Page 76 of Second Chances at the Board Game Café

‘Every day, I wave to Harry from the platform at Hebbleswick. He goes by on the train to Halifax. Well, almost every day. Some days he isn’t on the train.’

‘He works from home sometimes.’

Max nodded. ‘I kept thinking about The Railway Children and how Bobbie, Phyllis and Peter held up the signs for the man on the train. So I made signs and held them up for Harry.’

‘That’s hilarious, Max. And then you wanted a red petticoat to wave too! Like in the film.’

‘Exactly,’ he said. ‘Only there wasn’t a rockfall and I waved it at Harry, not the driver.’

‘You’re so cute, darling,’ she said. She’d always thought of him as a mathematical, logical kind of boy, but here he was, proving that he was imaginative too. ‘So what did your signs say?’

‘Promise you won’t be cross?’

Taylor mimed crossing her heart and Max took out several rolls of paper from his school bag, spreading them out on the lounge floor. She couldn’t believe her eyes.

Will you go out with my mum?

PLEASE.

Please, Harry. You make her happy.

I want you to be my new dad.

‘Oh, Max, what have you done?’ Taylor said.

‘You said you wouldn’t be cross.’

‘I’m not cross. But it’s complicated, Max.’

‘Harry’s sign said that.’

‘Harry had a sign?’

Max nodded.

So Harry had had a sign too, and his sign had said it was complicated. Only it didn’t feel complicated from her perspective. Not anymore. Not now she knew that Max wanted her and Harry to get together. It felt surprisingly simple. She liked Harry, and was pretty certain he liked her.

She picked up one of the signs.

I want you to be my new dad.

Her eyes were welling up now. She thought Max was okay with it being just the two of them, when all along, he’d wanted a proper dad. ‘Is this really how you feel about Harry?’

‘Yeah. He’s fun. He likes train games. And when you’re around him, you’re a lot more chilled.’

‘You know, it is complicated, Max. In real life, people don’t fall in love and get married and live happily ever after like they do in films. In real life, Harry and I might start going out together and then discover we don’t like each other that much after all, and then we’d break up and you’d be upset and I’d be upset and Harry would be upset.’

‘Or you might go out together and discover that you really, really like being together and then we could be a family.’

‘It isn’t that simple.’

‘I know,’ said Max. ‘I’m eight. Not five. But it isn’t that difficult either. You could ask him on a date.’

‘Maybe,’ said Taylor. ‘Let’s get this upcycling event out of the way first. Talking of which, I made you a rather lovely outfit and I was wondering if I might persuade you to model it at the show.’

She went over to her clothes rail and slid out the hanger bearing the waistcoat and tie.

Max slapped his forehead with the heel of his hand like Homer Simpson. ‘You’ve got to be kidding. Wear that? On a catwalk.’