Page 37 of Jenny James Is Not a Disaster
“How very enterprising of her,” I reply, hating her guts. “Will Betty be okay with that, with being left with a stranger?”
“Have you met Betty? There are no strangers to her, just friends waiting to be licked. She’s a social butterfly.”
“Right. What about the others?” I ask, hoping against hope that wherever Alton Towers actually is, it is also completely devoid of dog minders.
“Struck out at the middle one, thought we’d take turns,” he says sheepishly. Typical—the one that sounded most like I could cope with it.
“And the last?” I don’t even want to say its name.
“Yeah, sorry... found someone to have Betty overnight there. And actually booked us into some proper accommodation at the theme park, because then we can... um, go back the next morning?”
My eyes narrow, and I hiss: “Well, aren’t you Mr. Resourceful?”
He grimaces in response, and I hit him with my next objection: “This sounds very expensive.”
This is not only a way for me to try to get out of it; it’s also true—it’s one of the many reasons I’ve never done this kind of thing with Charlie before. That and my wussiness.
“It’s my treat,” replies Luke, looking at me steadily, as though daring me to argue. “I’ve secretly always wanted to go to these places, but felt too embarrassed to do it as a grown man on his own. You know, that looks weird, doesn’t it? So thank you for providing me with the perfect excuse to be a big kid again.”
If Katie were still around, he wouldn’t need an excuse. The thought scatters sadness across my thoughts, and I’m glad for Charlie’s excited chatter.
“You’re welcome!” he says, grinning. “Oh, come on, Mum! Embrace the new! It’ll be fun!”
I suspect the only thing I’ll be embracing is a sick bag, but I nod and say I will try.
Charlie seems appeased and goes back inside, a bounce in his step. I emerge fully from my sleeping bag pupa and shake my limbs loose until everything feels almost normal again.
“I’m sorry,” says Luke immediately. “He didn’t mention that you weren’t exactly a fan.”
“No, he wouldn’t, would he? I have raised an evil genius.”
“But, look—when we stay at the hotel at Alton Towers, there’s also a water park?”
“Right. Well. I do like swimming.”
“And there’s a spa?”
“Oh. Even better. What else?”
“An eat-as-much-as-you-can buffet breakfast?”
“Okay. You’ve sold me. Just don’t gang up on me and make me do anything I don’t want to, all right? And we don’t need to take turns on the middle one. I’ll stay with Betty. I’ll tell Charlie I’m working up some content for the blog—that’ll placate him.”
Luke nods and grins at me. “It might be fun, you know. We all do need to step outside our comfort zones every now and then.”
I stare at him and wonder just how far out of my comfort zone I need to be—I lost my job, my house fell off a cliff, and I have just noticed that I somehow have bug bites on my cleavage. I remain silent and take a deep breath and sip some more coffee. I look around, at the green and the blue and the many shades of nature, and I remind myself of how happy I felt yesterday. Luke is right; I need to relax, to slow down, to avoid tying myself back up in those knots I was talking about only a few hours ago.
“Yep. All right. I hear you, and I will try to... gosh, find my joy!”
I cringe as I say it and walk toward the steps of the van. I pause in the doorway, one hand on the frame, and gaze behind me. At the wide-open spaces, at the sunlight falling through the leaves, at this man I now feel like I know so much better. I can hear Charlie laughing inside and know he is watching some silly video on TikTok, excited about his day. Who could be churlish in the face of so much bounty?
“You know,” I say, tapping the doorframe of the motorhome with my palm, “that could be a good name for the magnificent beast you call home.”
“What could?”
“Joy.”
He tilts his head and looks the van over. His eyes crinkle up with a smile, and he says: “You know what? I think you could be right. So what say you, me, Charlie, Betty, and Joy hit the road again? The Big One awaits!”
