggy nodded at the apology. ‘It’s just… it’s not going to work, your being here, if you two can’t get along.’

Liam seemed taken aback by her ultimatum, his eyes narrowing in the bright morning sunlight. But he must have seen she was serious, because after a moment he bowed his head and said, almost meekly, ‘Yeah, yeah. Okay, Mum. I hear you.’

‘You’d like him, if you’d only give him a chance.’

Her son raised an eyebrow, gave her a cheeky grin.

But Peggy did not respond to the grin. ‘You two fighting is all I need right now.’ She spoke fiercely, barely registering what she’d said. But the upset around the email had suddenly reasserted itself, hitting her in her solar plexus, like a heavy punch, making her guts turn to water.

‘Mum?’ Liam sat up straighter in the wooden garden chair. ‘Is something up?’

‘No, nothing. I’m fine.’ She got up quickly and began clearing the table.

Liam rose, too, and pulled at her arm as she turned to go. ‘Mum, stop.’

Peggy tried hard to mould her features into something more convincing of ‘fine’.

‘Is it Ted?’ he asked, suspicion alight in his gaze.

‘No. For God’s sake, Liam!’

‘Well, what, then?’ he persisted, squaring up to her, hands on his hips. ‘There’s something you’re not telling me.’

Peggy sighed. ‘I’m tired from last night, that’s all,’ she said firmly. ‘Drank too much, no doubt.’ The lie was pathetic– she’d barely drunk anything– but she couldn’t face explaining about the Lindy drama, the email, the arguments with Ted. I will tell him , she promised herself. Just not now.

Her son was still eyeing her sceptically.

But maybe he, like Peggy, didn’t want to fight on his first day.

Taking the plate from her hand and laying it back on the garden table, he pulled her into his arms. ‘Love you, Mum,’ he said.

‘You know if there’s anything, ever, that’s bothering you, you can tell me. I’m a grown man, not a kid any more.’

Peggy felt the tears. But she would not cry. Swallowing hard, she relished every second of her son’s embrace, the kind words that accompanied it. ‘Thanks, sweetheart,’ she muttered into his chest. ‘Love you too.’

They pulled apart, both a little embarrassed by the strength of emotion they felt.

‘So,’ Liam said brightly, stretching his arms above his head and yawning. ‘What is there to do in paradise?’

Looking up into Liam’s face, Peggy longed to erase the tiredness and stress from her gorgeous son’s eyes.

She knew she should find out more about his plans, ask how long he might stay and what he was going to do about being unemployed.

But she felt too tired, too wound up, to take on any more worries.

He would tell her when he was ready. So she said, ‘Well, it’s a beautiful day.

We could go to the beach?’ She couldn’t immediately think of what else might interest him in the village, and the pressure of having him there suddenly weighed heavy on her.

He’s going to get terribly bored , she thought.

‘We can drop in on the coffee van on the way down,’ she added deliberately, and Liam was careful to nod his agreement. ‘Maybe have a crab sandwich for lunch.’

Her mobile pinged. A text from Sienna. She held her breath.

Geek friend of Paul’s looking into email. Will report back.

‘Who was that?’ Liam asked, peering at her phone.

Forcing a smile, although her heart was beating like a drum and she worried she was flushing, she replied, ‘Sienna, someone in the village who’s opening a forest school in the autumn. I’m thinking of doing a couple of days there, if things work out.’

‘Oh, right. Sounds good. What’s a forest school?’

The panic subsided a little as she explained to her son. At least this might get to the bottom of it , she thought, as they went to change into their swimming gear.