Page 31 of A Very Happy Halloween

“I can’t get back together with your dad. He’s with Luisa now.”

“You don’t get it, do you? I don’t care about living with Dad; I just want to hang out with my friends again.”

The pain in his voice twisted me up inside, and I felt guilty for digging the fragment of a silver lining from the dark cloud of misery. He doesn’t want me to play happy families with Steven. But we couldn’t go back, not when we’d moved to Engleby for a fresh start, for a better life.

“Harry, I wish that was an option. But I didn’t have any friends in Bristol.” Because I’d spent so long working to try to keep us afloat that I had no social life, and the few friends I had managed to make were also colleagues who didn’t dare to speak out against Luisa in case they lost their jobs too. “Or a job, or help with childcare, and houses are so much more expensive there. But maybe we could go back for a visit? I’ve got another driving test soon.”

Harry scoffed. “Yeah, right, like you’ll pass.”

Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence, kid.

“Then we can go on the train. Make a day of it, catch a movie at the cinema, get fish and chips for tea. How about Saturday?”

My children came first. Eis would understand. At least, I hoped he would. If he didn’t, that would mean I’d made yet another mistake, and I wasn’t sure my heart or my sanity could take it.

A corner of Harry’s veil of misery lifted. “Saturday?”

“Why don’t you see which of your friends are free?”

Eis did understand. Of course he did.

“Need a lift?” he asked as he packed up his tools. Harry was still in his room, and Alfie was overjoyed because that meant he could watch whatever he wanted on TV.

“I can’t ask you to drive all the way to Bristol.”

“You’re not asking; I’m offering.” He gave a mock salute. “At your service. Just tell Harry I’m moonlighting as an Uber driver in my spare time.”

Another of those waves of emotion crashed over me, and Eis was the one who wiped away the single escaped tear with a thumb.

“Is my driving that bad?” he asked.

“No, but mine is. I’ve already failed my test seven times. I’m going for number eight the week after next.”

“Is it the parallel parking? I’m shit at that.”

“I can do it fine with my instructor. But when the examiner’s sitting beside me, I freak out and hit the kerb. Or I forget to look in my mirrors, or I make a wrong turn, or I accidentally break the speed limit. Maybe it’ll be okay this time? I still have one more lesson before the big day.”

I found myself wrapped in Eisen’s arms, his chin resting on my shoulder. There was nothing sexual about it. It was like being hugged by a rock. A tough, impenetrable, overprotective, and weirdly comforting rock.

“If you believe you can, then you will. If you believe you can’t, then you won’t. That’s a quote from Elizabeth Kennedy-Renner. Did you know she went skydiving on her eightieth birthday?”

“Was she crazy?”

“A bit.” He leaned back and grinned. “People say I take after her.”

“Have you ever been skydiving?”

“I was right behind her when she jumped out of the plane. There’s a video somewhere if you don’t believe me.”

“Oh, I believe you.”

Eis kissed my hair. “I’ve got a gym in Bristol. It’s about time I paid a visit.”

“How long since you last went?”

He considered that for a moment. “Sixteen months.”

“Wow, you really did go full hermit, didn’t you?”

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