Page 59 of New Beginnings At Pencarrow Bay
‘I’ll come and have another coffee with you,’ she suggested, her tone conciliatory. She sat down opposite him. ‘How was your evening?’ she asked with a wry frown.
He sighed. ‘Okay, okay. I behaved like a total jerk yesterday. I’m sorry.’
Her heart softened. ‘I hate you going off like that.’
‘I hated it too,’ he mumbled. ‘But Liam wound me up.’
Peggy stiffened. ‘Not all his fault, though, eh?’
Ted’s mouth tightened. Dropping his voice, he said, ‘Look, I know he’s your son, but this isn’t a great time for him to be here, is it? What with the emails, all the Felix stuff. Everything’s tense as it is…’ he said, checking her face, maybe to see if he’d gone too far. She could tell he was feeling edgy and delicate this morning, after last night’s whisky.
‘Are you saying you want Liam to leave?’ she asked, a little frostily.
Ted hesitated. ‘I just think…’
‘What?’
‘Pegs, please. Don’t look at me like that.’
‘Sending him away won’t solve our problems, Ted.’
‘No, but I feel things are tricky enough, without–’
‘Without your ill-mannered son making our lives a misery,’ Liam, who had suddenly appeared in the doorway in his boxers and T-shirt, finished Ted’s sentence for him, sounding almost amused.
Ted’s head shot up and he met Liam’s eye, but he seemed annoyed rather than embarrassed, Peggy thought.
Liam sauntered over and sat down, laying his mobile on the table with deliberate care. No one said a word, Peggy because her throat was constricted with tension.
‘Don’t panic, Ted. I’m leaving. Off on Saturday,’ Liam announced casually.
‘The day after tomorrow?’ Peggy cried. ‘But you’ve only just got here. Why?’ She felt her son was being snatched away before she’d had time to really focus on him– she’d been so tied up with other things. But then she told herselffirmly,It wasn’t a wasted visit, either.Some important things had been aired between them. And they’d had some lovely, proper hugs along the way.
‘Sorry, Mum. It’s a job.’
‘What sort of a job?’
Liam shrugged, ‘The usual, PR. A Swedish clothes company.’
Peggy narrowed her eyes at him. She wasn’t sure she believed him. ‘You’ve got an interview? When did you hear?’
‘Just now.’
‘Is the job in Sweden?’
‘No, don’t think so. Not sure.’ Liam got up and wandered towards the open door to the terrace, clearly uncomfortable with the questions.
Peggy glanced at Ted but he was looking off towards the garden, his face neutral. She was furious with him for making her son feel so unwelcome. Trying to keep her anger under control in front of Liam, she asked quietly, ‘Shall I make breakfast? I’ve got kippers.’
‘I’m fine, Mum, thanks,’ Liam said. ‘I’ll just have coffee.’ He crossed the room to the stove where the coffee-maker sat with the remains of Ted’s earlier brew.
She cocked her head at Ted, waiting for him to respond.
‘Umm.’ He seemed to come round from some sort of daze, finally meeting her eye. But there was no warmth in it. ‘If you’ve had breakfast with Paul,’ he made it sound like an accusation, ‘I’ll pick up something later.’
Peggy wanted to scream. Ted was usually such a reasonable man, such a can-do optimist: this new iteration of argumentative grump was baffling to her. But graduallyhis face began to soften. Directing his gaze at her son, he said, ‘Apologies, Liam. You might have been a tad “ill-mannered”, as you put it, at times,’ he gave a wry grin, ‘but I’ve been less than hospitable to you.’ He swallowed hard. ‘I like to think that’s not me. We’ve been under a lot of strain recently. I’ve been worried about your mother… and other things. And probably grumpy.’ He gave Liam a shrug and an awkward smile.
It was an honest apology and Peggy held her breath as she watched Liam take in Ted’s words, praying he would be receptive to them, and equally considerate.
