Dad’s buried his food beneath a mountain of cheese, and while I, too, am a Parmesan fan, he has taken things a bit far.
‘Gotta stifle the truffle taste somehow,’ Dad says, and pulls a face. ‘And I despise asparagus, so I used the cheese to hide it and now I can pretend it’s no longer there, see?’
‘Our chef’s Michelin stars are wasted on you,’ Graham says, sounding resigned.
Dad looks pleased with himself.
‘I have an announcement to make,’ Anna begins. ‘I spoke to that Jacob boy, the little photographer, and he’s agreed to let me buy your portraits.’
The smile slides off Dad’s face. ‘You can’t have our portraits.’
‘Of course I can. They’re good portraits, and I don’t have any recent pictures of you.’
‘You bullied a seventeen-year-old boy into selling his first exhibition?’
‘Your mother did not bully anyone,’ Graham intervenes. ‘She simply made him an offer, a very generous one, and he accepted. For a young artist so early in his career, that’s quite the feat, you know.’
Dad looks to me, as if he expects me to take his side, but I don’t see the problem. I think it’s sweet of her, and great for Jacob, but I know Dad won’t want to hear that.
‘The exhibition made me remember something about you, Matthew,’ Anna starts.
‘It did?’ Dad raises an eyebrow.
‘Before Luca, before you left, you and Polly, you were always around that handsome boy from down the street. What was his name?’
While I perk up, Dad goes still. A muscle in his jaw twitches.
‘You mean the Harper boy,’ Graham confirms. ‘Nice family, good breeding.’
‘Rollo Harper, yes! I don’t know how I didn’t see it then, but you were quite smitten with him, no?’
‘Just because you no longer live under the misapprehensionthat your son is straight, it does not mean you get to poke around my love life. I’ve told you, it’s off limits.’ Dad’s voice wavers, and though he tries to keep his emotions contained, I can tell something has upset him.
‘Where do you think you’ll hang our portraits?’ I ask, to try to take the heat off Dad.
We manage to keep things civil even during the dessert course, mostly because Dad seems too caught up in his thoughts to speak.
‘Come on, boys. We have something else to show you,’ Anna declares once our plates are cleared and she leads us into the entrance hall. Beneath an arched skylight with a chandelier stands a massive table made from marble. On it rests a velvet box that she opens with dramatic flair.
‘We want you to have these.’ Graham nods to the two sturdy metal keys in the box. ‘They’re for the house.’
Dad looks puzzled. ‘I thought you used face recognition.’
‘They’re symbolic, Matthew!’ Anna scolds, like that should be obvious.
‘We’re off to Mauritius for the next month, so you may come and go as you please. We’ve designated a room for you upstairs, Luca,’ Graham explains.
‘It’s blue, the same colour as your eyes,’ Anna adds proudly.
Dad pouts. ‘He gets a room the colour of his eyes and I get a rusty key?’
‘Did you want a room, Matthew?’ Grahams asks with a voice like he’s speaking to a toddler.
‘No, thanks, Father,’ Dad replies, honey-sweet, ‘I just like to complain.’
May Day arrives, and despite school being closed for the holiday, I’m up early on my usual mission to report the week’s noticeboard message to Miss M.
I woke early to beat the crowds, because I’m not showing my face in town today. I’ve come up with a plan. They can appoint us May Couple, but they can’t stop nature.
