“The large photo,” said Adrian. “It’s so obvious. She was totally smitten.”
“You know, she absolutely hated when Luke gave me any attention. We fell out about it a couple of times. But I think all of us were a little bit in love with him, to be honest. Even Howie. Luke was like the brother he never had.”
“Yeah, I can see that,” said Adrian. “Luke had a certain charisma, didn’t he? So he and Howie were only ever friends, if you know what I mean?”
Pippa became pensive then.
“I was the one Luke confessed to. About him not being interested in girls. I think he sensed my attraction to him and wanted to let me down gently. But I’ve often wondered if there was something more between him and Howie. We spent a lot of time together, so if there was, well, let’s just say they kept everything well hidden. I remember one year both Luke and Howie got chatting to an Australian guy, a good-looking casual worker on a local farm, but I think that was more about research for Howie. He wanted to know the best places to visit in Australia. And then, of course, he disappeared off on his travels come his twenty-first birthday.”
“When was this?”
“Howie disappearing? The year before Luke killed himself. But honestly, I feel sure the two things aren’t connected. Howie’s intention to escape wasn’t a secret. For four years he’d worked a bunch of part-time jobs and saved up money to do exactly that, to go travelling once he was past his teens.”
“Did you ever hear from him again? After he left?” asked Lenny, looking up.
“No. Not even a postcard. But that doesn’t surprise me. Luke devoured books and enjoyed writing letters and postcards. Howie read comic books and signed the occasional greetings card, but that was about it. He wanted adventures, the wilder the better. Planned to travel and work his way around the world. And as I said, he couldn’t wait to get away from Hobbiton, as he called this place.”
“How about Freya? He must have kept in touch with her.”
“So there’s another thing. They may have had some similarities in appearance, but they had very different interests and rarely got along. Which was one of the reasons my mother asked me to befriend Freya. Luke was the one who brought us all closer somehow, partly because we were all so fond of him.”
“What about Freya’s mother and father?”
“For the most part, they were brought up by their grandmother,” said Pippa, and she appeared uncomfortable telling the story. “I don’t know how to say this without sounding indelicate. Freya and Howard were born out of wedlock. Their father had just turned sixteen, and had a holiday fling with a nineteen-year-old from Manchester, down this way for their summer holidays. A year later the girl’s parents turned up the doorstep and gave him an ultimatum. Either he took the babies or the girl’s parents would put them up for adoption. Mrs Williams, Freya and Howie’s grandmother, was a thoroughly decent woman, and agreed immediately. And with the help of her son, the father, they raised them both.”
“Is the father—?” asked Lenny.
“No, he’s dead. So is the grandmother. I think Freya’s grandmother’s death seriously affected her. Even as a kid she was never particularly outgoing, but the loss of the steadying presence of her grandmother sent Freya further back into her shell.”
Everyone fell silent for a moment, contemplating the story.
“Well, this has been a fun evening,” said Adrian at last, which at least raised a chuckle from Lenny and Pippa. Right at that moment, their food order arrived. “Tell you what, Pippa. To distract us and lighten the mood, why don’t you tell us what plans you have for the gardens of Bryn Bach?”
By nine-thirty, they decided to end the evening. Finally, the rain had stopped, and a full moon had even decided to turn out. Adrian offered Pippa a lift, but she only lived a short walk away in the opposite direction and chose to enjoy a stroll in the cool night air.
After bidding her goodnight, Adrian walked alongside Lenny as they dodged puddles in the lamplit car park, skirting the building and heading towards Adrian’s truck. When Lenny breathed out a tired and steamy yawn into the evening air, Adrian grabbed him by the arm and pushed him up against a wall.
“Wh-at?” laughed Lenny, his eyes wide with surprise.
“Oh no, you don’t,” he said. “You’re not sleeping on me. We’ve got plans tonight.”
And with that, he brought their lips together and felt Lenny chuckle into the embrace, before stilling, taking the kiss deeper and groaning. After a second, he pushed his hands on Adrian’s chest.
“Okay, point taken. Let’s get back.”
Adrian got them home on the empty roads in record time and parked the truck beneath the tree canopy. Lenny went ahead to unlock the front door, and when Adrian reached him, he had already stepped across the threshold, to flick on the hallway light. When he turned back to Adrian, a glint in his eye, he sauntered seductively backwards into the house, smiling his intention. Adrian snorted and had been about to grab at him when something caught his eye.
“Lenny. Stop moving.”
Lenny must have seen the seriousness on Adrian’s face because he halted and looked around.
“What, Ade? What is it?”
“The floor. Look at the floor.”
A set of damp footprints still glistened and darkened the dusty floorboards, moving from the hallway to the living room then back out towards the front door.
“We’ve had a visitor.”
