Page 24 of One Night With You

‘Before the war?’ I ask, when he waits so long to complete his thought that I think he might have even forgotten he’d started one.

‘Something like that,’ he agrees.

‘Iwasupset,’ William agrees, as it becomes clear his grandfather isn’t going to explain any further. ‘Nana Shelley was like a mum to me, really – my own mother drinks a lot, has her own stuff going on, and Dad doesn’t really have what you’d call a high emotional intelligence. I’ve spent as much time here as I have in my parents’ house, haven’t I, Gramps?’

‘You’re a good lad,’ says JP.

‘Gramps told me all this, and then we got your email, like, literally two days later. Gramps says he needs to track down Amelie, and then two film-makers reach out? That’s kismet, is that. It’s fate.’

I look at Harry. Harry raises his eyebrows at me. Something the guy who bought my sofa said – Nic, the man I slept with before I moved – creeps into my head.

‘Timing is everything,’ I say, and everyone nods. ‘So you want help finding Amelie?’ I clarify, making sure I’ve not got the wrong end of the stick.

‘Do you think you can?’ William asks. ‘I’m not madanymore. Gramps should be allowed to get a happy ending. I know he loved Nana, but it would be really cool for him to get to see Amelie before …’

He doesn’t finish the sentence. I know what he means.

‘Before I’m dead,’ JP supplies. When we all look at him, horrified, he adds, ‘I’m no spring chicken, am I?’

I’ve got tears in my eyes, threatening to spill over. Shouldn’t we all be graced with the chance to tell the ones we love how we truly feel? Love is the simplest, most pure thing there is. If you feel it, expressing it should be a human right. Shouldn’t it?

‘Oh, JP,’ I say, and my voice wobbles.

‘Can I speak freely?’ Harry asks, addressing the room. In turn, we all nod.

‘JP, you want us to help you find Amelie, correct?’

‘Correct.’

‘And you’re okay if we document this?’

‘If it helps, yes.’

‘How do we pay for it all? Aren’t you supposed to be fundraising for the cancer charity? We were so sorry to learn about your son.’

‘My Uncle Pete,’ William says. ‘Yeah. Our target is a thousand pounds, just to raise awareness that men should get checked for it, really. But that’s not for you to worry about.’

‘No,’ JP agrees. ‘It’s not.’

I’m wincing at the crassness of talking money, but Harry is right. We’ve got our time paid for through the course, but if we need to travel anywhere – I mean, God, we could end up in France at this rate! Imagine! – we’re students. We can’t afford that.

‘Nana left me some money,’ William says. ‘I think she’d want me to use it for this. I can cover any expenses. Assumingwe don’t need to fly first class to the other side of the world or anything.’

I nod. Harry nods. We look at each other.

‘Harry?’ I say.

‘I want to help JP find his French girl,’ he says.

‘So do I,’ I say.

‘I want you to help us, too,’ says William. ‘And let’s get straight about this, nothing is off limits. You can film, record, whatever you need for your course. There’s no secrets. We understand that you’ve got a job to do too. Gramps and me talked it all through yesterday, once you said you were coming. Just, from my point of view – don’t tire him out? Be sensitive? That’s my only stipulation.’

We look over to where JP has lightly closed his eyes, as if to emphasise the point.

‘And it’s okay if we set up an Instagram account for this too?’ I ask. ‘I think we should start there. People might be able to help us. The internet is the most powerful tool we have for all of this.’

‘Absolutely,’ says William.

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