The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper(84)

“You’ve never actually been to an airport before, except to see Dan off.”

“I’m not a child.”

They both laughed. It was something Lucy used to say when she was a teenager.

“Seriously, though, Dad. A month abroad is a long time. You need to be prepared. It’s not going to be like your holidays to Bridlington with Mum.”

“I hope not.” He laughed. “I want to try new food and culture.”

“You certainly have changed. I wonder what Mum would say if she could see you now.”

Arthur picked up his sunglasses. “I think she’d be pleased.” He glanced at his watch. “The taxi is ten minutes late,” he said.

“You have plenty of time.”

As another ten minutes ticked past, Arthur began to worry. “I’ll phone them,” Lucy said. She carried the phone into the kitchen. “Right. They said they didn’t have a note of your booking. They’re going to get someone here as soon as possible but they’re short-staffed. It’s rush hour and so it might be an hour.”

“An hour?”

“I know. It’s not good enough. We need to get you on the road now. If you get stuck in traffic... Is there anyone you can ask for a lift?”

“No,” Arthur said, but then he did know someone, a friend he could rely on for life.

Bernadette and Nathan arrived at the house ten minutes later. “You do know the way, don’t you?’’ He could hear her voice before the doorbell sounded. Briiiiing.

“How does she make it sound so loud?” Lucy asked.

Arthur shrugged and opened the door.

“Don’t worry, Arthur.” Bernadette bustled in. She pressed a carrier bag into his hand. “Some fresh sausage rolls for the journey. Nathan will get you there on time.”

Nathan nodded. He obediently picked up Arthur’s case and travel bag and put them in the trunk. Then he got into the car and waited. Lucy and Bernadette stood in the hallway. Arthur felt like a schoolboy with two aunts waving him goodbye.

“I always take some cereal bars,” Bernadette added. “In case I’m not keen on the food when I get there.”

Arthur gave Lucy a huge hug and a kiss. “I’ll send you a postcard.”

“You’d better do.” She nodded and then left the house. “Love you, Dad.”

“Love you, too.”

Bernadette seemed quite choked up. “I’ll kind of miss you, Arthur Pepper,” she said.

“You have plenty of other lost causes to attend to.”

“You were never a lost cause, Arthur. Just one who had lost direction a bit.”

“Who will I hide from now?”

They both chuckled and he noticed for the first time how clear her eyes were and that they were a kind of olive green with brown speckles. He loved how she embraced life and held it tight against her ample bosom, never letting it go.

“You never gave up on me,” he said. “Even though I gave up on myself.” He reached out to hug her. Bernadette hesitated for a moment and then stepped forward. They held each other for a few seconds before pulling away. He would have liked to have held her for longer and the feeling took him by surprise. She fitted against his body well, as if it was a place that she was meant to be. “See you in a month,” he said brightly.

“Yes,” she said. “You will.”

Nathan commanded the traffic. He nipped in gaps, took side roads, skipped a couple of traffic lights on amber. All the time he was calm. He hummed and tapped his finger on the steering wheel to the music that was so quiet Arthur could hardly hear it. “I’ll get you there, no worries,” he said. “My friends are well jell of you, y’know. Everyone wishes their granddads were like you, y’know, adventurous and stuff. I sort of told them you were like a surrogate granddad to me, seeing as I don’t have one of my own.”

It was a role that Arthur was keen to develop further. He had already made a mental note to stock up on icing, flour and those edible shiny balls when he got back, in case Nathan fancied a spot of cake-making together one day.

He sat back and marveled at this transformation in the young man. He had judged him by his hair, and that was a mere fashion that disguised a sensitive nature. “Is your mum okay now?”

“Yeah, thank God. I was worried that I was, you know, going to be an eighteen-year-old orphan. That would have sucked. Thanks for being there for her. It’s good to know that when I go to catering college she has a good friend to look out for her. Scarborough’s not too far away, either.”

“I’ve been to the college,” Arthur said, smiling about the life-drawing class. “The art department is lovely.”

“I can cook for you as well as my mum.”

“That’s great. Though please don’t make me marzipan cake.”

“Don’t worry. I hate it.”

“Me, too. I don’t know how to tell your mum that, though.”

“Me, neither.”

The airport was as bright as a dentist’s studio and the shops were stuffed with jewelry, teddies, clothes, perfumes, alcohol. He wandered around and bought some marbles and a cuddly elephant and a travel book for himself. He opened the front page and there was a map of the world. England was a tiny smudge. There is so much to see, he thought.