Chapter 23
TWENTY-THREE
MARK
The following morning Mark made himself a coffee and took it outside to the newly refurbished garden.
As he admired the surroundings, Alice’s words went round and round in his head and although he always felt better after spending time with Alice, her words weighed heavy on his mind. ‘Call your sister.’
As he stood watching a sparrow on the fence, he knew Alice was right.
After Diane’s death, he realised how life could change at any moment.
The sale of the apartments was another stark reminder of that.
Perhaps he ought to seize the moment a little more.
Besides, what kind of an older brother didn’t check up on his sister just because she was a big part of his mother’s life?
How hard could it be to pick up the phone?
But what would he say to her after all this time?
He tried to justify it slightly by reasoning that she had his number too and could have called him.
Especially knowing he had lost Diane. She had been kind in the months following Diane’s death, though, there was no doubt about that.
Maybe they had simply grown apart, or she was happy to have no contact, taking the easier road of keeping their mother happy.
Who knew? One thing was for sure, he would never get those answers without speaking to her.
He had really enjoyed himself yesterday.
Alice was such good company and although he hadn’t known her long, he felt completely at ease in her company.
Life was strange, he pondered as he listened to the soothing sound of the water feature.
He would have loved a mum like Alice, who was unable to have children, and yet was the son of a mother who might have preferred it if he had never been born.
Alice had divulged the information about not being able to have children without any emotion the evening he had stayed after the dinner party, and they were playing cards.
He remembered thinking at the time that there was no justice in the world.
She had told him all about George too, who sounded like a great guy.
She had empathised when he told her how much he missed his wife and had asked him all about her.
He had been blessed to meet a loving woman in Diane, who had showered him with affection, which he had hardly known what to do with when they first met. But over time, he had opened up, and her love had poured through him like a river until he became a loving husband in return.
He took a deep breath and resolved to contact his sister.
But right now there were more pressing matters at hand.
Someone from the marina had called to inform him of an act of vandalism where some of the boats, including his, had been daubed with paint.
He downed his coffee before heading down there to find out what the hell had happened.