Page 62 of Washed Up

Bobby laughed good-naturedly. What the hell had happened to him? ‘Yes, normally you would. I didn’t go to officer training so I’ve had to do it the hard way, and the cut off is twenty-nine so it all depends if I get accepted this year. Fingers crossed.’

‘Isn’t that dangerous, darling?’ said Lily, her cheeks still wet with tears. She was practically glowing.

‘Oh yes. Of course. That’s part of the fun.’ He gave Sally a cheeky grin. Frankie tried to catch her eye but her gaze never left Bobby for long enough.

‘And is there a Mrs Bobby?’ said Frankie.

Sally’s head snapped in her direction, as if she couldn’t believe she’d asked the question. But Bobby simply rubbed the back of his neck, cheeks flushing slightly, clearly not daring to catch Sally’s eye.

‘There’s no Mrs Bobby,’ he said simply, and Sally’s shoulders dropped two inches.

‘But I bet there’ve been some takers,’ said Lily, sounding almost proud.

‘As if I’m going to answer that, Mum,’ said Bobby. ‘Anyway, enough about me. How have things been here? I see it’s… the same.’

Frankie’s turn to bristle. But not with pride. ‘It’s still as beautiful as ever if that’s what you mean.’

Bobby looked at her, his gaze steady. ‘That’s exactly what I meant.’ He turned slowly, deliberately, to Sally and raised a suggestive eyebrow. ‘Care to go for a wander? For old times’ sake?’

Sally melted into a puddle on the table. ‘Love to,’ she almost whispered.

‘Don’t be too long,’ said Lily a little desperately. ‘We’ve booked a celebration dinner at the hotel at 8pm.’

‘We won’t be,’ said Sally, taking Bobby’s hand and leading him quickly out of the room.

When they’d vanished out of sight Lily threw herself into Brian’s arms and started sobbing again. ‘Isn’t it wonderful?’ she said into his shoulder.

‘It’s wonderful,’ said Brian, his throat catching. ‘Isn’t it wonderful, Franks?’

‘He’s not staying, though, is he?’ said Frankie. ‘He wants to be a pilot.’

Her parents looked at her for a long moment.

‘He’s here now,’ said Brian, and his voice was quiet, a little stern.

Her mum piped up. ‘I don’t care, your dad’s right. He’s here now and if he goes again soon’ – her voice stumbled – ‘that’s okay, at least we know he’s okay.’

Frankie scoffed. She knew she was ruining things but somehow, she couldn’t help herself. ‘I think we should be able to expect a little more than that. A few more letters. A text or two. They even have this thing called FaceTime now, you know. He could manage that, I’m sure, it’s only one button.’

Brian pulled away from Lily and frowned at her.

Frankie shifted in his seat under his gaze. ‘Sorry. It’s great to see him. I just…’

Her father sighed and took her hand. ‘It’s okay, Frankie.’

‘No, it’s not okay. I’m being a bitch. I’m sorry. I don’t mean to.’

Brian smiled at her. Actually smiled. As if he understood. ‘Now’s not the time for recriminations. What would be the point? We’ve just got our son back. Let us enjoy it. Try and enjoy having your big brother around for a bit too, eh?’

There it was again. That irritating little pang of guilt. He was right. She knew he was right.

‘I’ll try,’ she said.

‘You never know, he might marry Sally and then he’ll have to come home for good,’ said Lily, clapping her hands together in delight. ‘Wouldn’t that be wonderful?’

Frankie wrinkled her nose. ‘Mum, he’s in the army. He’s Bobby. He’s probably got 3,000 separate STDs by now.’

‘Frankie!’