Chapter 20
I fidgeted in my seat as we yet again inched forward. We’d been stopping and starting for what felt like forever and the longer it took traffic to get going again, the more I panicked over Mum and Jackson.
‘You don’t need to worry,’ Theo said. ‘They’ve got to be at the port by now. They could even be in France.’ He placed a hand on my knee and gave me a reassuring smile.
My gaze went from his Henry Cavill face to his Henry Cavill hand and my body temperature shot up again. ‘Okay,’ I replied, my voice higher than I would have liked.
He gave me a wink and needing to pull myself together, I took a deep breath and exhaled.
Thinking about Mum and Jackson again, I knew Theo was right; they had to be way ahead of us.
But finding ourselves forced into a sudden stop brought home just how vulnerable the two of them were.
Mum might have had a full licence but neither she nor Jackson were experienced drivers, and I worried it was only a matter of time before they really were involved in an accident.
The traffic began to move, only to slow down again.
‘This is ridiculous,’ I said, my patience running out.
‘I agree.’ To my surprise, Theo suddenly flipped the gearstick into neutral and yanked on the handbrake. He quickly got out of the car and raced round to my door.
‘What are you doing?’ I asked as he flung it open.
‘Shove up.’
With no choice but to oblige for fear of us causing an accident, I did as instructed before traffic started moving again.
Getting behind the wheel, Theo flipped the left indicator switch, looked behind us and swung the car onto the hard shoulder.
As the car sped up, I gripped the sides of my seat. ‘Jesus Christ, Theo. Are you trying to get us into trouble?’
We sailed past our fellow travellers and heading for an upcoming slip road, Theo drove us off the motorway, only slowing down when he reached the signed service station car park.
‘Not only was that manoeuvre illegal…’ I said as he pulled into a space. ‘…we don’t have time for this. We need to keep going.’
Theo turned off the car engine and unbuckled his seat belt. ‘What we need is coffee.’
I stared at the man aghast. ‘You mean you expect me to get out?’ I indicated my clothes. ‘You have seen how I’m dressed?’
Sniggering, he opened his car door. ‘Which has nothing to do with stretching your legs. Come on.’ Theo clearly wasn’t taking no for an answer. ‘Out.’
I hated being at the whim of someone else and being stubborn I continued to sit there.
‘If you’re that worried, you could always check out what’s on sale here.’
Rolling my eyes, I did as I was told and disembarked, but as we made our way towards the building and I caught my reflection in one of its huge windows, I wished I hadn’t. I’d known Mum’s clothes wouldn’t look great, but I hadn’t realised to what extent.
‘Walk with confidence,’ Theo said, clocking my embarrassment.
I buttoned up my coat. ‘Easy for you to say.’ As the entrance doors slid open, I nodded to the shop. ‘Wish me luck.’
With Mum’s slacks and anti-slip boots still visible, I’d hoped to at least find some age-appropriate footwear to change in to.
Even a pair of trainers would have done.
However, as I perused the clothing section I found it both limited and naff.
There was a rail of rainproof jackets, much like those I’d seen advertised on the back of Mum’s Peoples Friend magazine; various T-shirts, mainly in sizes S, XL and XXL; and a wide selection of headgear.
Santa hats, woolly hats, bucket hats, baseball caps, there was even a couple of cowboy numbers.
The only reference to footwear I could see was the Boots chemist aisle next to the meal deals.
Giving up all together, I left the shop behind and headed for the food and drink area.
Theo was still in line waiting to order when I got there and sticking my hand up, I waved to catch his attention.
The place was packed and with only one vacant table in sight, I pointed it out to Theo who gave me a thumbs-up.
I continued to observe him as I took my seat.
Although I wasn’t the only one. From the number of women discreetly checking him out, with coy smiles and fluttering eyelashes, Theo appeared to be building his own little fan base.
I understood the attention. Theo wasn’t lacking in the looks department and the fact that he seemed to have no idea about that made him even more attractive.
Even after a night of no sleep and goodness knew how many hours stuck in the world’s tiniest car Theo oozed gorgeousness. In comparison, I looked like Gollum.
I turned to the rest of my surroundings.
An instrumental of Wham’s ‘Last Christmas’ played through the building’s sound system and with people everywhere, the air of festive excitement was palpable.
A nearby family talked about what Santa might bring and as the littles ones in the group squealed in delight, the older children rolled their eyes.
At another table, a woman in her twenties made a point of waving her left hand around as she chatted to her boyfriend.
It didn’t take two guesses to know what she hoped to receive, although the fact she had to hint in the first place indicated he wasn’t worth her time and energy. She’d be better off single.
You think? I silently asked, reminded of my situation.
