It wasn’t long before they were winding up the steep, twisting road that led to the O’Neills’ rambling country house.
‘Wow! What an amazing place,’ Brian gasped, as the ocean fell away beneath them. Kate turned to smile at him. She had known Brian would love it and he was seeing it at its best today. The house was set in a stunning location on the side of a hill, overlooking the broad expanse of the bay. The sun was shining ina cloudless blue sky, and below them the water sparkled and danced.
Kate felt a familiar bubble of happiness, like the initial sip of champagne, when she caught her first glimpse of the house, its creamy yellow walls half covered with a riot of fuchsia. They had been coming here for as long as she could remember, and it was full of happy memories. As children, they had spent endless summer days running wild outside, practically living on the beach, learning to swim in the tidal pools, catching fish from the rocks, collecting shells and pebbles and making friends with the local children, only wandering home when they were hungry. In winter it had a different kind of charm, with huge waves crashing dramatically on the shore. Bracing walks along the beach in the stingingly cold sea breeze were followed by warming up around the fire with hot chocolate.
As she got out of the car, Kate breathed in deeply. The salty tang of the sea air was instantly invigorating, sharpening her appetite and bringing her senses alive.
‘You go on in,’ Will said, opening the boot. ‘I’ll unpack the stuff.’
Taking Brian’s hand, Kate led him to the house. When she pushed open the door, she was immediately accosted by Sam and Jake, almost tripping her up.
‘Hi, Kate!’ they chorused in unison. ‘Where’s Freddie?’
‘Oh, he isn’t coming. But this is Brian.’
‘Aw-awww!’ Sam let out a multisyllabic groan.
Jake was a little more diplomatic. ‘We thought you were bringing Freddie.’ He smiled valiantly. They adored Freddie, who would spend hours playing the most mind-numbingly boring games with them.
‘Well, I brought Brian instead. Brian, this is Jake, and this is Sam.’
‘Hi!’ Brian grinned down at them.
‘Hi, Brian,’ Jake said, rallying quickly. ‘D’you want to play Twister – or Hide and Seek? Whichever you like.’
‘Hide and Seek, Hide and Seek!’ Sam begged, jumping up and down.
Just then Helen appeared from the kitchen. ‘Come on, you two,’ she chided, ‘let Kate and Brian get in the door. You have the whole weekend to play with them. Hi, I’m Helen.’ She extended a hand to Brian over the children’s heads.
‘And I’m Brian, as you obviously already know.’
‘Yes, it’s nice to meet you at last. I’ve heard a lot about you.’
Helen was surprised by Brian. Tall, good-looking and well-built, he was almost the complete opposite of the pale, weedy hippie she had imagined from Grace and Rachel’s descriptions – and he seemed perfectly nice too. In typical O’Neill fashion, they’d probably never given him a chance. Once they get to know him, she thought hopefully, they’ll probably realise they’ve been wrong about him, and we’ll all have a thoroughly enjoyable weekend.
‘You’re the last to arrive,’ she told Kate, as she led the way down the hall, herding the children in front of her. ‘We’re in the garden – come on out when you’ve got settled. We’ll eat outside – make the most of this weather.’
‘Will!’ Jake roared, eyes lighting up as Will pushed open the door and nudged inside, laden with luggage. The boys wriggled beneath Helen’s arms and charged back down the hall to throw themselves at him, almost knocking him over.
‘I’d better go and rescue Will.’ Helen smiled wryly, as the children could be heard importuning him to play with them.
Kate was about to take Brian up to her room when her mother rushed in from the garden to greet them. ‘Hello, Brian, you’re very welcome.’ She threw her arms around him andenveloped him in an enthusiastic embrace. ‘It’s lovely to see you again, and it’s wonderful to have you here.’
‘Oh, thanks, great to be here,’ Brian stuttered, looking a little overwhelmed already.
‘I can’t tell you how happy we are that you decided to accept one of our invitations, at last,’ Grace continued, her gracious smile belying the barbed comment.
‘It’s good of you to have me.’ Brian smiled.
‘Once you get to know us, I’m sure you’ll find we’re not that bad,’ she said gaily. ‘You might find we have more in common than you’d think. I bet you’d be surprised to hear that I was a bit of a hippie in my youth.’
Not as surprised as I’d be,Kate thought. She appreciated that her mother was trying to make Brian feel at ease, but this was just the sort of behaviour that sent him scarpering in the other direction. He already had that cornered-rabbit look.
‘Really?’ Brian seemed surprised to hear thathewas a bit of a hippie.
‘Oh, yes!’ Grace trilled. ‘Always protesting about this, that and the other, world peace, civil liberties, the Pill – you name it, I was there with my placard. Nowadays it’s all about the environment and animal rights,’ she added regretfully. ‘Human beings don’t get a look in. Still, it’s good to know there are still people willing to fight the good fight.’
Kate rolled her eyes. ‘Mum, it was the sixties. You did drugs and shagged everyone in sight, and the only place you ever marched was down the King’s Road.’
