Page 4 of Be More Capybara

She was right. The point scoring they used to indulge in as children was so ingrained, he didn’t realise he was still doing it most of the time. ‘If I promise to stop, can we call a truce?’

‘Okay. But I want concrete evidence that you respect him before I’m prepared to declare the war is over.’

Nigel nodded. He held out his right hand. ‘Deal. One business person to another?’

‘Deal.’ She gave him a firm handshake.

‘Mark’s lucky to have you supporting him.’

‘He knows that. We’re a team.’

Just like he and Madison hadn’t been a team for years. Funny how that hadn’t dawned on him before.

‘We’re starting the review of the year,’ Mark shouted from the drawing room.

‘Mum still does the annual slide show?’

‘Yes, though probably the last time you saw it, it was actual slides. She’s gone all hi tech now.’

The only free seat was next to Em, who used to be the concierge for the Grange’s holiday cottages. Nigel hadn’t spoken to her at all yet. He tried to dispel the image of that cringeworthy Zoom job interview nearly five years ago.

She smiled at him awkwardly. She was probably trying to do the same.

‘Good to meet you properly,’ he said.

‘Likewise. I’ve heard a lot about you over the years.’

He grinned. ‘All of it bad, I guess.’

Em looked uncomfortable. ‘I couldn’t possibly comment.’

The man sitting on the other side of her, smirking into his wine glass. He realised it was her husband Jack, looking much older than when Nigel had last seen him, burying Mark in the sands on Dashford beach. ‘How long are you staying, Nigel?’

‘A week or so. I’m not sure yet. There are a few things I need to do.’

‘I guess you’re interested in the treehouses?’ Em asked.

Why did everybody think all he cared about was business? Because that’s all you ever ask about when you talk to them.

‘I’m interested, but it’s Mark’s project, so I won’t be poking my nose in.’

Lucy smiled approvingly from the other sofa.

Mark finished adjusting the screen. ‘Right, Mother. We’re ready.’

Nancy pressed a key on her laptop, and an aerial image of Dashford Grange appeared on the screen before turning into a drone video with the local scenery whizzing by until it reached the field where the Roman mosaic had been discovered in the summer.

Nigel chuckled. ‘You’ve upped your game, Mother. This beats the old slides.’

‘Shh,’ she said. ‘Listen.’

A voiceover began - Klaus explaining how they’d discovered the mosaic.

‘Surely everyone knows this story,’ Nigel whispered to Em.

‘Nancy keeps all these in a time capsule that she re-buries each year at the bottom of the garden. Who knows who’ll be watching them in a hundred years?’

The scene moved to the harbour and the row of shops next to it. He didn’t recognise any of them. Hadn’t the gallery used to be a fishing tackle shop? And the bookshop had been a hardware store. You’ve been away too long.