24
Lou was up early the first morning of mid-term break, getting everything ready for the sports camp at Dunquin. She was pleased with herself for how organised she was. She’d put the directions into her phone last night and rehearsed the route in her head. It looked straightforward enough – as straightforward as you could call a drive along tortuously twisty roads. But she was confident that she could find her way there easily enough with the aid of the satnav, and she’d built in some extra time just in case she did end up taking a wrong turn. By the time Jack got up for breakfast, she had his bag packed and ready to go.
She wasn’t looking forward to having to see Aidan there, which put a damper on her mood. But she’d be seeing a lot of him and the sooner she apologised and cleared the air, the better.
She bundled Jack into the back of the car. She’d taken it out for a spin a couple of times over the weekend just to get the feel of it, but this would be her first proper journey in it. ‘Right, let’s get this show on the road,’ she said, fastening her seat belt. But when she turned the key in the ignition, nothing happened but a hollow chugging sound that caused her stomach to plummet.
‘What the… fudge,’ she murmured to herself. Then she looked at the dashboard, and her heart sank even further. ‘I don’t believe it!’ She slapped a hand to her forehead.
‘What’s wrong?’ Jack asked.
‘The battery’s dead.’ What an idiot! So much for all her preparation. She must have left the lights on last night. ‘Damn!’
‘Oh no! We’re going to be late,’ Jack whimpered. She could feel him getting anxious and agitated, and her heart twisted. He hated being late or breaking rules. She sometimes wondered where she’d got him.
‘Don’t worry,’ she said, turning to him, trying to sound calm, despite her mounting panic. ‘It’ll be okay. We’ll make it.’
‘How?’ His eyes filled with tears, and one fat drop rolled down his cheeks.
‘I know! Bo’s going, isn’t she? We can ask Aidan for a lift.’
Jack’s face cleared.
Lou took the key out of the ignition and pocketed it. ‘But we’ll have to be quick or we’ll miss them.’
She got out of the car and opened the back door, unstrapping Jack from his booster seat and lifting him out.
‘Come on,’ she said, taking his hand. ‘We’ll have to run.’ She didn’t want to waste any time by phoning Aidan.
Jack didn’t seem to mind. In fact, the race through the town seemed to lift his spirits, and by the time they were running along the curving coast road he was grinning up at her, laughing as they raced along. But Lou was seriously out of shape and her lungs were bursting. She really should get back to exercising regularly.
She prayed Aidan and Bo wouldn’t have left already. She couldn’t bear Jack’s disappointment if he missed the sports camp after looking forward to it for so long. So she was relieved as they came within sight of the restaurant and she saw Aidan’s car sitting outside.
She slowed her pace for the last few yards, dragging air into her lungs. Jack ran on ahead until he reached the door. She caught up with him on the step and knocked. At least the last-minute race to get here hadn’t given her any time to think about the awkwardness of asking Aidan for a favour after what she’d said yesterday, but she cringed when he pulled open the door, his eyebrows raising in surprise as he saw them standing there.
‘Hi,’ Lou panted. ‘The battery’s dead in my car, and I was wondering if you could give us a lift to Dunquin after all.’
‘Sure, of course,’ he said easily. ‘We were just leaving.’ He looked behind him, where Bo was pulling on her coat. ‘Ready?’ he asked her, and she nodded. ‘We’re running a bit late,’ he said to Lou.
‘Lucky for us,’ she said.
Aidan opened the car door with his fob. ‘Hop in,’ he said to Lou, nodding to the passenger seat. He held open the back door, and Bo and Jack clambered in.
‘Thanks for rescuing us,’ Lou said as he pulled away from the kerb.
‘It’s no problem,’ he said, keeping his eyes on the road straight ahead. There was no warmth in his tone and he hadn’t smiled at her once. Aidan smiled easily and often and she missed it. But what did she expect? She just hoped the drive to Dunquin wouldn’t take too long, because it was going to feel like a lifetime no matter what.
‘Sorry to have to ask.’
‘It’s fine. We were going anyway. And Bo’s delighted to have Jack along.’
‘Still.’ She was grateful for Bo and Jack’s chattering in the back to fill the awkward silences between them. She knew she had a lot more to apologise to Aidan for, but she didn’t want to have that conversation in front of the children. It could wait until they were occupied running around. Instead, she twisted aroundin her seat to talk to Bo. ‘Thanks for the invitation to your party. Jack would love to go.’
‘Yay! You can come?’ she asked Jack.
‘Yep.’
‘We just got our days mixed up, didn’t we?’ she said to him and he nodded happily.
