Chapter Seventeen
There wasn’t much of a chance for a chat on a Saturday night at the cocktail bar and even less chance on Easter Saturday – it was heaving. But it did mean the shift went fast and there were quite a few tips, which were always appreciated. Cameron and Darla left together and stepped outside into a downpour.
‘Do you want a lift or have you got your bike?’ asked Darla.
‘My bike has a flat tyre but I didn’t have time to sort it and nobody in the house was willing to give me a lift.’
‘Why’s that?’ asked Darla.
‘I had a go at them. They are driving me nuts. The place is a constant tip; however much tidying and loading and unloading of the dishwasher I do it’s never enough. So I walked to work. The short answer would be: “Yes please, can I have a lift?”’
‘Great, this way,’ said Darla, whipping out a brolly and then realising that if she held it she would keep stabbing Cameron in the chin with it. ‘Here, you can be in charge of this.’ She handed it over. ‘This is brilliant. Now you can tell me all about the barbecue because I’ve not had a chance to hear it from Ros.’ Darla also thought it might be interesting to see if the two perspectives differed. ‘Did it go okay?’
Cameron opened the brolly with a flourish and gallantly kept it mainly over Darla. ‘You know, I thought it went really well.’
‘That’s terrific.’
‘Until the drive home and Ros was super quiet and not engaging.’
‘That sounds fairly normal for Ros, especially if she was tired,’ said Darla.
‘Nah, this was something else. I asked her if she was okay and she said fine and—’
‘Oh hell! What happened? I mean either something kicked off or you did something majorly wrong.’
Cameron seemed baffled. ‘How on earth do you work that out from Ros saying she’s fine?’
‘Dear Cameron, you have so much to learn. This isn’t just Ros; this is most of womankind. Let me tell you with absolute certainty that the woman who says she is “fine” is anything but.’
***
Ros was feeling quite conflicted about Cameron defending her at the work barbecue. On one hand she could appreciate that he had been standing up for her but on the other she could, and always had, look after herself. There had been an awkward silence in the car on the way home, which had been broken only by Cameron asking if she was okay and Ros replying ‘fine’.
Ros opened the door to him on Sunday morning at her dad’s to be met by a bunch of flowers. The bouquet lowered and Cameron’s sheepish face appeared over the top. ‘I think I may need to say sorry although I’m not entirely sure what I did wrong,’ he said, offering her the flowers.
As he tried to come in she shooed him back outside and pulled the door to – to stop Gazza escaping. ‘I appreciate that you were coming to my defence, I really do.’
‘Great, because those women were mean and you were quiet in the car so I thought perhaps I’d pissed you off, but if we’re good...’
‘I hadn’t quite finished,’ said Ros. ‘I would say I was a little put out, rather than pissed off. Maybe I didn’t need you to come to my rescue like that. Perhaps I could have handled it myself seeing as I’m an adult.’
‘Okay. And how would you have handled it?’ he asked with a tilt of his head.
‘Well, I would...’ Ros replayed the situation in her mind. ‘It probably didn’t need any intervention so—’
‘You would have done nothing?’
‘Possibly.’
Cameron raised an eyebrow.
‘Okay fine,’ said Ros. ‘I wouldn’t have said anything. It’s easier that way. They are not my friends so it doesn’t really matter.’
‘Which means they would have got away with it and would continue to be unkind to you and possibly other people. I think I did the right thing because maybe now they’ll think before they speak. But if I upset you then I’m sorry.’
‘Again, I’m not upset. But another time perhaps you could ask me first?’
‘Sure, thing.’ He offered the flowers again. ‘Friends?’
‘What’s going on here?’ asked Barry, pulling the door fully open. ‘Oh I know what this is. That’s a man in trouble right there,’ he said, pointing at Cameron with a chuckle. ‘What did you do? One too many beers? Forgot something?’
‘Dad, it’s fine and it’s all sorted now.’
Barry looked questioningly at Cameron. ‘I stuck up for her at the barbecue and I should have asked first.’
‘Ah, she’s a feminist, lad. You’ll get used to it. Come in.’ Barry ushered him inside. ‘Was there a row?’ he asked, looking keen to get the gossip.
Ros shook her head at both of them and brought the bouquet inside.
Cameron regaled Barry with a blow-by-blow account of the barbecue, making it sound like an enjoyable affair apart from the women’s comments. Ros’s recollections were slightly different but then she had had to endure far more of them than he had. Ros kept the flowers in their cellophane but put them in some water to keep them fresh until she took them home.
When she joined them in the living room Barry was literally sitting on the edge of his seat, enwrapped, and Gazza was lying on his back on Cameron’s lap having his tummy rubbed – they both looked exceptionally happy.
Barry leaned back and patted the arms of his chair. ‘Well, I think you did the right thing, Cameron.’
‘Are we taking sides?’ asked Ros, feeling slightly put out.
‘No. I’m only saying that I think Cameron acted as any caring partner would and he stood up for you. I think that’s to be admired.’ He held up his palms before she could put him straight. ‘But what do I know? I’m not PC, or “woke” is it these days?’
Cameron was grinning but when he saw Ros’s expression he reverted to neutral. ‘Anyway, I think overall it went well.’
‘At least it’s over for another year,’ said Ros.