Rather than just people watch, I dug out a pen from my bag and reached for an unused napkin.
I sat poised to jot down ideas for my presentation, but my brain refused to focus.
I was obviously too preoccupied with Mum to think about collaboration, communication and group dynamics, so I pushed the napkin away and gave up altogether.
I swapped my pen for my earbuds and, with the sound of everyone else now blocked out, brought up Mum’s TikTok, hoping for an update.
She hadn’t posted one and my heart sank.
As well as garnering a few clues as to Mum’s and Jackson’s current whereabouts, it would have been good to know they were still alive and well.
Her account statistics caught my attention. Mum’s followers had grown massively, and many of them seemed to have left comments. Curious as what everyone had to say and why, I opened Mum’s video and hitting pause so I didn’t hear her ramblings over and again, I began to scroll.
‘Good for you!’ said BryonyT.
I huffed. You wouldn’t say that if it was your Mum who’d buggered off without so much as an au revoir.
‘Are you Ramp Lady?’ asked Teddybearhugs.
He or she had clearly mistaken Mum for someone else.
‘You go, girl!’ said Marissa123.
At seventy-nine years old, Mum’s long past being that.
‘Time to live your best life!’ said LindaMaeRobson.
That’s quite an assumption there, Linda. Up until Dad dying @maeveescapesthedungeon had a great life.
‘Ramp Lady!!!!’ said CatherineCooks, along with a slew of others.
Not for the first time, I wondered if Mum had a TikTok doppelg?nger and exiting Mum’s comment section, I typed Ramp Lady into the search bar.
My jaw dropped as video after video of Dad’s old Volvo flooded my phone screen, live action, stitched and duetted.
Was there anyone’s attention Mum hadn’t attracted?
I clicked on the first image which showed Violet’s rear end, complete with registration number.
My insides twisted in embarrassment at the sight of Dad’s car kangarooing up a ferry ramp; one wrong move and it would have been over the side and in the water.
The chap filming didn’t just keep his distance, he laughed uncontrollably as he zoomed in on the back of Mum’s head; her bright red beret further confirming her identity.
I held my breath in anticipation of Mum reaching the car deck, only to be left desperate as the video went into replay before she got there.
I returned to the search results and tapped on a second image.
Filmed by someone who’d already embarked, in this shot Mum and Jackson faced the camera.
They chuckled as they jolted back and forth with every vehicular judder, while I sat mortified, wondering what was so funny.
I willed Mum up onto the boat for a second time, however, my viewing was again cut short.
I let my phone drop and filling my cheeks with air, slowly exhaled.
The sensible part of me knew Mum hadn’t gone overboard; if she had, that would’ve been all over TikTok as well.
But from what I’d seen it was clear getting Mum off the road was more imperative than ever and returning to Mum’s personal comments section, I hoped at least one of her followers agreed.
‘Loving your vibe!’ said Dorothy.
‘Cheering you on!’ said Jellybelly.
Still picturing Mum’s marsupial impression, I frowned. Why are you all encouraging her? And what’s with all the exclamation marks?
My eyes narrowed as I spotted my name.
‘Tell Erin to mind her own business. You do you. She can do her,’ said Livelaughlove. With a name like that, irony clearly wasn’t his or her forte.
‘Your daughter needs a good slapping,’ said DevonshireDave.
My eyes widened and I let out a laugh. I’d like to see you try.
There were a few more criticisms levelled my way.
But I knew those calling me selfish and a bully wouldn’t dare say anything to my face.
Stood in front of me, they’d be all sweetness and light.
People like that much preferred to spread their vitriol from the comfort of their sofa or bedroom turned office.
Or in Devonshire Dave’s case, his basement.
Jackson appeared to have attracted quite a few admirers, which I found hardly surprising.
The lad had inherited his father’s looks and young girls did like a bad boy.
Most commentators, however, were there to cheer Mum on and looked forward to following her journey.
Pressing play I could see why; Mum was engaging.
The camera clearly liked her, and she had a cheeky grin that could brighten up anyone’s day.
I tried to remember when I’d last seen her properly smile like that.
I sighed, forced to acknowledge it was before Dad had died.
I’d heard her giggling with Jackson, but I’d never been privy to their jokes.
However, I supposed that was my own fault.
Rather than encourage Jackson to hang around in my presence, I’d looked at him with suspicion and been happy to let him scurry off back home.
My thoughts were interrupted by Theo as he landed with a tray of goodies. ‘Any news?’ he asked.
I pulled out my earbuds and swiped Mum’s face from the screen. ‘Aside of Mum needing to learn clutch control, nothing. Oh, and you were right. They got on an earlier ferry.’