Page 34 of The Second Chance Supper Club

Cath relished a few quiet moments, sat peacefully in the kitchen, nursing a cup of coffee.

No noise but the twitter of birdsong from the garden.

Hmm, perhaps she could put her son to good use cutting the grass later.

He was soon back, sauntering in with the provisions.

‘Hey, Mum, just met this really cool guy in the village … runs a bike shop. Had a bit of a chat. He said he knows you. Might get Dad to courier up my road bike, says he’ll service it and everything. Reasonable prices too.’

Ah, so he’d evidently bumped into Will. Cath felt slightly flustered.

‘Yeah, it’d be cool to do a bit of cycling around here,’ he continued. ‘There’s the hills to challenge me, and the coast is pretty stunning. It’d be epic.’

‘Yeah, that’s Will. He’s a nice guy.’ Her cheeks were flushing. She turned away slightly, putting the milk in the fridge and standing with its door still open for a second or two to help cool her. ‘He’s one of the supper club gang I’d mentioned.’

‘Ah, that’s good. Even better, might get mates rates. Put a word in for me, yeah … ?’ He winked.

Oh, sugar… if the bike was coming up, then Adam really was settling in for the long haul.

But what had happened to starting work, finding a job?

There wasn’t an awful lot in the way of employment up here.

The money was going to dry up pretty soon, unless Trevor was still subbing him – guilt money perhaps.

‘Right, well, yes, I can do. Adam, have you started looking for some kind of work as yet?’ Cath prompted.

‘Yeah, been checking some things out online.’

‘Applied for anything?’

‘Waiting for the right thing to come up …’ He really didn’t sound in any hurry to enter the job market.

‘Which might be … ?’ Her words dangled unanswered, as Adam got lost seemingly looking at a message on his phone.

‘Sorry, Ma, something I need to answer.’

And Cath had the distinct feeling that it wasn’t a job email.

There really wouldn’t be many employment prospects for him here in rural Northumberland.

Oh … might he decide to work from home here, too?

She’d be pushed out of her tutorial space in the spare room for good.

She might have to relocate to the supper shed perhaps?

That’s if the Wi-Fi would even work up there?

Her lovely new world felt intruded upon …

in a big smelly trainer kind of a way. It was an odd helter-skelter of emotions being a mother.

All the different stages, and ages, and now trying to mesh together two very different lives – middle-aged mother with newly adult son.

Just because you loved them, it didn’t make it any easier.

At least, she wasn’t feeling lonely anymore, she mused wryly.

Hah, fat chance of that!

Be careful what you wish for.

‘Hey, how’s it going with Adam there? How are you both? Seems strange my little family all away.’ Turncoat Trevor was on the line.

You made your bed …

‘Yep, we’re fine. Adam seems well.’ A little too well and too comfy, in fact.

‘Did the bike get there okay?’

‘Yeah, fine. He’s got it all kitted up, and he’s been off out, making the most of it.’

It had given her a little space of her own, at least. A window of a couple of hours.

Some peace and quiet to get on with her maths tutorials, much needed financially, and also some Cath-time.

She was really appreciating that again. ‘He’s out on the bike now, off to Kirk Yetholm in the Borders, apparently. Cycling first, then a hill hike.’

‘Ah, good. So, you’re on your own then … ?’

‘Ye-ah.’ Something was coming. She knew Trevor so well, the nuance of his tone.

‘Cath, the other week, look, I know I didn’t get it right when I turned up like that …

at your cottage. But God, I’m missing you.

And I know it’s a long shot after everything I’ve done, and please don’t answer in a rush …

’ He was building to something. ‘Thinking about you … and with Adam back now … and all our lives. Well, can you just think on it?’

‘What?’ Spit it out, Trevor.

‘Please, could we try again?’

Bloody hell . What world was he living in? How could she forget everything that had gone on?

‘It’d be different,’ he carried on. ‘I know I’d have to make things different for you.

I can change. I’ve learnt my lesson. Been a bloody idiot, to be frank.

We could get a new place, a fresh start.

Somewhere Adam could stay, too. There’s bound to be more job opportunities down this way … ’ That part did ring true at least.

But her new life. Her fresh start. ‘But I’m happy here, Trevor. I love this village … Northumberland.’

