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Aleksey pretended to be relieved but commented casually, as if it really wasn’t an issue, ‘I thought we could just drive and see where the day took us.’
‘Okay. Eat something first.’
‘Oh, am I allowed?’
Ben gave him a look that was equally easy for Aleksey to read as his earlier one. He laughed and caught Ben around the neck, kissing into the side of his head. He stole a piece of toast and held it away from Ben’s outraged attempt to snatch it back. ‘What does it taste like?’
‘What? Toast?’
Aleksey gave him an uncharacteristic eye roll, ‘Yes, Benjamin, I have never eaten cooked bread. I meant the marmalade?’
Ben frowned. ‘Well…okay…try it maybe?’
He did, his face creasing in concentration. He chewed. He swallowed.
‘Well?’
Aleksey grinned. ‘I am now Russian, DanishandEnglish. I have passed the most essential citizenship requirement. I must remember to tell them that when they catch up with me. Come, the day awaits.’
Ben grabbed his jacket and they sauntered together over the grass towards the garage. Aleksey tested his short-leg wobble for a few steps but found he could disguise it nicely.
‘Squeezy’s going to take the dogs for the day when he gets here.’
‘Lucky them.’
Ben did his usual hop over the door into the driver’s seat when they reached the car. Aleksey got in like a civilised human being and they headed out towards the lane.
‘Go north perhaps?’
‘We could have lunch in a pub on Dartmoor somewhere.’
‘Oh, yes. Good idea.’
They passed more than a few places that Ben thought very suitable, but Aleksey maintained it was too early to stop, so Ben drove on. It was another perfect May day. They left the roof off, and Aleksey stretched out his long legs as far as the convertible would allow and tipped his head back to the leather rest, feeling the sun strong on his face. He rolled up the sleeves of his shirt and let one arm rest on the door, the other along the back of Ben’s seat. Ben’s left hand was squeezing his thigh between gear changes, and occasionally his thumb traced small patterns on the soft denim.
There was very little traffic on the roads that crossed the moors, being mid-morning in the middle of the week, so Ben could let the car corner as it was designed to do. The moors were in full bloom everywhere, the fluorescent yellow of the gorse flowers standing out against the spring-green softness of the grass.
They passed a sign to Okehampton, and Ben gave Aleksey a small glance. ‘I’m really hungry now. Shall we stop?’
‘Yes, we should. Take that road.’
They drove on some more.
Ben’s hand had been removed from his thigh for some time.
Agitated tapping was occurring on the wheel.
‘That sounds interesting. Take that turning.’
Ben checked mirrors, indicated, and dutifully drove down the smaller road. ‘Hartland?’
Aleksey shrugged. ‘It sounded our sort of place. Land of the Heart. Let’s see what’s there.’
It was a good decision.
There was a small settlement on a high cliff with a church, a manor house now turned into a restaurant and hotel, and a steep winding path down to a small museum beneath the headland.
They went into the old granite building, both having to duck beneath the lintel, and were shown to a table in the window, which gave them a startling view of the sea and the northern coastline of Devon. Ben craned his neck in both directions, clearly impressed. Aleksey had swiped some brochures from a stand in the reception and was studying them. ‘We should visit the church after lunch, perhaps the museum too.’
