Chapter 45
45
CHRISTMAS DAY 2018
Hey beautiful,
I hope you’re doing OK.
Long time no speak, I know, and I’m so sorry, for… well, everything. But I have to let you know, whatever you think of me, I’m coming to Europe and I need to see you. I must see you! I need to make amends for everything, and I hope you can forgive me. I arrive in Paris on New Year’s Day – it would be super cool if you could meet me, if it’s not too difficult for you to get there. I think about you a lot and want to make things right.
Besos,
Hector
x
Kate closes the lid on her laptop. She was only looking for her go-to cranachan trifle recipe, just to check how much whisky to put into the cream, and there it sat, a timebomb waiting to explode in her messages list.
She unscrews the lid off the Glenlivet, inhales the bitter blend of malt and wood, and a flame ignites in Kate’s stomach. Hector Herrera is coming to Europe.
Whatever for?
She shakily pours whisky onto a tablespoon six times, spilling it clumsily into the cream, where it dances dizzily under the Kenwood whisk.
How did he find me on Facebook? And why now? After all this time.
Kate thinks back to that summer, and the scents of mango, corn and motorbike exhaust fumes fill her with an excitement she hasn’t known for a long time.
A beep emanates from the kitchen island, pulling Kate away from the summer she graduated. It’s George’s phone. Face up.
Spatula in hand, Kate leaves the Kenwood to mix alone while she tries to read the message, but the reflection of the bulb in the pendant light above the island bounces off it and obscures the screen.
George walks in, wearing his Christmas Day jumper, and heads straight to his phone. Kate pretends she hadn’t noticed the beep and turns off the motor of the mixer.
‘Well, the Xbox is going down well,’ George says as he punches in a code only he knows and goes to read the message. ‘Ahhh. Mum and Dad. “Happy Christmas from the Jurassic coast! Love to Kate and the kids.” That’s nice.’
Kate nods compliantly, quietly, as she scrapes silky folds of cream onto raspberries.
I didn’t ask him who it was from.