‘I know, and I really liked it there, too. There’s no need to get rid of the cottage.

’ Her ears pricked at that. ‘I’ve been looking at the finances.

If we bought a nice, sensibly priced house back this way, keep our Leeds base, we could have your cottage as a second home.

We could visit whenever we liked. Make the most of this semi-retirement stage.

Have a trip on a cruise to the Med like you wanted, too.

We can afford it …’ Wow, she hadn’t expected that.

He had been planning. It was all that she had once wanted, there on a plate.

But … the plate still felt rather like it had been smashed, and the pieces clumsily stuck back together. Did she want that for her life?

‘Trevor …’

‘Don’t, please don’t answer, not yet. Not in haste. Give yourself a few days to think about it, at least. Talk to Adam … It’s about all of us.’ He knew her weak spot. Her family back together.

‘Okay, I’ll think about it.’

‘Thank you.’

So much for a few minutes’ peace. Wow, her head was aching already.

With her mind in a spin, Cath glanced out at the back garden.

Uh-oh, the weeds were enjoying the fine weather as well as the plants, and were unfortunately beginning to run riot in the borders.

What would old Reggie think of that? Her pledge to keep the garden tidy already having been overrun by a twenty-two-year-old turning up on her, and her husband’s confusing relationship U-turn.

Well, that was it, she’d go get her garden fork and sort out the pesky weeds.

That, at least, was something she could control.

And, yes, her lodger son could start doing his bit to earn his keep by cutting the grass.

She’d let him have a short break after getting back from today’s cycle ride, but the second-hand petrol push mower she’d recently invested in, would be ready and waiting for him.

After all, that’s the least he could do, now it looked as though he was intending on staying around.

Oh, yes, the ‘new rules’ were coming in to play.

With her old trainers on, and large garden fork to hand, she started on the bed around Reggie’s sage and rosemary plants.

Turning over the rich, brown earth and pulling out rogue grass and strands of ‘sticky willy’ (she wasn’t sure of its real name but that’s always what her dad had called it) from the border.

Other plants were appearing now, pushing up from their earthen beds, with leaves unfurling bold and green, some coming into bloom.

Tall heads of purple and yellow lupins, bursts of white and pale-pink delicate flowers looking like confetti on a couple of the shrubs.

A brown and grey chaffinch perched on a nearby bush watching her, cocking its head as though curious. Who was this in the garden here now?

Above her, a dart of white with navy-black wings, as a pair of house martins whizzed by. Or might it in fact have been the first of the summer swallows? Cath used to like watching the birds on her childhood holidays, her father telling her all the names.

Tidying the borders helped calm her, her mind now busy on the task in hand.

The sounds – a bee buzzing, the chitter of sparrows – and the floral and grassy earthen scents of nature all around her.

The sun warm on her back, and her legs – which were bare below long denim shorts – feeling the balmy breeze on her skin.

The garden was beginning to look better already.

And it felt good trying to keep her pledge to Reggie – even though he hadn’t ever known it.

An impromptu invite dropped into her messages the following day:

Forecast’s looking good for the weekend. Who’s up for a Supper Club picnic? 12 noon Sunday at Bamburgh Beach. Love Andreas and Dan xx

Ah yes! The timing was brilliant, just what she needed to take her mind off things, and the chance to chillax again with her friends was most welcome.

Cath was straight back with : Yes, please! Count me in. And let me know if I can bring anything? Happy to help with some picnic goodies xx

And she knew there was another call to respond to, another decision to finalise.

And this one certainly wouldn’t be as easy.

Trevor’s offer still needed to be answered, and tonight was the night Cath had decided to phone him back.

It was Thursday, she’d had a couple of days to think since her exhusband’s call, and had been going over all the scenarios.

The ‘What Ifs’, the ‘Might Have Beens’ and the ‘What Nexts’ had been constantly shifting in her mind.

It hadn’t been easy. She needed to get this right, for all their sakes.

She had spoken with Adam last night, telling him of his dad’s latest proposals, and mother and son had had a good chat together.

After all, Adam had seen more than most, back then, about what had really been going on at home.

She’d wanted to give him the chance to voice his thoughts.

Despite the teenage-style house mess on his recent arrival, she could tell that her son had actually grown up a lot these past couple of years.

The time away on his travels might have helped him to see the bigger picture, too.