Second Chance(6)

“Yeah, sure. Come on then.” Nate manoeuvred his trolley past Jack’s. “Bye, Jack, bye, Mrs Redford. It was good to see you.” His politeness sounded automatic and insincere.

“Bye,” Jack said, still stunned.

As soon as they were out of earshot, Jack turned to his mum and said, “Why on earth didn’t you tell me about Nat… Nate I mean? You must have known?”

“I didn’t,” she replied. “Believe me I would have mentioned it if I’d known. I didn’t know she had a daughter either.”

“He,” Jack corrected her automatically. He knew enough to know how much pronouns mattered. “Nate’s a he now.”

“That might take a bit of getting used to.” His mum frowned. “But I didn’t know anything about it. You know I don’t socialise much locally. I rarely hear any gossip. Last I knew Nat was living in London and she hardly ever came home.”

“Yeah, that’s the last I knew too.” Jack still stung when he thought about Nat dropping contact with him. Letters had gone unanswered, phone calls not returned. He didn’t like to think about it. “Let’s get on with this shopping.”

Mercifully they’d almost finished, and they made it to the checkout without running into Nate and his family again.

As Jack packed the shopping into bags, he found himself wishing he’d met Nate again under different circumstances. It would have been nice to have had more opportunity to talk.

Out in the car park, Jack helped his mother load the carriers into the boot of the car, and then returned the shopping trolley. On his way back to the car he met Nate coming in the opposite direction with an empty trolley.

“Hello again,” Jack said.

Nate gave him a nervous smile and stopped in front of him, the trolley between them like a shield. “Look, Jack…. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you who I was when we met in the churchyard the other day. I wasn’t sure how to bring it up. But I probably should have done.”

“There’s no need to apologise.” Jack could see why Nate hadn’t disclosed who he was, but he felt foolish for not seeing it himself. “I can’t believe I didn’t recognise you. I mean… you obviously look very different in some ways, but not in others. If I’d paid more attention I might have seen it. I think I was too wrapped up in my own problems that day.”

“Yeah. How are you doing by the way?”

“Still afloat, just about.” Jack shrugged. “At least the side effects are wearing off now. But I’m still a miserable bastard.”

“You won’t be forever.”

“Yeah. So people keep telling me. Well… I’d better go. My mum’s waiting.” Jack gestured towards his mother’s car, but made no attempt to move.

They stared at each other for a moment and the silence between them stretched out until they both broke it simultaneously.

“Would you like to—” Nate said, while Jack began, “I was thinking—”

They both stopped, and then Nate started again. “Would you like to meet up sometime? It might be good to catch up.”

Jack felt his face break into a smile. The expression felt unfamiliar after weeks of flatness and gloom, as was the sudden lift in his spirits at Nate’s suggestion. “Yeah. I’d like that.”

Nate got out his phone, unlocked it, and handed it to Jack. “Put your number in.” Obediently, Jack typed, and then passed it back. Nate tapped the screen a few times and Jack’s phone buzzed in his pocket. “There, now you have my number too. I’ll text you soon, see if we can set something up.”

“Okay.” Jack was grateful Nate was taking the initiative. Left up to him, he knew he would talk himself out of making contact even though he wanted to see Nate again. Motivation to do anything had deserted him as he’d sunk into depression, a slippery slope that had rendered him unable to claw his way back out of the darkness.

“See you soon then.” Nate guided his trolley around Jack, and went on his way.

Jack returned to his mum’s car, the smile still lingering on his face.

“Was that Nat you were talking to again?” She asked with interest.

“Nate, Mum. And yes, it was.” She’d been badgering Jack to get out more, so he added, “We swapped numbers, might try and meet up sometime.”

“That’s nice,” she said. But her tone suggested otherwise.

Jack had some misgivings too. Although he and Nat—Nate—had been incredibly close once, more than half their lifetime had passed since then. Would it really be possible to salvage their friendship?

Jack couldn’t help hoping that it might be.



“How was your day, David?” Jack’s mum asked his dad as they sat at the table in the dining room eating dinner. His parents always ate in here, never in the kitchen even though this room was gloomy and chilly in comparison. As a child Jack had hated the high-backed chairs and the bleak formality of it. He’d been a fussy eater and mealtimes with his parents had been a source of tension as far back as he could remember. He didn’t enjoy them any more as a grown man even though he could now eat peas and mushrooms without flinching.

“It was good, thank you. Cold out on the golf course today but at least it stayed dry.”

Both retired now, his parents were still very active and kept themselves busy—his father was a keen golfer and still did the occasional bit of financial consultancy work from time to time. His mother did volunteer work for various charities through their church.