Page 54 of The Lie
Leo pulled a face. ‘Hi, Mum.’
Her expression relaxed. ‘Hi, sweetheart. Sorry, it’s just your father has become a lazy old bugger, haven’t you, Michael?’
Michael shrugged. ‘And you’ve become an annoying old harridan,’ he retorted.
‘Well, you’re shot of me for a couple of days. You can bully your son to your heart’s content.’
Leo held his breath. He didn’t want to listen to his parents bickering. And whereas there didn’t seem any real heat to their exchange – as if they’d both heard it all before – it felt as if there was something raw and uncomfortable between them today, the sparring merely a cover for a deeper unease.
‘Are you going to the cottage?’ Leo asked, wanting to defuse the atmosphere.
‘No, Hastings. Staying with Bettina.’
‘That’ll be fun,’ he said brightly, although his mother showed no enthusiasm for the plan.
She didn’t reply, her gaze silently levelled at his dad. Leo couldn’t work out what his mother’s look meant. It seemed jaundiced, hostile … almost as if she were on the verge of saying something cutting to him.
But all she finally said was: ‘OK, I’ll be off. You know where I am.’
He nodded. ‘Have a good time.’
His mother gave him a strained smile. ‘Thanks.’ Then she turned to walk away.
‘Bye, Romy,’ his father called after her. But she didn’t respond, except with a brief backward wave.
Leo raised his eyebrows at his father. Both of them waited till they heard the front door shut, then a moment longer, before either spoke.
‘Is Mum all right?’
‘Not really.’
Leo continued to prepare the coffee – despite his mother’s warning – slotting a blue foil pod into the machine, pressing the right-hand button and reaching for two cups. His father took it black. He, himself, liked a latte, but he couldn’t be bothered to froth the milk.
‘You heard about Fincham?’ Michael asked, accepting the cup from his son.
‘No. What’s happened?’
‘She says it’s over. Didn’t explain, but she’s obviously fucking miserable, so I’m assuming old Action Man must be a bolter.’ He shook his head. ‘Never did trust those army types.’
‘Really? Why not? I’d have thought a retired soldier would be the one person you could trust.’ He sat down opposite his father, who was tugging off the blue glove with difficulty, his hand red and marked from the device and flaccid as he laid it gingerly on the wooden table.
Michael shrugged, said nothing.
‘Do you even know any “ army types ”, Dad?’ Leo asked, amused.
His father gave him a sheepish grin. ‘I’ve met a couple in my time.’ He took a sip from his cup. ‘But, no, I just made that up. He annoys me, for some reason.’
Leo didn’t need to ask what that reason might be.
Michael leant forward. ‘Listen, Leo … losing Daniel’s been a blow. But I don’t want your mum to feel she has to look after me now. She’s obviously not happy being here, quite understandably. And since Daniel left she’s been really snappish with me, just when I thought we were beginning to get on better. I wanted to talk to her about it, but this week has been so up and down … Please will you help her find someone else?’
‘Of course. I’ll do what I can.’
Michael sighed and closed his eyes. When he opened them, he stared intently at Leo. ‘I love your mum, you know. Ireallylove her.’
Despite what Anezka had told him previously, Leo was taken aback by the raw intensity of his father’s declaration.
‘I know I’m a wreck right now. And she probably isn’t thinking in these terms, I’ve been such a bloody shit in the past … not something I’m proud of …’ His father trailed off, seemingly at a loss. Then he went on, ‘I’m determined to get fit again, Leo. It’s probably a forlorn hope that she’d give us another go, but it might help if I was in better shape.’
