Page 160 of He's the One

“Next week. Do you think we should put Santa hats on them?”

“No,” said all three.

Theo gave a heavy sigh. “Fine.” He needed to cancel those then.

The food wasn’t quite as fairylike as Theo hoped for but it had been described in fairy terms. It had been pre-selected by guests and Theo had chosenSmoked salmon from the River Mourne, prepared by Dragon Chef Erison from the mountains of Mourne.It had been arranged on the plate to look as if it were a whole fish, with a brown bread mountain at the side hiding a segment of lemon that looked like a dragon. There was even dry-ice to look like mist. Theo almost didn’t want to eat it, though he did.

Each course was progressively more delicious and when Theo heard the applause as the desserts were brought out, he couldn’t hold back his smile. The chocolate egg both he and Col had chosen for dessert had sugar flowers inside that dissolved in the mouth. That no one was talking, illustrated how good everything was. Theo kept his eyes on his food while he grew steadily more nervous. He needed his father and James to have stopped eating before he spoke to them. But…

“It’s no good. I can’t wait any longer. This is literally burning a hole in my pocket.” Theo handed his father a photo.

Puzzlement turned to shock, then wonder. His father showed the picture to James, then turned to Theo.

“How?” One word was all his father managed to say.

“Social media—not Piers, he has no presence, but his friends from university do, add in the magic of Google Translate and luck. I found a comment about Peru. I sent letters to the British Embassy, to town halls in major cities, to charities with people out there, and last week, this arrived.”

“Oh My God.” His father’s eyes were full of tears.

“He has a life out there. A wife, three children. Two boys and a girl. That’s his home.”

His father stroked the picture with his thumb. “He looks the same. Older but the same. I should tell your mother.”

“Have you talked to him?” James asked.

“A short WhatsApp call.”

“Is he happy?” his father asked.

“Yes. Very happy.” As Theo spoke, he felt Col’s hand settle on his knee.

“Did he tell you why he left?” James asked.

Theo nodded. “Everything became too much for him. It wasn’t just the pressure of exams but that was part of it. He could see what lay in his future and he didn’t want it. When he stumbled across you and James in the garden, it just reinforced what had been going through his head, that he’d never be able to choose the life he wanted.”

“Oh Christ.” His father let out a shaky breath. “It’s all my fault. If I’d have stood up to my father…”

“Times were different then,” James said.

His father shook his head. “I’m not using that as an excuse. Piers didn’t think he could talk to me. That was down to me. The only brave one in this family is you, Theo. I’m so proud of you. I should have told you that long ago. I missed how badly you were treated. Perhaps I didn’t want to see it. I’m sorry.”

“We’re all right now. That’s what matters.” Theo smiled.

“Perhaps we can go and see him—them,” his father said.

Theo nodded. “Just let him make his own mind up about what he wants in his future.”

“Come and dance, magic maker.” Col pulled Theo to his feet and whisked him out of the room and into the courtyard that had been encased by what seemed like miles of fairy lights and filled with a forest of illuminated trees. It was snowing there too, still the artificial stuff, though as Col turned him, Theo tipped back his head and looked up into the sky.

“Don’t eat it,” Col warned just as Theo was sticking out his tongue.

Theo put his head on Col’s shoulder. “Nothing can go wrong now, can it? The dance was great, so was the food, my father didn’t have a heart attack when he saw the photo.”

“Everything was perfect.”

“Do you think my father will mind if Piers doesn’t want to come back?”

“No, I don’t think he’ll mind.”

“Piers might change his mind when Father dies. He’s the heir. I’ll be back to being the spare.”

“Let’s hope that day’s a long way off. Until then, we’re going to fill every moment with happiness.”

Theo smiled. “That’s not difficult when I have you.”

The End

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