put an arm around Maddie and they carried on walking a bit further. Taffie ran in and out of the sea, snapping as the waves broke on the shore, barking madly at them.
‘Silly dog!’ She laughed as Ed then chased him in and out the waves, kicking up the water to cover the little dog. Ed strolled up to her, the towel draped across his shoulder
‘You really love him, Mum, don’t you?’
She turned sharply to look at him.
‘Greg,’ he said quietly.
There was no point lying. ‘Yes, yes I do, Ed, but I’ve had enough hurt and I don’t want any more pain between you two. You’re my son.’ She touched his arm.
‘I know, but I realise now, it’s not fair, Mum, it’s your life too,’ he said, pulling the towel with both hands. ‘You’ve been pretty sad since I got back. I’ve really been thinking about it. The shine has gone out of your eyes. I understand now,’ he continued, kicking the water with bare feet. ‘I mean, with Adity, I was thinking on the plane on the way back, imagine if I lost her, imagine if we couldn’t be together. That’s what it’s like for you, isn’t it? With Greg?’
She could feel her lower lip tremble and clamped down on it with her teeth. She stood for a while taking in what he was saying. ‘I just don’t know what he thinks anymore, Ed. I’ve lied to him and you’ve made it clear you want him out of our life – I mean, what must he feel? Hurt and betrayed, and it’s all my fault. And,’ Maddie said, breathing out a sigh, ‘I don’t know how to fix it.’
They made their way up to the coastal path, passing a few other walkers with dogs and wandered silently up the steps. Ed stopped on the bottom step and turned to her. ‘But I do,’ Ed said quietly. She almost couldn’t hear him with the noise from the gulls.
‘What do you mean?’
‘Look, Greg’s not so bad. I was just so angry, so protective of you, Mum. But now, well…’ He shifted his towel over his shoulder. ‘I’ve talked to Adity, all that stuff about Tim, I understand a bit more. Anyway, I texted Greg about that job at the water sports centre this morning. He said I could start straight away.’
And with that one small statement, she felt just the tiniest glimmer of hope.
64
Two weeks later, Maddie was just adjusting her position on the sofa, rubbing cream into her left hand when there was a knock at the door. She got up gingerly and winced – she’d also taken a knock to her hip when she’d fallen over the BBQ and every now and then it would be painful.
Opening the front door, there was a little jolt of surprise to her gut. Greg was standing there clutching a cardboard box under his arm. He was wearing board shorts and a pale blue T-shirt, his hair a shaggy mess in the wind.
‘Hey there.’ He looked at her from under his fringe.
‘Hi.’
‘I brought you these. I popped into the charity shop. There was a box of unopened paints and a sketchpad. Unused. I thought you could do a little painting, keep your, er, hand in?’ He rolled his eyes.
She smiled at him, then stepped to the side to let him in, watching as his tall frame filled up the hall as he marched into the lounge, leaving a waft of sea air and sun cream in his wake.
‘I’m not staying long,’ he said, looking up at her as he placed the box on the table and carefully opened up the cardboard flaps. Her stomach took a kick of adrenaline when he said it and she forced a smile.
‘I popped in to see Sue who gave me these little plates, too.’
Maddie peered inside. There, amongst tissue paper were rows of small white plates. And next to them was a painting tray and brushes.
‘Oh, Greg, thank you!’ She grinned, carefully taking the paints out of the box and looking at them. ‘Sue’s been asking if I can do any pottery at home, so I can use these, they’re acrylics. I won’t be able to fire them, but I can still paint them,’ she said turning a plate over in her hand, ‘then I can varnish them and they could be used for decoration.’
‘I know. I looked it up.’
She glanced at him sideways.
‘I read about it online,’ he said, scuffing his deck shoe across the rug.