AllFreeNovel
Share Us
‘Who said I was going to let you eat in the car?’
Twenty minutes later, Ken stopped the car in a pull-in just across the road from a fun fair.
‘The guy who runs the hot dog stand at this fair has been cooking dogs for over thirty years,’ Ken told them.
‘Well, Ken, I would say that constitutes being the best hot dog vendor around here. So shall we go and see what thirty years on the job has taught him?’ Jonathan asked Freya.
‘You want us to go to the fair? Have you felt how cold it is out there?!’ She looked out the window at the amusements.
‘Well, I could see if the hot dog man delivers or send Ken over there, but wouldn’t it be more fun to go ourselves? I’ll give you my coat,’ he offered.
‘No, that’s OK. I have triple layers.’
‘Come on, Freya, you used to love the fair,’ he reminded. He opened the car door.
‘When I was young, unlined and unbagged and had decent hair.’ She stepped out and the ice-cold wind hit her straight away. She buttoned her coat up all the way and wished she had a hat.
They entered the fair, found Max’s Hot Dogs and bought two large sausages in rolls with onions and chilli sauce.
‘Ferris wheel?’ Jonathan suggested, biting into his food.
‘While we’re eating?’ Chilli sauce drizzled down her chin.
‘Why not?’
‘Well, from what I can remember about going to the fair with you, you used to throw up on the Ferris wheel.’ She let out a laugh.
‘That was a story made up by Carl Curtis because he was jealous I had a girlfriend and he didn’t. He liked Emma, remember, but she wasn’t interested. You and I went on the big wheel several times together. I remember a lot of things about that ride but throwing up isn’t one of them.’
Freya felt her cheeks redden and she hid her face by taking a huge bite of sausage and almost burning her lips.
‘Come on, let’s have a ride on it. Or are you too grown up and old to enjoy the simple pleasures in life?’
‘No, I’m not too old and I’m not going to puke either. I’m the girl who ate a four-course meal and half a dozen puddings on a cross channel ferry in a force seven storm. I have no idea what motion sickness is.’
‘I’m arranging some plans to be drawn up of the site at Gatebrook to show how I envisage the development.’
They were high above the park now, swinging in the air as they slowly rotated around the wheel.
‘Good, well I can show you what we have planned for Chesterville and we can coordinate the two.’
‘I saw The Gazette today,’ Jonathan stated.
‘Oh, you did. You and the entire country. I’ve had journalists phoning the studio all morning apparently and all because I made one stupid, but private, remark.’
‘I know it isn’t any of my business and you can tell me to shut up if you like. But don’t you think this awkwardness with Eric’s been going on too long now?’ He looked across at Freya.
‘Awkwardness?’ Freya said, looking straight back at Jonathan.
‘Well, you said one of the main reasons you fell out with him was because you thought he’d parted us deliberately. Now I’ve told you that wasn’t the case. Perhaps your getting married is the perfect time to lay matters to rest.’
‘Did you get me up on this Ferris wheel to talk about this because you knew the only way out was down?’
‘One of my weak points is family. I don’t like to see families torn apart just because no one will budge an inch on anything. I mean, you could both hold your hands up and say, “OK, I’ve made mistakes” and then you could move on, start afresh.’
‘If I wanted to feel like I was appearing on Oprah, I could probably get an audience with the woman herself.’
‘I am sure Eric doesn’t like the situation any more than you do. Who would want to be estranged from their daughter?’
