Page 17 of In at the Deep End

For reasons he couldn’t explain, he found himself looking forward to it.

Chapter Five

“Dad burned the toast again, didn’t he?” Matt said as he strolled into the kitchen. The odour of cremated bread still hung in the air.

Mum glanced up from her phone and chuckled. “He claims it’s the new toaster’s fault. He says the old one never burned toast.”

They regarded each other for a beat, and then laughed.

Mum reached for her coffee. “I know it’s awful to laugh, but he does it so often.”

“It’s become a personality trait.”

She nodded. “Along with blaming inanimate objects.” She snorted. “He was muttering something yesterday about the smoke alarm having it in for him.”

He laughed again. “By dinnertime, it’ll somehow be the dishwasher’s fault.”

She studied him for a moment. “You look tired.”

“I got a couple of hours’ work done before you both woke up. The house was lovely and quiet.” His lips twitched. “Then Dad got up and started singing in the shower.”

Mum winced. “You should’ve heard him doing karaoke after we got married.”

Matt stared at her. “You let him inflict himself on innocent people?”

“Marriage involves sacrifice.”

“They had karaoke back then?”

She gave him a look over the rim of her mug. “Careful.” She put it down. “Your father said the interview with Owen went well.”

“Yeah, it did. He’s very generous. He’s going to pay me twenty pounds an hour. He said he might even push it to twenty-five.”

Her mug stopped midway to her mouth. “Seriously?”

“Apparently he doesn’t believe in underpaying people.”

She smiled. “That sounds like Owen. At least, the Owen I knew.”

Something in her tone made Matt gaze at her more keenly. “What do you mean?”

Mum was quiet for a moment. “I think your dad came home yesterday with more questions than answers.”

“Because Owen’s gay? Bi?”

She shook her head. “That doesn’t matter. It’s everything else.”

Matt frowned.

“We knew Owen and Cynthia at university. They were inseparable. We assumed they’d be together forever.” She smiled. “I know, we were young. Then yesterday your dad comes home and tells me they’d married, had a child, divorced, Owen married a man, and that man died.” She stared into her coffee. “It’s a lot to take in.”

“That’s a lot for anyone to go through.”

“Your dad said Owen had a thing with one of his professors. And that’s the bit I’m struggling with.”

“Why?”

She hesitated before replying. “Because I keep wondering what Cyn knew… and when she knew it.”