“Maybe. But some people get desperate. Don’t you think it’s better they voice their concerns than internalize them?”
“Yes, to a professional, not to a bloody disc jockey pretending to be some kind of professional psychiatrist. And then have the rest of the listeners hearing all about your issues and giving their own bloody suggestions. It’s the sickest form of entertainment there is. If you ever had a personal problem, would you dial into one of those things?”
Marcus had to think about that for a moment. “Point taken. Probably not.”
They both fell silent then. Tom’s reaction should not have surprised him. Raine always said Tom preferred to suffer in silence rather than to talk problems through.
“So what’s this guy like?” asked Tom.
“Which—oh, Daniel? He’s okay. Pretty fit, actually. We used to go to school together. He’s a police sergeant in Bromley now.”
“He’s a copper?” said Tom, swinging around to stare at Marcus.
“Yes,” said Marcus, chuckling. “Don’t worry, he was off duty today. And it’s okay to be gay and in law enforcement these days, Mr. Bradford.”
“I didn’t mean—” said Tom, an admission of guilt if ever there was one. “You’ll make a nice couple. Both have no sense of decency where swimwear is concerned.”
“You’re just jealous, Grandpa. And mark my words. One of these days, I’m going to get you into a pair of Speedos. You’d rock them.”
Beside him Tom snorted but said nothing.
“Did you see the woman who came over to talk to us?” asked Tom after a few minutes of silence. “While you were away getting ice creams?”
“Looked like a bell pepper on legs?”
“Actually she was really nice. Chatted with Katie and complimented Charlie on her dancing. Said we were like the British equivalent of a modern family, whatever that meant, and that we ought to be on the cover of something calledAttitude. Do you know what that is?”
Marcus couldn’t help the laughter that burst from him.
“What?” asked Tom, turning to look quizzically at Marcus before returning his concentration to driving.
“Attitudeis a British gay lifestyle magazine. And when she mentioned modern family, I think she was referring to the American comedy series that features male gay parents and their adopted daughter.”
“She thought I was gay?” said Tom, horrified.
“She thought we were a couple,” chuckled Marcus.
“Oh, I see.” Tom fell silent then, appearing to process what Marcus had said.
“Does that bother you?”
“Why should it?”
But they spent the next thirty minutes of the journey home in silence. Not that Marcus minded. The scent of Tom’s distinctive deodorant or body spray—he had no idea which—drifted across the space. And with only the sound of the traffic to distract him, together with Tom’s soothing driving technique, Marcus soon found himself drifting off to sleep.
Even now, looking back, he had no idea why he opened his eyes at the exact moment the back of a white van appeared from nowhere, broadsiding the passenger side of their car.
Chapter Six
ALLMarcus remembered was his natural instinct to lean away as the van hit the front passenger door and the screech of metal upon metal as the car spun around. Even so, the impact thrust him sideways, and he smacked his head against the doorframe, producing a searing pain around his neck as the airbags inflated, and he blacked out.
When he awoke in a hospital bed, the doctor appeared to be more bothered about checking for a concussion rather than the fractured collarbone, which was apparently far less serious than the associated pain. Once he was fully conscious, Marcus’s only concern was about the other passengers in the car.
“Everyone’s fine,” reassured Dr. Kimura, a tiny but clearly capable woman. “Fortunately the other driver was not traveling at great speed. The children don’t even appear to have been shaken up—both were sleeping at the time.”
“What about my friend Tom?”
“Absolutely fine,” she said, and then her expression turned a little reprimanding. “He had the foresight to call an ambulance when he realized you’d been hurt. He’s in the waiting room now. The grandmother took the children home. But your friend won’t leave until he gets to see you. Do you feel well enough?”
