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‘They were in love? Your mum and Peter Thompson? You never said.’
‘I didn’t know, not until this week. Mam never said a word, I had no idea.’
‘What happened to them? Why didn’t they marry?’ he asked.
‘Because of me,’ she said in a whisper. ‘I didn’t like Peter, it seems, and marrying him would have meant moving away from Saddleton. She put me first.’
‘I see. He thinks that was a mistake?’
‘He does. He’s probably right. Mam was always on her own.’ She wrapped her arms around her knees, hugging herself tight, feeling pretty solitary herself, even with Matt only an arm’s length away.
He moved from the swivel seat to sit on the bottom of the bed, closer than before. She could reach out and touch him, if she wanted to. A red star above his head gave his features a fiery glow.
‘She wasn’t on her own,’ he said. ‘She had you. Like you have Harry and I have Olly.’
‘I wish we had more time. I wish we could stay longer, like Peter said, that we could make more of what we’ve got right now, and not worry about tomorrow and what happens when we go home.’
‘There’s a part of me doesn’t want to go home, Amy. I wish we could stay here forever, you, me and the boys, and we could work things out in our own time. I wish things weren’t so complicated, and I wish to God the pair of them weren’t asleep right above our heads right now!’
He looked up towards where the boys slept above them in the pop-top, as another gust of wind shook the campervan and it rocked from side to side with the force of the storm, the little string of star lights swinging as the van moved, sending dancing multi-coloured shadows around them.
‘Let’s not think about what happens next. It’s too complicated.’ He reached for her hand, and she reached for him; they clasped hands tightly, drawing comfort from each other’s company in the storm. Perhaps Peter had got the right idea about them after all. What happened here and now was all that mattered; let tomorrow look after itself. Tomorrow they would worry about the boys, and going home, and the world outside the little campervan, but tonight the world had shrunk to only the two of them in that wide bed, with the storm raging outside, and a storm of an entirely different kind rising inside her.
Matt was silent, watching her, and she wondered if he felt it too.
‘Matt …’ she whispered, interlocking her fingers with his in a way that felt suddenly intimate and sensual. He took in a great gulp of air, as she gently caressed the palm of his hand with her thumb. His eyes widened in the dim light. It would be so easy to pull him closer on the huge bed, so easy. The boys were asleep in their little bedroom on the roof, so they were private down in the main part of the van, and the noise of the rain and wind outside would cover any sounds, so no-one need ever know what happened between them in the darkness. It could be their secret. What we did on our holidays…
Hardly daring to breathe she moved her hand to grip his wrist and draw him towards her. He didn’t resist, though he seemed to be moving without thought or motive, as if in a trance or a dream.
‘We’re here right now,’ she whispered. ‘You and me. We might never be here again, together like this.’
‘I know,’ he said, his voice hoarse. ‘I know, and I wish … but I shouldn’t, Amy. I promised Oliver I wouldn’t kiss you, let alone anything else, and I don’t want to break that promise.’ But he didn’t try to move away.
‘But I didn’t promise I wouldn’t kiss you,’ she said, crawling the final inches towards him across the wide, white bed and her lips met no resistance as they touched his and he melted into her kiss.
And at that very moment the van was lit up with a blazing white flash of lighting and a roaring thunderclap which shook the very mountains to their core.
