‘You’re not going to crash the car,’ Simon said assuredly as she came to the front of the gatehouse.
‘First drive – do you want to sit in the back seat?’ she asked.
Diana waved her stick at her. ‘No, thank you. Now get along with you both.’
Amanda smiled and gave the car horn a toot before driving on down to the road.
‘Okay, tell me what I’m doing,’ she said to Simon.
‘You’re turning right, so you will go out onto the other side of the road.’
A car passed them and Amanda turned on her indicator.
She looked both ways and then turned onto the road as Simon instructed.
‘Oh my God, I’m driving on the other side of the road,’ she said, gripping the steering wheel.
‘That’s what people from the UK say when they go to America and drive there,’ Simon reminded her.
‘True, but still, it’s fun,’ she said. ‘Where will we go?’
‘It’s your car, so wherever you want,’ he said.
‘Let’s go to the village. I haven’t seen any of it yet. Have you?’
‘I spent one night in the pub. I didn’t really fit in or probably I didn’t try. I don’t really have a lot of friends. Not because I don’t like people but it feels like no one takes the time to know anyone anymore,’ he said.
‘Nice self-awareness there, old man,’ said Amanda.
‘You’re one of those Americans who loves therapy, I bet.’
Amanda laughed. ‘I have been in therapy since I was twelve, but stopped going when my mom got sick. I mean, you can’t really make someone happy about their mom dying of cancer.’
‘True,’ agreed Simon.
They drove in silence for a while but it wasn’t awkward, for which Simon was relieved.
‘So I just stay on this road?’ she asked.
‘Yes, that’s right,’ he said.
He noticed the whites of Amanda’s knuckles were showing and he reached out and touched her hand lightly.
‘Relax, Lewis Hamilton.’
Amanda gave a nervous laugh. ‘Yes, I’m a bit anxious,’ she said, but she loosened her grip a little.
Simon looked at the sea as they passed. It was grey and still and the beaches were wide and empty.
‘I wonder if it gets busy in the summer,’ Amanda said with a glance at the sea.
‘I don’t think so. People tend to go down to Cornwall or Devon in the summer, or they go to Europe.’
‘What a shame,’ said Amanda. ‘But better for us. I sometimes went to the Hamptons with my best friend Lainie. Her parents have a house there but it’s kind of boring and very pretentious. I preferred Cape Elizabeth in Maine. Mom and I went there a few times. She would rent a room at this inn looking over the sea, and I would paint and draw and she would write and, I tell you, it was as near to perfect as anything else I have ever known. You know what I mean?’
Simon laughed. ‘No, I don’t actually. I don’t think I’ve ever had such a visceral response to anything the way you just described. I feel like I’m missing out.’
‘There’s still time,’ said Amanda.
