Chapter 36

I was ready and waiting outside my flat at seven sharp; Kathryn had advised me to wear my normal sailing attire but to bring a change of clothes as well as lunch, and I had gone a little overboard the night before packing other things I had no idea if I needed, including cards, extra snacks, and a beach towel. My stomach did a little flip as I saw her familiar blue Prius making its way down the street, though there was an unfamiliar face in the backseat that I knew must be Jonas.

I trotted over, opening the boot to dump my bag and noting that it was somewhat more packed than usual, though that was perhaps expected given that we had an extra person. As I got in I noted that Kathryn didn't have the radio on as she usually did, presumably for Jonas's benefit.

"Good morning, Alex," Kathryn said brightly, turning to smile at me. "How are you?"

I grinned broadly at her slightly over-polite greeting, although I couldn't help but be slightly nervous at the idea of spending time with her along with her son.

"You must be Jonas," I said now, to the boy in the backseat, who raised his gaze to mine briefly, giving me a polite but unenthusiastic smile. I was struck by how much like his mother he looked, although I had never seen her wearing such a studied expression of boredom admittedly. Finally I climbed into the car and we were off.

 

The drive was quiet at first; Jonas dropped off into sleep, his head against the window, and Kathryn seemed loathe to wake him. As the morning progressed and he continued sleeping, however, she eventually spoke up, though she kept her attention on the road ahead.

"So - how was your evening?"

"Hm? Oh, nice. I went along to Debbie's knitting group," I said with a slight smirk. I didn't look at Kathryn - honestly I was watching road signs, trying to figure out where we were headed. As we made our way down the South West coast I was starting to get an idea, although I didn't quite dare to voice it even internally. "Yours?" I said after a pause. "Did you cave and watch The Dark Knight in the end?"

"It was inevitable," she sighed. "Not that it was bad, mind you - I enjoyed parts of it. And Jonas loved it, even though he's seen it a dozen times already."

"Suitably delighted by the flatscreen, then, is he? I take it you didn't manage to talk him into following it up with the Blue Planet on Blu-ray?"

"Not hardly. 'Mu-uum, I've already seen the Great Barrier Reef, this is boo-oring..."

"Aw, even shiny high-def can't tempt him? Clearly he's a teenager."

"Must be," she said, and I caught her giving him a fond glance in the rear-view mirror.

I smiled a little to myself. "Scared yet?"

"Oh, terrified. On the other hand, I've heard teenagers are pretty resilient, so it seems unlikely that we'll be able to scar him too badly. Though we may try."

"I suppose parts of the last few months can't have been too easy for him," I ventured gently now.

"No, definitely not," Kathryn agreed. "I worry that what happened between me and Keith is going to affect him badly in the future... And I just can't stand the thought."

"I don't know," I said. "I mean, I'm not a mother, obviously," I qualified, "but my parents lived together in a marriage that made them both miserable until after I went to uni, and honestly even as a kid I just wished they could both be happy..." I trailed off as I caught sight in the mirror of Jonas's eyelids flickering, just slightly. Was he really asleep? Making a mental note to be careful what else I said, I went on nonetheless. "...even if it meant them being apart," I finished.

"Well, that's good to hear," Kathryn replied, glancing at me momentarily with a grateful smile, and the sudden urge to move my hand and place it over hers where it rested, currently unmoving, on the gearstick was almost unbearable. "Clearly you turned out all right," she wet on, "so I shouldn't worry too much."

"Well, I have my share of neuroses," I said, "but I wouldn't blame my parents for them."

"Well, clearly, if you're willingly attending a knitting group..."

"Ah, but then clearly you aren't aware of the knitting-baking correlation," I replied sagely, "they have excellent cakes."

That must've been the magic word, as Jonas stirred and pushed himself upright behind us. "Are we there yet? I'm hungry."

"Not yet, but there are snacks in the bag by Alex's feet - I'm sure if you ask nicely she'll give you some."

"Sure thing," I said, and not waiting for the magic word I bent down to sift through the snackfood on offer. "We've got carrot sticks, celery, and granola bars," I said.

"Aw, what? Mu-um..."

I cast an amused glance Kathryn's way. "That's your lot I'm afraid... hey, wait, who put a Mars bar in here?"

"Jo-nas..."

For his own part Jonas sat forward and I tossed the offending chocolate over the back of the seat, which he caught neatly.

"Nice!" said my new ally.

"At least it's not one of those disgusting Pepperami meat sticks," Kathryn said with a roll of her eyes, sighing.

"I think I have one of those in my rucksack, actually," I confessed with a smirk.

"Okay, both of you, out of the car," she ordered while Jonas snickered. "You can walk to Wales."

"Ah hah, I knew it," I said. "We are committing piracy."

"Yarrr!" Jonas declared. Kathryn laughed.

"Something like that, yes. I hope you brought your eyepatch."

"More like a crutch and a pegleg if our last excursion is anything to go by..."

"Mm, we'll do our best to avoid that this time. Even if it means lowering you over the side in a lifeboat."

 

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