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Hannah smiled, appreciating him not pushing too hard against that door. ‘Tell me about your family.’
‘Hmm,’ said Rob thoughtfully. ‘My mum and dad have been married for nearly forty years; Dad ran his own business, and Mum was an English teacher. Two sisters, both older, bothverysuccessful.’
Hannah glanced at him. ‘You sound kind of bitter about that.’
Rob shook his head. ‘Not bitter, just resigned, I guess. I was never expected to amount to much – I was the dyslexic, left-handed kid who couldn’t even manage basic sentences. Primary school was a nightmare, but then Mum started teaching at a private school and they gave me and my sisters a bursary.’
‘And that was better?’
‘Yeah, I started there when I was seven. Small classes, proper learning support, and it was really big on sport, so that’s where I started playing tennis. I still can’t write a decent text message, but I can hit a ball.’
‘Is that why you never gave me your number?’ asked Hannah, giving him a playful nudge with her elbow. ‘So you didn’t have to write messages?’
‘I hate texting,’ he said. ‘It makes my head hurt. I’m the only twenty-something I know who still picks up the phone to have a conversation.’
‘I think that’s nice. And you live in Bath, right?’ The basic nature of this conversation seemed ridiculous to Hannah, considering they were now essentially on holiday together. But maybe this was OK. Make impulsive decisions first, ask questions later.
‘Yeah, I was born there. Mum and Dad have a big old house just north of the city. Two dogs, two cars, nice garden. All very middle class.’
‘It sounds lovely,’ said Hannah, wondering what Rob would make of her mad family. Probably best to make sure she never found out.
‘What about you?’ he asked.
‘A little town called Westwick, between Woking and Guildford. Born and raised, same as you.’
‘Does your mum still live there?’
Hannah nodded. ‘With my little brother Luke, he’s eighteen. They’re still in the same house I grew up in.’
‘And how long were you married?’
‘Fourteen years.’
Rob’s brow furrowed, and she could hear him doing the maths. ‘So you were, like . . .?’
‘Eighteen.’
‘Wow, that’s young. Is that like a religion thing? I overheard Gaynor say something about you going to church.’
‘Yeah,’ said Hannah. She’d never had this conversation with anyone, and even though she wasn’t exactly trying to impress Rob, she didn’t want to actively put him off either. ‘My family were members of this evangelical church, based in the States. It’s how my parents met; they were both members.’
‘So where did tennis fit in?’
Hannah was quiet for a moment, gratified that Rob seemed genuinely interested rather than weirded out. The memories of her childhood were hazy in places, and not without pain. But it was also a big part of who she was, and maybe telling this story would help Rob understand her better. ‘My mum was having a bad time when I was seven or eight; I didn’t understand why at the time, but later I found out it was a lot of miscarriages, depression, that sort of thing. I’d been home-schooled with other church kids until then but Mum couldn’t cope, so I started at the local primary school.’
‘That must have been weird.’
Hannah laughed awkwardly, her palms turning sweaty on the steering wheel as she raked through the memories. ‘Yeah, just a bit. You can imagine how odd I seemed to the other kids. I didn’t know anything about TV or films, what the latest thing was. I’d never been given a say in what I wore, and I didn’t have any “normal” friends outside the church community. It was a really hard transition, but looking back it was the best thing that could have happened to me.’
‘Wow,’ said Rob.
‘Mum went into hospital for a while, and when it came to the school holidays, Dad sent me to a sports club while he was at work. I picked up a tennis racquet on the first morning and never put it down.’
Rob smiled hazily, like he remembered how that felt.
‘It was the strangest feeling, hitting a ball for the first time. Like I suddenly realised what my right arm was for.’
‘What did your mum say about that?’
