Summer at 23 the Strand. Linda Mitchelmore

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СКАЧАТЬ Do you know it?’

      ‘Give me a rough direction.’

      ‘Halfway between here and the harbour. Keep going in a straight line. You can’t miss it. It’s got fantastic views.’

      ‘I think I know where you mean.’

      ‘Good. Harris and I used to eat there in the holidays. I could tell you about him.’

      ‘I’d like that, Hugh,’ Martha said.

      ‘So would I. So, can I ask you to meet me there?’ Hugh asked. ‘About one o’clock?’

      ‘Of course,’ Martha said. She hadn’t planned her day beyond apologising to Hugh, but now she had a lunch date – was it really a date so early in the acquaintance? – she thought she might get into her newly purchased running kit and go for a run. It might help to clear her head. ‘I’ll look forward to it.’

      ‘Me too, Martha Langford,’ Hugh said with a grin.

      He was letting her know it was as Martha he was wanting to get to know her, not just because she was also known as Serena Ross, wasn’t he? Martha’s heart lifted a little.

      Martha was early, only about fifteen minutes, but she decided to go on in and find a table.

      Oh! Another surprise because there were full-length windows on three sides, the ceiling was very high with Raffles-style fans, and the whole place was filled with light. Outside there was a small balcony along two sides. Tables and chairs were set up outside but Martha decided it wasn’t quite warm enough to sit out, although a few people were.

      She chose a table for two, by the window facing the sea. The restaurant was built over the road, closed for the summer to traffic, and with the tide high it was as though she was sitting in the prow of a ship. She hadn’t expected that – it was almost like being on a cruise in the Mediterranean if she allowed her imagination to run away with her. She picked up the menu. Lots to choose from. Was Hugh going to offer to pay or should she suggest they go Dutch. If they went Dutch it would be easier to say, ‘Well, that was nice, but I don’t think we have a future together.’

       Red snapper or crab? Quinoa salad or pesto pasta?

      ‘Penny for them,’ Hugh said.

      ‘They might cost a little bit more than that.’ Martha laughed, looking up into his smiling face.

      Hugh laid a hand of greeting, briefly, on Martha’s shoulder and sat down opposite. ‘Thanks for coming.’

      ‘I’m glad to be here and, seeing as I had my first ever run this morning after I left you, I’m rather hungry.’

      ‘Really? The first? Ever?’

      ‘Yep. Although I’ve been guilty of being a bit of a gym bunny in my time, and daily dance lessons when I was at stage school.’

      Talking about this now, it was starting to feel as though it was all in the past for her. Was it? Could it be?

      ‘Did you like it? The run, I mean.’

      ‘I’ll let you know tomorrow what opinion my calves have on that,’ she said, laughing.

      ‘It gets easier,’ Hugh said. ‘As most things do.’

      And the smile on his face seemed to freeze, and although he was looking at Martha it was as though he was also looking inside himself.

      ‘Do you want to talk about Harris before we eat? You said earlier you used to come here with him so it can’t be easy being here with someone who isn’t your brother. We could just order a drink and talk? I’m not going to die of hunger if we postpone lunch for a while.’

      ‘I didn’t have you down as a mind-reader,’ Hugh said. ‘But yes, I was thinking about Harris. I imagined for a moment that he was going to come marching in, tell me it was my turn to buy the drinks – he always said that, even though I bought far more rounds than he ever did.’

      ‘And you wish you could be buying that round now?’

      A waiter arrived at their table. ‘What can I get you?’ he asked.

      ‘Just a drink for the moment for me,’ Martha said. ‘We’ll eat later. Okay with that, Hugh?’

      ‘Fine, fine,’ Hugh said. ‘I’ll have a pint of local ale. And you, Martha?’

      ‘Prosecco if you have it,’ Martha said.

      ‘We sure do. Won’t be a moment.’

      ‘That was inordinately kind,’ Hugh said. ‘To realise I was struggling a bit there. I seemed to have lost all power of thought and speech for a second.’

      ‘We all need a bit of help and understanding sometimes,’ Martha said. ‘Tell me about Harris.’

      ‘It’ll be easier if I show you.’ He took out his phone from his jeans pocket. ‘I’ve got hundreds on here. I’ll spare you the baby brother photos.’ He looked up from scrolling through and smiled at Martha.

      ‘I can probably live without seeing those,’ she said, doing her utmost to lighten what was, to Hugh, a difficult moment. ‘What did he do?’

      ‘Sports teacher. With a bit of English on the side. Rugby was his game, although he was pretty good at just about everything he tried – tennis, cricket, water sports of every description. Here. That’s a good one.’

      Hugh handed the phone to Martha, and a good-looking chap, with hair fairer than Hugh’s and a big, rugby player’s frame, smiled out at her. Despite the physical differences, she could see the likeness between the brothers.

      ‘How did he die?’ Martha asked, handing back the phone.

      ‘Leukaemia,’ Hugh said. ‘He responded to treatment at first and we all held our breath with hope, but then it just stopped working for him and he shrunk before our eyes. It was swift in the end.’

      The waiter came back with their drinks then.

      ‘Can you come back in about half an hour, mate?’ Hugh said.

      ‘Sure can. Enjoy your drinks.’

      ‘Nice bloke,’ Hugh said. ‘But I think it’s plainer than day that we’re not enjoying much at the moment.’

      ‘It can’t be easy for you,’ Martha said. ‘But I’m not sad I’m here. How long ago did Harris die?’

      ‘Just over two years. It’s still a bit raw. It’s why I try to go to as many of those fêtes as I can and help them raise a bit of money so others can get the care Harris did. Although what I’m going to do with yet another teddy bear won on the tombola I don’t know!’

      ‘Offload it to a charity shop?’ She was feeling guilty now that she hadn’t gone along with Hugh, but there was no point saying so. Hugh just needed to talk. About himself. About Harris.

      ‘I could. But a stupid part of me thinks Harris wants me to have the stupid СКАЧАТЬ