Page 63 of The Seaside Cocktail Campervan

With the cake and the remaining champagne shared between them, plus a few sneaky crumbs finding their way in Daisy’s direction, it seemed the perfect finale for the evening. Lucy felt slightly tipsy, but in a pleasantly relaxed way. It also seemed to relax her tongue a bit. There was something she was curious about. He was guarded when he’d talked about his brother before, but perhaps him opening up would help to solve the mystery that was Jack.

‘Jack, a while ago, you mentioned losing your brother. What happened to him?’

Jack looked out to sea, and then took a slow breath. ‘He was away at uni, playing football, some inter-college match …’ He stopped, Lucy saw him bite at his lip. ‘He was playing football, and … that was it, he just dropped down dead.’

‘Oh god.’

‘He was twenty … just twenty years old. He had his whole life ahead of him, Luce.’

‘Oh no, that’s so awful. What caused it? Did he have a medical condition or something?’

‘Not that we knew of. He was Mr Sporty Kid, well, we both were … But yes, he did. A heart condition, one that can go undetected for years, Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy. None of us had a clue. It was so sudden that day … There was nothing anyone could do …’

Lucy reached out her hand to gently cover his. She couldn’t imagine losing her own brother in such a tragic way, and at such a young age. She had tears in her eyes, feeling Jack’s pain too.

Jack continued, ‘He’d just gone back off to uni for the start of his third year. He was doing Medicine at Leeds. He was always the bright spark, my brother.’ Jack sounded proud rather than envious. ‘I waved him off, got on with life back here at home; Sixth Form, parties, the usual. Then, we got that call … It was crazy, unbelievable. That I’d never see him again … only stone cold in a fucking coffin.’

‘Oh, Jack …’ Words failed Lucy. Her heart felt so much for this man beside her in his grief. She wished she hadn’t brought it up now, spoilt the magic of this evening and all of Jack’s efforts, by reminding him of past tragedies. But also, somehow, she sensed that Jack might in a way be relieved to share that sad, sad history, and that she might now be able to understand him a little more.

They sat for a few quiet moments, watching the glistening pewter waves roll to shore, when it suddenly dawned on Lucy that the shore was actually very close indeed. Water pooled in a little rush around her feet, soaking her deck shoes.

‘Oh, bugger,’ Jack cursed, as the water splashed up his bare ankles, wetting his suit trouser legs.

‘Damn,’ Lucy jumped up. Daisy was already straining on her lead, ready to head up the beach. The little dog hated water at the best of times.

‘We need to move … and fast.’ Jack sprang into action.

They went from grief to giggles in that moment, and started dashing up the sands with chairs, table, dachshund, glasses and plates, up to the safety of the top beach area by the dunes. Reassembling their drinks and nibbles scenario, a little more slap-dash than in the first instance, they sat back down, with legs soaked through, and a soggy dachshund, still laughing.

‘Whose bloody idea was it to do cocktails and canapés by the sea?’ Jack asked, ironically.

‘Well, I thought it was a marvellous idea.’ Her voice then softened, ‘I really did love it, Jack. No-one’s ever done anything like that for me before.’

‘So, your ex never came up with any romantic dates?’

‘Liam? Hah, no, nothing like this. He was much more traditional, a red roses on Valentine’s Day, occasional meal out, kind of guy.’

Come to think of it, he wasn’t very spontaneous at all. She was suddenly hit by an uncomfortable flash of memory. One time, he’d ventured to have sex – wait for it – in the bathroom of their home. A highly unusual and wild suggestion from him. And as they stood up in the bathtub (there wasn’t a lot of space in their niche bathroom), he’d caught sight of the mirror, and tutted that it hadn’t been cleaned properly, that there were smear marks. It would have been funny, if it wasn’t so damned sad. Liam was far too bloody sensible. Thinking about it, she should have got right out and run for her life, right then! She didn’t care to share that particular memory with Jack.

‘You okay?’

‘Oh yeah, fine.’ She brought herself back to the here and now. ‘Just feels like I wasted seven years of my life on that man.’

‘Tell me …?’ Jack prompted gently.

‘Oh … I spent five years waiting for a wedding that was never going to happen. Not that I knew that. We were engaged, he managed to ask the question a couple of years in, but … then it was never the right time, we needed to save more, needed the bigger house, new car, better job … And fool that I bloody was, I went along with it. Not that I’m in any rush for any of that now though,’ she was sure to clarify. ‘Life’s not always straightforward, is it?’

‘We can all make mistakes, Luce.’

‘Yep, and Liam was one bloody massive mistake. I’ve come to realise it was a lucky escape now.’

‘Yeah, live and learn, that’s what life’s all about, Luce.’

‘It is, isn’t it?’ She smiled, feeling a bit warm and fuzzy as Jack smiled back at her.

Tiny beads of stars began to glimmer in the fading sky. It would soon get dark out here. Time to pack up, to go home, back to the cottage.

As if reading her mind, Jack said, ‘I thought I’d pitch my tent out here in the dunes overnight.’