Page 29 of London, Can You Wait?

“What about your mum?”

“Gracie’s taking her to Malta. They always go away over the holidays.”

“Oh, she’ll love that!” Alex beamed. “Dad will be thrilled! I’m so happy, my cheeks hurt.”

“Ha, yeah, I know. Can’t wait to have your step-mum’s bacon sarnies again. I can’t stop smil—” His image froze while his voice warbled into a garbled mess. “—be together—”

“Mark? What?”

“—regularly”

“Sorry?”

The picture distorted into low-resolution squares, and then Mark reappeared again. “You’re sorry?”

“No, the… I missed what you said.”

“The change means I can check in on Mum regularly, make sure all is well at the house.”

“Good idea.”

He yawned again and shook his head, trying to clear the cobwebs. “Ah, I’m fading…”

Alex inhaled deeply. “I don’t want to let you go, but…” His screen locked again. “Looks like I have no choice.”

“Mouse?” Mark’s picture came back to life. “Best to wrap up before this thing crashes for good.”

“I love you, Mark. Call me tomorrow?”

“We’ll be in the mountains, so don’t worry if you don’t hear from me first thing. When we’re back here, I’ll let you know I didn’t lose anything important to frostbite.” He winked. “I—”

The screen went dead.