TWENTY-EIGHT
APPARENTLY, WE’RE A FAMILY
Oliver
Don’t come up. Come up tomorrow evening like you said.
That was easy for Alex to say. So much harder for me to swallow.
Anyone else and I would have overridden them, but not Alex.
That would be the fastest way to send her into flight mode.
Much as I hated it, I knew I had to pull back.
Tamp down all my natural and automatic urges to do things my way and take over as Alex had put it.
I called Dom later that afternoon, before I left the office. He didn’t do much to settle my nerves. Since when did I become an anxious person? Dom was honest, as always, which I appreciated as much as I loathed.
‘Something’s not right. I don’t trust Fletcher,’ he said.
Not what I wanted to hear when I was under orders to hold my position. ‘In what way?’
I knew he would have been checked out, and I’d seen his service record before we’d hired him. I hadn’t done the interview that time. It had been Dom and Aaron, always two of us. Which two depended on logistics.
‘It’s not so much him but Alex,’ said Dom. ‘The way she’s on edge when he’s about.’
‘Get everything you can on him.’
‘Already on it. I’ve asked someone I know for his unredacted file.’
I raised my eyebrows. It must be serious if Dom was asking for Fletcher’s whole file, all the shit that stayed within the military. Again, not something that put me at ease.
‘Do I need to worry?’
‘Not at this point, but I know you already are.’
‘Keep him away from her.’
‘Already got that covered. She’s on R&R for the day, albeit enforced, and he’s on resupplies. Sent him off to get something from Inverness.’
‘Inverness? What do we need from there?’
‘Nothing.’
Despite my concerns, I gave a small chuckle at Dom’s expertise in keeping Fletcher out of the way.
I collected Noah from school. I gave him a quick brief on what had happened to Alex just so he knew what to expect when he saw her.
‘She’s okay, though,’ I said. ‘Just might not be able to do too much this weekend.’
When we got home, I forced myself to go through the usual rituals of homework, cooking tea, and Noah having a bath and getting ready for bed before I called Alex. I would have liked to call her every hour on the hour, but even I knew that was overkill.
‘Hey, there,’ she said, smiling into her phone. She looked genuinely pleased to see me. She had that sleepy voice, like she’d just woken up.
‘Sorry, did I disturb you?’
‘No. It’s okay. I needed to be awake, anyway.’
‘Have you eaten?’
‘Grainger is apparently bringing me over food from the canteen in about half an hour.’ She ran her hand through her hair, pushing it back from her face and sat up. She was wearing my grey t-shirt again.
‘I wish you weren’t wearing that top,’ I said. ‘My mind cannot cope with thinking about you in it.’
She grinned. ‘Oh, you don’t like it on me. I’ll take it off.’
She went to pull it up one-handed over her head, revealing the bare flesh of her stomach.
‘‘Hey, Dad. Is that Alex?’ Noah came into my room and flopped down on the bed beside me. I instantly held the phone to my chest so he couldn’t see the screen. Not for the first time did I marvel at that boy’s timing.
‘I’m seriously considering sound proofing my room,’ I muttered. Then louder. ‘Yes, Noah. It’s Alex.’
‘Hi, Noah!’ came Alex’s voice.
‘Let me see,’ said Noah, pulling at my hand.
‘Yeah, let me see Noah,’ said Alex.
I held the phone up again, so we could both see her. ‘Dad said you fell over,’ said Noah.
‘Yes, just lost my balance. I’m okay though.’
‘Will you still be able to come out with us on Saturday?’
‘Noah,’ I warned.
‘What? I’m just asking. You said you didn’t know.’
‘I’ll be fine to come out. I wouldn’t miss it for the world,’ said Alex. ‘I’m not letting this sling stop me.’
‘I’ve drawn a picture. Do you want to see it?’ Noah held up a piece of paper I hadn’t noticed him come in with. ‘That’s me, you and Dad,’ he said, pointing at the figures. ‘We’re sitting around a campfire.’
‘It looks lovely,’ said Alex.
‘We’ve been horse riding. These are our horses.’
‘Wow. You’re so talented,’ she said.
It was a great picture, and Noah certainly had an artistic flair.
‘We had to do it at school. It’s called A Family Day Out. We had to draw a picture of something we had done or wanted to do with our family.’
An unexpected lump caught in my throat. I looked at Alex, and I could see she was battling with an overwhelming surge of emotion. She went to speak. Swallowed and tried again.
‘That is so nice,’ she said.
