I tell her I love her too, but she’s already hung up. I knew she’d drop Ed into the conversation. She’s right, though. He is fit.
Tom runs out of the playground approximately thirty seconds after the bell, like something is chasing him. Nothing is, of course, he just likes to run. I’ve never fully understood that.
‘Where’s Ed?’ he asks, looking around. ‘I drew him a picture!’
‘Nice to see you, too,’ I say. ‘Ed’s gone to see his mum and dad, but he’ll be back later. You still want to get some hot chocolate?’
‘Yes!’ he exclaims. ‘Can I get marshmallows?’
‘Hmm, maybe for a look at your drawing?’
‘Deal!’
The fact that I have to basically bribe my little brother to interact with me is slightly troubling but at least it’s working.
Blue Peak Café is busy, but we find somewhere to sit near the door. I haven’t been here in about ten years, but it hasn’t changed much. It still has the same exposed brick walls, the same blue-coloured tables and the best hot chocolate within twenty miles.
‘Mum and Gary saw Gubba this morning,’ I tell him as he parks his bag and lunchbox under his chair and sits down. ‘She’s coming home soon.’
His face lights up. ‘Really? Did the oxygen work?’
‘It did,’ I reply. ‘She’ll still have a bit of a cold for a while but she’s already much better.’
‘Adam Grant’s granny died,’ he tells me. ‘He said that he saw her in her coffin, and she was all rotten and she looked likethis. . .’
He pulls a scary face and I can’t help but laugh. ‘Well, I think Adam Grant’s full of sh. . . erm, nonsense,’ I say, catching myself before he tells on me for swearing.
‘No, he said her tongue was hanging out and her eyes were all bloody and gross.’
‘Is this the same Adam Grant who told everyone his dad was The Rock?’
Tom nods.
‘The same Adam Grant who said that he had a driving licence?’
‘Yep.’
‘And is his dad The Rock?’
Tom shakes his head. ‘No, his dad works in that supermarket Mum goes to.’
‘Correct. And does he have a driving licence, even though you can’t get one until you’re seventeen?’
‘He said it was a special one for kids.’
‘So I think we can both agree that if he’s making this stuff up, he’s probably making up the stuff about his granny, right?’
‘Right,’ Tom agrees. ‘Paige said that he was lying, too.’
‘Well then Paige sounds like a very smart girl.’
‘What can I get you both?’
‘Oh,’ I say, startled by the server. ‘Can we have two hot chocolates please? Both with marshmallows.’
‘Just what you need on this cold day, isn’t it?’ she says to Tom. He nods in agreement. ‘Coming right up!’
Sometimes it’s worth coming back to Castleton just to absorb the friendliness that exudes from the people here. I mean, not everyone, of course – but compared to London, it’s practically a different planet.
