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‘I want Daddy,’ says Miranda, one eye on Judy.
Thing whines.
‘You’ll see him soon,’ says Judy. ‘Do you want to go to the beach today? We could ask Maddie to come too.’
Miranda is obviously torn between wanting to see her beloved half-sister again and wanting to create a scene. Judy pours herself a coffee and tries to think of a diversionary tactic. That’s what she was taught in the hostage negotiating course, years ago. ‘Defuse the tension, find a point of agreement.’
‘Let’s go and see if the hens have laid.’ It’s the best she can do. The rescue hens, Shirley, Darcy and Motsi, were a huge source of interest– and eggs– during lockdown. But they are all used to them now, except for Thing, who always hopes the birds will want to play with him.
The children follow Judy out into the sunshine. The coop takes up a good third of the small garden. It’s locked at night, for fear of nocturnal foxes, and, at this point in the morning, the sisters are usually clamouring for their breakfast. But today the run is empty. Judy can see the broody shapes in the rafters of the hen house, but they don’t respond to her chirrups and calls. She checks the nesting boxes. Empty.
Obviously, the hens are missing Cathbad too.
Bradley is feeling heroic. The boss has gone out for lunch, even Tanya is visiting her parents. It’s just him and the new girl, Lucy, in the office, carrying on with their work. To be fair, Father’s Day does not really feature in Bradley’s calendar. He hasn’t seen his male parent since he was sixteen and doesn’t consider him a loss. He always sends his mother a card on Father’s Day and, on Mother’s Day, conspires with his brother and sister to spoil her rotten, although it’s difficult to spoil someone who says, ‘I’ve got everything I need’– this despite clear evidence to the contrary.
Bradley has had a satisfying morning. He has arranged for Ballard’s old Triumph Spitfire to be towed to the forensics lab and has succeeded in expediting the results. He’s been through the list of Ballard’s ex-students and traced as many as possible. He’s still a bit irritated that Tony got to Gaia Webster before him.
Lucy is still going through the house-to-house reports. Bradley can hear her computer mouse clicking but, at least, unlike Tony, she’s not humming or whistling.
Bradley tries for some chit-chat. ‘Looks like we’re the only ones keeping the place going.’
Lucy looks up. She has very blue eyes and would be pretty with a bit of make-up, thinks Bradley. ‘Well, it is Sunday,’ she says. ‘And Father’s Day.’
‘Not seeing your dad then?’
‘He lives in Devon. I’ll FaceTime him later.’
When he was five, Bradley’s mother told him that their cat had gone to Devon when she meant heaven. He’s distrusted the place ever since.
‘Is that where you’re from? Devon?’
‘Not originally,’ says Lucy. She smiles again, perhaps to make up for the lack of detail.
Bradley tries again. ‘I’m Norfolk born and bred. Judy too. Not the boss, of course. He’s from Blackpool. Always banging on about the place.’
‘Norfolk’s an interesting place,’ says Lucy. ‘Lots of secrets.’
‘Lived here all my life,’ says Bradley. ‘Still live with the girl I met at school.’ It sounds dull, put like that, but Bradley still can’t get over his luck in finding a girl like Sienna. ‘We’re a boring lot here,’ he says. ‘Everyone’s married, or as good as. Except Tony.’
Lucy smiles. ‘I’m married too.’
‘Are you? Blimey, how old are you?’
‘I’m twenty-eight.’
Bradley is thirty. He’d thought Lucy was in her early twenties. Even so, twenty-eight is young to be married. Bradley and Sienna plan to tie the knot (as Bradley’s mum calls it) one day but they’re in no rush. Bradley hopes Lucy isn’t a fundamentalist Christian. In his experience, they’re the only ones who marry early these days. It’s the only way they can have sex.
‘Were you childhood sweethearts, then?’ he asks. ‘Like me and Sienna?’
Something seems to flicker over Lucy’s face. ‘Not childhood,’ she says. ‘Uni.’
‘Oh,’ says Bradley. He didn’t go to university and has never regretted it. ‘You’ll have to bring him in one day,’ he says. ‘Your other half.’ Where did that phrase come from? It sounds weird, like conjoined twins or something.
Lucy turns back to her screen. ‘Maybe,’ she says.
Afterwards, Bradley wonders what Lucy meant by ‘secrets’.
It’s lucky that George barrels over and jumps into Nelson’s arms. It covers any awkwardness and, by the time Nelson sits down, Michelle has taken her seat between her daughters. Nelson had wondered why they had such a big table.