‘Your Uncle Pete sends his love. And he wants a photo of you and Cameron. He says you’ve updated your status but still no pictures. I said you’re bound to have some of the two of you together that you can share.’ Barry looked from Cameron to Ros.
‘Err, I don’t tend to take many photographs.’ Ros was not a fan of everything being recorded on social media and felt the people who posted pictures of their breakfast probably needed specialist help – had they not seen food before? And why on earth would they think others would be interested? She found it bizarre.
‘I’ve got some,’ said Cameron, making Ros frown at him. She would have had to be present so she knew he hadn’t taken any. ‘I’ll send you them later and we can post them on Facebook.’
Ros was confused. ‘Could you help me with the beef please?’ she asked and Cameron moved Gazza onto the sofa and followed her out.
Once in the kitchen Ros swivelled around to address Cameron, startling him a little. ‘What are you doing?’
‘Hey, it’s okay. We’ll take a few after dinner, upload them and then Uncle Pete will back off. It’s all cool.’
‘Please can you run things like this by me before confirming them to other people? That’s all I’m asking. And don’t go ganging up against me with my own father.’
‘Whoa! There was no ganging up. He just agreed with me.’
‘Same thing.’
‘Gotcha. Again, I’m sorry.’ Cameron pointed at the flowers. ‘It’s a good job I got a big bunch.’
‘You didn’t need to get flowers and I don’t think I said thank you, which was rude.’
‘It was.’ Cameron watched her and waited.
‘Thank you, they are lovely, but as this is a business arrangement you don’t need to buy apology flowers.’
‘Maybe not but I do what I think is right.’ Gazza trotted into the kitchen, which distracted them, and Ros got on with serving the dinner.
After dinner her dad looked like he needed a nap so Cameron suggested they take Gazza for a walk. He made the mistake of saying the word ‘walk’, which meant there was no getting out of it as the dog was now dancing around their ankles like the trip hazard he was. Barry put on Gazza’s harness and handed the lead to Cameron, which Cameron looked very pleased about. Gazza led them out and in the direction of the park.
‘That meal was stunning. The beef was excellent. You’re a very good cook.’
‘It’s just a roast. I don’t have a wide repertoire I’m afraid.’
‘I liked it. Obviously the Yorkshires make it.’
‘Obviously.’ Ros and Cameron walked in step with Gazza in the front like he was on a mission. He was a little dog but he was quite strong. She wondered how long it would be before it was too much for her dad to walk him. ‘Thanks for offering to walk the dog. That was thoughtful. Dad is looking more tired each time I see him.’
‘I have to confess I was thinking it was a good opportunity to get some photographs for Uncle Pete.’
‘Ah, I see. Now explain to me your idea about these photos.’
‘I think a few selfies in the park will do it.’
‘I don’t like that he’s stalking me online,’ said Ros.
Cameron laughed. ‘He’s your uncle, and I’m not being rude but I get the impression it’s been a while since you had a boyfriend.’
Ros turned to look at him. ‘Depends on what you’d call a while. I suppose it’s been almost two years. But it’s not any of his business.’
‘I agree, but if he’s like your dad he’s got time on his hands, probably not many people he interacts with and he’s curious. That’s normal.’
‘Is it? He has a job. You’d think that would keep him busy enough.’
‘Totally. It’s the right side of normal. We could not do what we’re doing with my mum. Let me tell you. She’d be in your sock drawer after the first date.’
‘That’s rather intrusive.’
‘She doesn’t mean to be like that, but she’s intense. I’m her baby boy and she’s always going to look out for me.’
‘But you’re a grown man. Don’t you find that under-mining?’ she asked.
‘Nope. In her eyes I’ll always be her baby. It’s the power of maternal love. It’s intense. Plus she’s done so much for me – I can let her get away with a little overprotectiveness.’
Ros wasn’t sure. It sounded like a violation of privacy to her but she wasn’t going to argue. What did she know about maternal anything?
***
They reached the park and walked down to where the wisteria covered the arch that went across the path. ‘This is very Instagrammable,’ said Cameron, swapping Gazza’s lead to his other hand so he could get his phone out.
‘Is that even a word?’
‘It’ll keep Uncle Pete happy. Look like you love me.’ Cameron held up his phone to snap a selfie.
‘And how would that look?’ Ros was genuinely curious. Would her uncle read anything into these photos?
Cameron was grinning and Ros was frowning. ‘It doesn’t look like that. Just smile and it’ll be fine.’
‘Will it though?’ Ros was getting concerned. ‘I’m not great in photos at the best of times. Even Dad said my passport photo looked like a police mug shot.’
Cameron nodded. ‘I’ve got an idea.’ He passed Gazza’s lead to Ros and she wondered what he was doing. He manoeuvred her a little so the purple backdrop of the wisteria was in shot. ‘Ready?’
‘No, because I have no idea—’ She didn’t get to finish her sentence because Cameron lifted Gazza into her arms and the overexcited pup began trying to lick both their faces. Despite the unwelcome doggy kisses it did make Ros laugh and Cameron snapped away.
‘You had better have got a good one,’ she said, wiping her chin, but she wasn’t cross. She felt a bit giggly, which wasn’t like her.
‘Yeah I think I did,’ he said, scanning the reams of shots of her laughing.