Chapter 52
FIFTY-TWO
MARK
They had such a small family, and his mother had few living friends, so the internment at the crematorium was small and brief.
Afterwards, Mark took Lynn and his nephew, Kyle, out for a meal.
He barely recognised his nephew, with his long hair. He was wearing a black T-shirt and jeans and was attending a local music college.
‘So do you get any local gigs?’ asked Mark as he tucked into his fish and chips.
He felt ashamed he knew so little of his life these days. Three years could mark such a change in a teenager’s life. He was determined to make up for lost time.
‘A few,’ said Kyle. ‘At the uni mainly.’
As his nephew sipped his pint, Mark realised that the last time he saw him he had only been allowed soft drinks. Never again would he waste a second of spending time with loved ones. Losing Di should have taught him that.
Kyle told Mark a little about the music his band played, when he had asked, but he was reserved with his answers.
‘Do you mind if I get off?’ asked Kyle an hour later after he had taken a message on his phone. ‘A couple of my mates are going into town.’
‘No, you go,’ Lynn said, giving her son a farewell hug. It hadn’t been easy for him today. Making conversation with an uncle he had not seen in a while. He had always loved Mark, and when he had gone quiet on them, Kyle felt abandoned.
Not that Lynn was blaming Mark. He had been dealing with his own grief.
And she supposed she could have reached out to him a little more too and met on neutral ground.
She knew how difficult it was for him to visit her when their mother had been staying.
Her nursing job had all but drained her, though, so anything else was put on the back-burner.
It amazed her how adults could lecture their kids on how to behave when they were often so screwed up themselves.
‘He’s a good lad,’ said Mark after Kyle had departed. ‘You have done a good job.’
‘Thanks.’ She smiled. ‘And so have you.’
‘Me?’
‘Yes, you. Kyle adored you and Diane. He still talks of those walks in the Lake District fells when he was little. And how you taught him how to drive.’ She laughed.
‘Ssh, that wasn’t strictly legal, that.’ He pulled a face, recalling a time he had let Kyle take the wheel on a deserted stretch of beach when he was about thirteen.
‘And that time you took him to the Grand Prix at Silverstone. He was the envy of his whole class that year. Not many kids his age got to do stuff like that.’
‘I suppose so.’ He grinned. ‘Thanks, Lynn.’
‘What for?’
‘For those memories. Maybe I shouldn’t be so hard on myself.’
‘You shouldn’t,’ she said kindly. ‘He’s busy as all twenty-one-year-olds are. I barely get a look in myself these days.’ She smiled. ‘Which is how it should be. But I know he is thrilled at the thought of you being around a bit more.’
‘Do you think?’
‘I know so,’ she assured him. ‘Oh, and I want you to know that there is a spare room at my place,’ she offered. ‘Should you need it.’
‘Thanks, sis,’ he said gratefully.
When they said their goodbyes, Mark felt a mixture of optimism for the future and regret for the past. Never again would he waste a second of his time being estranged from his loved ones. Losing Diane should have taught him that.
As he headed home he thought about Alice’s wise words. She had often talked about communication, and how love could conquer all. Her words had seemed a little idealistic when he thought about it, yet he did feel a kind of peace at his dying mother’s bedside. He was glad he went.
He would miss Alice when she was no longer here, which was something he did not like to think about. In the meantime, he would drive her to Sefton Park some time to take that trip she had often talked of doing.