‘It’s for you,’ said Noah. He looked closer at the screen. ‘Are you crying?’ His gaze flicked to mine, full of concern.
‘It’s okay,’ I said. ‘Alex isn’t upset.’
She shook her head. ‘No. The opposite. It’s one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for me.’
Noah still looked a little uncertain.
Alex wiped a tear from her face. ‘I didn’t have much of a family when I was your age, and the fact that you’ve included me has made me so happy. It’s made me cry happy tears.’
‘You can be in our family now,’ said Noah.
Alex cried some more. Once she had finished reassuring Noah she was all right, and that she loved the picture, I gently sent him off to brush his teeth.
‘I’m so sorry,’ said Alex. ‘I don’t know what happened then. I was a blubbering wreck.’
‘Hey, you don’t have to apologise.’ I wondered if it was the picture that had set her off or whether everything had just caught up with her at once. ‘I wish you’d let me come up tonight and then I could look after you.’
‘I kind of do too,’ she said. ‘But that is not your cue to rush up here. I’m happy knowing you’ll be here tomorrow evening.’
Long after we had hung up, I kept thinking about our call and what Alex had said about being happy knowing I’d be there.
I believed her, and yet, there was a fraction of something in her voice that had me questioning it.
There was still something she was holding back on. I just hoped she’d tell me soon.
We pulled through the gates of Risk Estate just after eleven. Noah had fallen asleep on the short drive from the airfield to the estate, his head resting against the glass. Paddy had come up with us and was driving.
‘All looks quiet,’ he said as he drove the car up the track to the gatehouse.
I glanced across to my left, catching a glimpse of the staff lodges, but everywhere was in darkness. The lodge I was most interested in was, of course, around the corner.
Paddy pulled up into the parking space. Before I’d even got Noah’s door open, I heard Buddy first, the soft pad of his paws across the path. And then Alex appeared from the doorway. Her arm in the sling and a jacket draped over her shoulders.
‘Dom asked me to dog-sit,’ she said, coming over. ‘He’s with Grainger. Power cut.’
‘Grainger frightened of the dark?’ said Paddy.
Alex laughed. ‘Don’t let him hear you say that. The generator hasn’t kicked in, so they’re trying to fix it.’
‘I’ll go and see if they need help,’ said Paddy, taking a torch from the door of the car.
I waited until Paddy was gone, and before waking Noah, I went over to her. ‘I’ve missed you,’ I said. I wanted her to know it. I didn’t want to hold back this time.
‘I missed you too.’
I stood there, just taking a moment to appreciate her. ‘Hmm,’ I made some sort of appreciative grunt I wasn’t expecting. Then I gently wrapped my arms around her. ‘Are you okay?’
‘I am now.’ She snuggled into me for a brief moment before pulling back. ‘Let’s get inside. It’s freezing. Plus, I can’t see Buddy in the dark. I don’t want to get in trouble for losing him.’
As I woke Noah up, I wondered why Dom had asked Alex to babysit the dog.
Buddy had never needed minding before. I lifted Noah out of the car and carried him across the drive, following the beam of light from Alex’s torch.
Then it dawned on me. Of course, she wasn’t dog-sitting.
Buddy was Alex-sitting. I wasn’t sure if that was a good or a bad thing.
It was about an hour later when the power came back on. By this time, Noah was tucked up fast asleep in his bed, and Alex and I were just enjoying sitting together on the sofa. Dom had been right about Buddy liking Alex. The dog was sitting on the other side of her.
‘I’m going to have to put him out in his basket in the kitchen,’ I said. ‘I swear he keeps side-eyeing me every time I get close to you.’
Alex put her arm around Buddy. ‘Don’t worry, Buddy. You’re safe with me.’
A few minutes later, the door opened, and Dom appeared. ‘All sorted.’
‘Where’s Paddy?’ I asked.
‘He’s already got himself settled in at Grainger’s. Those two are like an old married couple.’
‘Now I have competition,’ said Alex. Buddy jumped off the sofa and trotted over to Dom to be made a fuss of. Alex got to her feet. ‘It’s late. I should get off. Leave you two to catch up.’
‘Like we don’t catch up every day,’ I said. I glanced over at Dom. He looked back. Read my unspoken words.
‘Why don’t you walk Alex back? I’ll listen out for Noah.’
‘Thanks, mate.’
‘Take your toothbrush,’ said Dom as he headed out of the room and down the hallway to the kitchen.
I looked at Alex. ‘Is that all right with you?’
She smiled. ‘I’m not complaining.’