Page 31 of Someone For Everyone

She let out a whistle. ‘Crikey, my last car didn’t even have a working fan.’ She shifted position. ‘I was worried I’d wet myself.’

He laughed. ‘If you have, let me know and I’ll increase the settings. You’ll dry out in no time.’

‘Wow, how the other half live.’ She was smiling, so he figured she was teasing.

They drove past St Nicholas’s church, with its graveyard illuminated by the neighbouring festive lights. ‘You were telling me about Christmases at your aunt and uncle’s house?’

‘Oh, right, yes.’ She turned away and looked out of the window. ‘Well, they used to have caterers in to cook Christmas dinner, and the decorations were all handcrafted, from this fancy posh boutique in Godalming. Aunty Connie would pick a different colour scheme each year and spend a fortune creating a theme. We’d get taken to the carols at the Royal Albert Hall, ice-skating in Hyde Park, and there’d always be a sack of presents waiting for me on Christmas morning.’

He glanced over. ‘Sounds idyllic.’

‘You’d think,’ she said, with a deep sigh.

‘It wasn’t?’

‘I always felt sorry for my mum. She never said anything, and she acted as though she was delighted I was getting spoilt so much, but I could tell it hurt her.’

‘How come?’

‘Because she couldn’t offer me the same.’ Another pause, as if she was debating how much to say. ‘We didn’t have much money when I was growing up. It was just the two of us, and Mum had to work several jobs to pay the rent. She couldn’t take time off during school holidays to look after me, so I was sent to stay with my cousins. I had a great time, don’t get me wrong – I love my extended family, but I always missed my mum. I knew she hated not being able to make a better life for us. So… you know… things like Christmas were always bittersweet.’

He was shocked by how similar their upbringings had been. His family hadn’t had any money, either. If it hadn’t been for his granny and Uncle Bert, they wouldn’t have had regular heating, let alone Christmas presents. ‘Your dad wasn’t around?’

She paused before answering. ‘My dad died when I was a baby.’

‘I’m sorry, Kate. That’s grim.’ He hadn’t had a dad either, although his wasn’t dead, just absent. ‘Was it an accident?’ He turned into the parking bay outside the pub.

‘No, not an accident,’ she said, straining to see out of the window. ‘Why have we stopped? This isn’t the train station.’

‘You need feeding.’ He opened the driver’s door when it became clear that nothing more was forthcoming about her dad.

Her eyes grew wide. ‘You don’t need—’

‘I know,’ he cut her off. ‘But I haven’t eaten either and I’m starving. Even if you don’t need food, I do.’

‘Fine,’ she said, unclipping her seat belt. ‘Do we have time before Alex’s train arrives?’

He checked his watch. ‘We’ve got half an hour. I’ll ask them to serve us quickly.’

They exited the car and headed up the pub steps.

The Black Horse Inn was a sombre building, with shuttered windows and an array of blackened horseshoes framing the doorway. As they reached the entrance, the large pub sign rattled loudly.

Kate glanced up, her eyes narrowing at the fierce-looking black beast gazing down at her. ‘What is it with this place and their creaky signs? Hasn’t anyone ever heard of WD-40?’

Smiling, he opened the door. ‘I told you, it adds to the ambience. The tourists love it.’

‘I’ll be they do.’ The door creaked as it swung open and Kate paused to look at him. ‘I doubt the props department working on a film would go to this much trouble to recreate a haunted set.’ She turned to walk off, but then looked back at him. ‘Are you sure you haven’t adopted some of these gimmicks back at the care home? Moving ladders? An unreliable fireplace? Creaky windows?’

He grinned at her. ‘Why would we do that?’

‘Oh, I don’t know. Give the new person a hard time. Keep her on her toes. Freak her out, and then sit back and laugh as she unravels.’

‘That would be like shooting myself in the foot. I need you, remember?’

‘Right. I keep forgetting.’ She pointed to an empty table by the fireplace. ‘Over there?’

‘Head over and I’ll order at the bar. They do a great burger. Do you eat red meat?’

---