Page 131 of He's the One

“Rapunzel! Let down your hair,” Theo called.

Col dangled a long strand of ivy. Theo yanked at it and it fell to the ground.

“Oh no, I’ve scalped you! Sorry, Rapunzel.”

“Pull the ivy off the bottom part of the tower. Look out for the woodlice.”

“Eek. Do they bite?”

“Well, you’re tasty.”

“Hey, how did you get the ladder in here?”

“James opened the gate for me.”

Theo glared up at him. “You just had me crawl through.”

“I did sayif you like.”

Theo wrenched at the ivy and pulled it down in great swathes. “If only everything was that easy. Come down and I’ll show you how easy I am.”

“James and Luis are in the garden. Careful.”

Theo looked around and spotted them at the far end, removing the ivy from the summerhouse.

“James says he can probably fix the water maze.” Col came down the ladder to his side. “You can be the first to test it out.”

“And the first to get wet. Thanks a lot.”

Col smiled and ran his hands over the lower part of the tower. “This doesn’t need any work. It looks like Rapunzel’s tower, only a lot smaller. It’s a pity not to have a platform so you can look through that window.”

“Health and safety would freak out.”

“Going to give me a hand at the front?”

“Yes, I have lots to tell you.”

As Col worked, Theo went through his conversation with his father.

“You don’t sound surprised,” Theo said.

“I’d guessed but I wasn’t sure. How do you feel now?”

“More hopeful. I think. I wish I didn’t have to addI thinkbut…” Theo winced. “I can’t believe I told my father that he ought to divorce my mother. Oh God, of course he’s not going to listen to me.”

“He might. Give him time.”

Theo kicked at a stone. “He’s had all these years. Why would he need more time?”

“Maybe he needed you to rebel.”

“All I ever wanted was that we were a happy family. I tried to be good.”

“I’m not sure there’s such a thing as a happy family. Maybe they manage a little bit of happiness sometimes but for everyone to be happy at the same time? That’s rare. Your family have had to put up with a lot. Death of a child. Disappearance of a son. People not being able to be themselves. And your father bears the responsibility for Asquith and all its staff. He has work commitments as well as sitting in the House of Lords. Maybe it was all too much to juggle. Maybe it broke your family and fractured his relationship with you. But it’s never too late to mend things.”

“Says the master-mender.”

Col bowed.

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