Mum waited for a while before she spoke again. ‘You know, it’s incredible how after getting so hurt that night, despite all the physical and mental limitations, Elliot has been so determined to create the life he wanted, anyway. To be who he wants to be. I’m so proud of him.’
‘What’s your point?’ I asked, unable to hide a trace of bitterness. ‘Well done, Elliot, you’re so strong and brave and amazing. Unlike Jess, still floundering around in her own failure.’
Mum twitched, visibly shocked. ‘No! No, Jessie. What are you talking about? Elliot is strong and brave and amazing, but I wasn’t for one second comparing him to you!’
‘Well, that’s a relief.’
‘And my point is,’ she said after pausing for Dad to announce that dinner was ready, two red spots appearing on her cheeks the only indication that she was upset, ‘that whatever you’ve been through – and I know something happened that summer; it was more than your friend being in an accident – I want you to take hope from Elliot’s story. That however bad things are, how woeful the diagnosis, there is hope that one day, we can get through it. We might never recover completely, but we can be happy, and whole enough, and life can be wonderful again.’
‘Some bubbles to celebrate a great first day?’ Dad called across the kitchen, eyes gleaming as he held the bottle aloft.
A great first day? I thought about that. About my parents, so determined to look at the best in people, at their successes and not their scars. ‘I did manage to avoid a riot at lunchtime.’
‘You were magnificent! Maybe take your shoes off before standing on the table next time, but if they’re eating out of your hand like that on the first day, before long we won’t even need the emergency protocol.’
‘Thewhat?’
Dad handed me a glass and changed the subject.
8
I left a few hours later, Dad dropping me off as it was growing dark. As I went to make myself a cup of tea, I heard the back door open, and Penny burst in, wagging her tail as if finding me there was quite simply the best thing that had ever happened to her.
‘Hey.’ Elliot paused for a split second when he saw me crouched down, stroking Penny’s head.
‘Hi.’ I stood up, giving him a chance to remember who I was and why I was in his kitchen. He was wearing the short shorts and sleeveless top again. I decided it was best to keep my focus on Penny, nuzzling her head against my waist while he took off his trainers, placed them on the mat and locked the back door exactly as he’d done before.
‘How was your first day?’ he asked, as Penny trotted over to have her paws wiped.
I looked up, with a flush of surprised pleasure that he’d remembered.
‘It was… interesting?’
He grinned. ‘I can imagine.’
‘From the look on your face I’m guessing you’ve met some of the Outlaws.’
‘My Grandad used to be one of them.’
‘And you didn’t think to warn me?’
Elliot stood up, running one hand through hair dank from the effort of his run. Penny had sat down, head moving back and forth between us as if this was the most riveting conversation she’d ever witnessed.
‘On their own, they’re mostly a nice, normal bunch. It’s when they gather that they can go a bit…’ He stopped, brow furrowing as he hunted for the word.
‘Feral? Uncontrollable? Violently mob-like?’
‘I was going to say boisterous.’ He raised both eyebrows in a gesture so familiar that a spark of ancient chemistry flickered deep down inside. ‘You look as though you emerged intact, though. No obvious bruises or open wounds. You must be good at crowd control.’
‘I stood on a table and yelled at them to stop acting like five-year-olds.’
‘Nice.’ He started filling up a glass with water.
‘Some of them even apologised.’
His eyebrows flicked up again.Spark.
‘That’s very impressive. Isaac’s still waiting for an apology for the time a pack of them broke into the wedding storeroom and had a confetti fight.’
