The Survivors(58)

‘Yeah.’ Verity’s smile changed her face and Kieran realised how long it had been since he’d seen that. ‘I mean, I knew who Brian was, I’d seen him around. But then a group of us began going out to the Mary Minerva on someone’s dad’s boat, and it was out there where I really got to know him. We started talking, and then we started diving together and then we started meeting up back on shore.’ Verity smiled to herself. ‘We used to go out there all the time together. Even when we weren’t diving. We’d anchor a boat near the wreck, swim over to the caves and spend the day on the beach.’

Kieran remembered standing in that kitchen with Finn and hearing that very same story.

‘Oh God, please, I’m begging you. Just stop there.’ Finn had rolled his eyes good-naturedly as Verity and Brian exchanged intimate smiles across the table. ‘None of us needs to hear that I was conceived on that beach or anything, thanks very much.’

‘Not you, mate,’ Brian had said with a grin, throwing his arm around Kieran, who had groaned while Finn laughed.

Verity looked at the old life jackets now in Sean’s hands.

‘Brian used to love it out on the water,’ she was saying. ‘We used to free dive. Not around the wreck, obviously, but in the shallows.’

‘Seriously?’ Sean laughed. ‘That’s pretty hardcore. Even I don’t do that.’

‘No.’ Verity’s smile faded and she touched one of the packing boxes with the toe of her shoe. ‘Well. It was a different time.’

A muffled thump came from Brian’s study, followed by a barked swearword. Verity watched the door. When she turned back, her face seemed ten years older.

‘You should come,’ Sean said suddenly, and they all looked at him. ‘Tomorrow. Come for a dive. Conditions will be okay. I’ll be going out anyway, it’d be good to take a couple of people down. Do a practice run. Come. All of you.’

Kieran saw Mia, who had never taken to breathing under water, already shaking her head. Sean looked back to him and Verity. ‘Or both of you, then. See it again before you leave.’

‘Well –’ Verity glanced again at the study door. ‘I suppose I could check if the respite carer is available but …’ She was tempted, Kieran could tell. There was another small thump from the study, and what was becoming a familiar shadow crossed her face. ‘But it’s probably not a good idea. Thank you, though.’

‘Yeah, no worries.’ Sean shrugged. ‘Let me know if you change –’

He broke off as the study door squeaked open. As though feeling the heat of their collective attention, Brian stepped out. He stopped in the kitchen doorway when he saw them all standing there. His features folded with bewilderment, annoyance and something that looked very much to Kieran like fear. His dad didn’t know who they were or what was going on, and he was scared. Brian’s uncertain gaze darted around the room before fixing suddenly on Audrey, who stared back from Mia’s arms, unsure whether or not to burst into tears.

‘Everything all right, love?’ Verity aimed for light and airy but fell some way short.

Brian pointed. ‘Who’s that baby?’

‘That’s Audrey, our –’

‘No. I meant, what’s it doing here?’

‘Brian –’

‘I don’t understand.’ His eyes clouded with confusion. ‘I thought that girl of Finn’s decided not to go ahead with it in the end.’

Verity looked like she’d been slapped. Her mouth hardened, and she shook her head, stiff and tight.

‘Audrey is Kieran and Mia’s baby. Our granddaughter. She’s visiting.’

Brian stared at Audrey a moment longer, then made an irritated noise in the back of his throat. He dismissed her with a flick of his hand and, without another word, turned and shuffled back into his study. The soft click of the door echoed through the kitchen.

The water was cold, Kieran knew, but he had stopped feeling it a while ago. He was neck-deep, his toes just able to scrape the sand during the dip between waves. The light was fading fast as the evening drew in. Kieran let the next wave lift him, treading water as it surged and passed. He had swum, long fast laps, and was tired now. But he couldn’t seem to make himself get out of the water.

After Brian had returned to his study, Sean had gathered his life jackets and torch and made to leave.

Verity, who had been staring glassy-eyed at the kitchen table, blinked. ‘Oh Sean, I’m sorry. He’s very –’

‘Come diving, Verity.’ Sean had stopped her. ‘Before you move. Any time you want. You know what it’s like down there. Focus, breathing, all that good stuff.’ He gave her a small smile. ‘Doesn’t leave too much space to worry about anything else.’

‘Thank you. I’ll think about it,’ she’d said, in a way that suggested she actually might.

Kieran had left Mia in their bedroom, re-reading a G.R. Barlin novel she’d found on his bookshelf while trying to persuade Audrey to sleep. He’d grabbed some empty packing boxes and started systematically stripping the clutter from every cupboard and shelf in the living room. After a little while, he’d heard Verity clattering with boxes of her own in the kitchen. He could hear nothing from his dad’s study.

Kieran worked fast, making the decisions on first sight – box or bin, box or bin. He skimmed entirely over paperwork, boxing it blindly without reading it. He had made the mistake of looking too closely once before, two years after Finn had died, when Kieran had been searching for his own birth certificate. He’d instead stumbled across a worksheet that Brian had half completed during what could only have been a counselling session.