Page 48 of Snow Going Back

‘You must be pretty desperate to finish up here and get back then, I imagine?’ he asked.

Kate nodded with a sound of agreement, but Sam’s curious frown remained. ‘There’s just still a lot to arrange,’ she told him, by way of explanation for her lack of enthusiasm. ‘It’s all happened very fast, you see, and I just haven’t, er, haven’t really got my head around it all.’

What are you doing?she screamed at herself.Why are you telling him this?

‘I mean,no, I-I don’t mean my head, I mean more like, you know…’ She started rambling, feeling flustered. ‘I mean withthings to organise still, it’s stressful. That’s all. I haven’t even got adressyet!’

‘No?’ Sam scratched his stubble. ‘There’s a dress place in town I know. Round the back of the old water mill. Jerry’s wife works there. I could talk to her if you like, see if I can get you in to look around? Probably the least I could do, after the whole jail thing.’

‘And the water,’ she reminded him.

He nodded. ‘Yup.’

‘And the noise torture,’ she added.

‘Mhm,’ he agreed.

‘And’ – she narrowed her eyes – ‘themilk. You donotget in between a Brit and her tea.Not cool.’

Sam threw his head back and laughed.

Kate took another sip of her drink, then looked down at her hands for a moment. ‘I’m sorry, too, by the way. For your wallet and for driving you to break down awall.’ She glanced over at the jagged hole around the TV. ‘I didn’t realise you feltquiteso strongly about watching the game.’

Sam let out a rueful sigh. ‘I don’t, actually. But one of the guys, Dave, his wife left him recently. Took the kids and the dog and moved downstate with some guy she’d been seeing behind his back.’

‘Ouch.’ Kate winced.

‘Yeah.’ Sam looked down at his cup. ‘He’s not coping well. We’ve been taking turns to keep an eye on him. Game night is the only thing he looks forward to, so…’ He trailed off and looked at the hole.

Kate suddenly felt like the biggest jerk in the world. She closed her eyes.

‘I’m so sorry, Sam,’ she said quietly. ‘I’m an idiot.’

‘No, you weren’t to know,’ he said, brushing it off. ‘You were just giving back what I deserved.’

Kate shook her head. ‘Still, I should have handled that better. This isn’t how I deal with things. It’s not who I am at all.’

‘Seems we’ve been bringing out the worst in each other, huh?’ Sam said quietly.

Kate nodded, and they studied each other for a few moments.

‘I’m glad you’re not who I thought you were,’ Kate said suddenly.

‘Ditto,’ Sam said. ‘It’ll be nice to sleep withbotheyes closed again.’

Kate laughed and tucked her hair back behind her ear. ‘Affordable sustainable eco houses, huh? That’s amazing. Most people only care about how much profit they can make. It’s refreshing to see there are still people out there trying to make a difference in the world. It must be very rewarding.’ She smiled, feeling a pang of envy. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d worked on something that felt rewarding.

Sam nodded. ‘It is. I’m all for working hard for the things you want in life, but people shouldn’t have to struggle for basic things like safe living conditions or have to choose between things like heating the house and feeding their kids.’ He sighed. ‘When people don’t have money, they often end up in a more expensive rut than people who do.’

‘What do you mean?’ Kate asked, intrigued.

‘I don’t know what it’s like in England, but here, if you’re down on your luck, it’s almost impossible to drag yourself back out, and the cycle goes way deeper than people realise. For example, if you’re poor, you buy cheap foods, which are pumped full of stuff you wouldn’t throw at a dog, but they’re hidden in the mile-long list of ingredients, so you don’t know, and that’s what you eat. What yourkidseat. The lack of nutrition slows them down, so they focus less and get worse grades, which has a knock-on effect on their future. It slowsyoudown, too, but at thesame time, you’re picking up more hours at work to pay the bills. If youhavea job.’

He sat forward, growing more impassioned. ‘Imagine the only place you can afford is a run-down dump. There’s mould on the walls, the washer’s packed up, the landlord doesn’t care and the bills just keep mounting. You work harder, eat worse, breathe in that toxic air, grow more stressed and run-down until you end up ill – and then you either don’t have health insurance or it doesn’t cover what you need. You’re faced with the choice of crippling debt or leaving your health to deteriorate until you can’t work or, as is often the case, just die.’

Kate blew out a long breath. ‘That’s a depressing picture.’

‘That’s the reality for a lot of people,’ Sam replied. ‘But if they have access to safe, sustainable, affordable dwellings, that changes things. Not everything, of course, but it’s a start.’ He shrugged.

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