Page 25 of Never Too Late
‘So? When are you leaving?’
‘Saturday.’
‘Oh. So soon?’
‘We arranged it all several weeks ago but you were travelling in the Andes and out of contact.’
‘Oh. Yes. Yes, I see. Of course.’
Hugh and the girlfriend had recently trekked to Machu Pichu as part of an overland hike, with ‘wild camping’, whatever that meant. I’d once suggested a glamping weekend at a luxurious-looking place in the Cotswolds. Hugh’s reaction had been more akin to suggesting he parade through Bourton-on-the-Water in his underpants and mortar board. But then I wasn’t thirty-one with perky boobs and a backside you could bounce coins off, so there was that.
‘Did you enjoy the trip?’ I asked. Hugh had always had a slim frame but he looked thinner than I’d ever seen him and although his comment had irked me, I’d spent a long time married to him, and had loved him. It was hard to turn concern for someone off like a light switch when you closed the door on a marriage. At least it was for me.
‘Marvellous. Yes. Absolutely. Incredible sights.’ The words rushed out.
‘You always were shit at lying, Hugh.’
Sasha’s head snapped towards me.
My ex held my gaze for a moment, his body tense before he went soft and dropped his head momentarily. When he looked up again, a hint of smile played around his lips.
‘Oh, God, Katherine. It was bloody awful!’
‘Camping not really your thing?’
‘No. As I’m sure you already knew.’
‘As did you.’
He gave a small nod. ‘The views and monuments were spectacular. I can’t deny that.’
‘I’m sure you enjoyed the opportunity to learn more about the region and its history.’
‘Absolutely fascinating!’ he said, his face coming alive as it always did when he gained new knowledge. Hugh had an insatiable thirst for learning. It didn’t matter what it was about. When I’d discovered I was pregnant with Sasha, he’d thoroughly researched how it was possible, bearing in mind I’d been on the pill at the time. I’d advised him that that particular aspect was moot now and he’d moved on to more useful fact harvesting.
By the time Sash was born, there wasn’t a book on babies that Hugh hadn’t read and made copious notes on, including the intricacies of the birth, which he was looking forward to finding out more about during my delivery. That particular part had, however, remained mere theory as he’d passed out within seconds of the first sign of blood. But as young parents, his thirst for knowledge had, when tempered, been inordinately helpful in us navigating our way.
‘I’ve never felt so bloody ill in my life. Honestly, I thought I’d contracted bloody dysentery!’
‘Dad!’ Sash’s face flushed as the couple on the next table looked over, horrified.
Hugh and I burst out laughing. Ageing could be a bitch but the one thing it did have going for it was that you cared a lot less about what others thought.
‘I thought you looked thinner.’
‘I lost nearly two stone through my arse!’
My snorts of laughter did nothing to lessen my daughter’s embarrassment but on the plus side, the tension of earlier was now well and truly broken.
‘I’m on probiotics, fermented food and all the rest of it, trying to get my stomach to talk to me again.’
‘I’m sorry you didn’t have the best time.’
‘Are you?’ he asked with a smile.
‘Yes. I am,’ I replied, honestly. ‘I’m not surprised, if that’s what you’re getting at, but I am sorry.’
‘I should have listened to you when you reminded me about the glamping thing.’
