Page 98 of In at the Deep End
He laughed. “Hello to you too.”
“Don’t ‘hello’ me. I’ve been waiting to hear all about the reunion. And you didn’t call once during the whole trip.”
Dad appeared in the doorway with a mug of tea. “That’s probably down to one of two reasons. Either it was so awful he wanted to erase it from his memory…” He took a sip. “…or everything else he got up to in London completely overshadowed it.”
The corners of Matt’s mouth twitched.
Dad had no idea how right he was.
He dropped his overnight bag at the foot of the stairs. “Can I at least take my shoes off first?”
“No,” Mum said firmly. “Tell me how London was.”
He smiled. “It was brilliant.” Dad raised his eyebrows, and Matt snorted. “Not the reunion. The rest of it.”
“How many people told you that you look like me?”
He groaned. “I lost count.”
Mum laughed. “I said as much.”
Matt pulled a face. “‘You must be Jeff’s lad.’ ‘You’ve got your father’s smile.’ ‘You look exactly like he did at your age.’”
Dad folded his arms with obvious satisfaction. “Good genes.”
Mum snorted. “Delusions of grandeur, more like.”
“And why did neither of you warn me about Rachel Turner?”
Dad flushed. “Still a riveting conversationalist, is she?”
Mum nudged him with her elbow, almost making him slop his tea on the floor. “She wasn’t that bad.”
Matt stared at her. “You could record her voice and market it as a treatment for insomnia. You’d make millions.” He followed them into the kitchen.
“So what else did you do?”
“Afternoon tea at the Savoy—”
“Ooh, I’ve always wanted to do that.” Mum glared at Dad. “You’ve been promising to take me there for years.”
“How about when I retire?”
She rolled her eyes.
Matt helped himself to coffee as he gave them the edited version of the trip. Then Mum launched into a description of a trip to Marwell Zoo with Jamie the previous day, and how captivated he’d been by the binturong, the monkeys, and especially the red pandas.
“Steggie has been replaced,” she told Matt. “Now he has Panda.”
He laughed. “So Steggie was what Granddad would’ve called a five-minute wonder.” He stilled. “How is he, by the way?”
Dad’s face tightened. “I was at the hospice this morning. I’m going back there now. They don’t think it will be long.” Mum went over to him and hugged him, her cheek pressed against his. Then Dad straightened. “I think what I’m dreading most is what happens when he finally goes. Clearing that house will take forever.”
“I’ll help.” Matt had a lot of good memories tied up in that house.
He hasn’t gone yet.
Only, Matt knew he was mentally preparing himself for the inevitable.
