Page 188 of In at the Deep End

It reminded him of a line from one of his favourite films, A Room with a View. There was something almost absurd about the ease with which people could lie when the truth was too uncomfortable to say aloud.

He gazed at his phone.

He’d told Dad everything was fine. He’d just told Eric the same thing.

Neither was true, not anymore.

The uncomfortable part was that Matt wasn’t even sure he was lying to them.

Maybe he was lying to himself.

“Either take something out or shut the door.”

Matt snapped back into the moment. Dad stood next to him, arms folded.

“You’ve been standing there with the fridge door open for at least two minutes.” He leaned against the worktop. “Where exactly is your head right now?”

Matt huffed. “Where do you think?”

“Ooh, don’t ask questions like that. The answer might not be what you expect. Do I take it you’ve finished? As in, finished finished?”

“I think so.”

Dad narrowed his gaze. “That sounds suspiciously like someone who’s about to spend the next three days finding things wrong with it.”

Matt laughed. “Probably.” He’d actually spend the next three days reading through it one last time, changing things that didn’t need changing, and convincing himself each tiny alteration brought him closer to perfection.

“Have you got everything arranged for the trip on Saturday?”

“Yeah. I spoke with Eric two days ago.”

“Good.” There was a pause. “And the garden?”

Matt closed the fridge. “Pretty much done. There’s always something else you could do, but…” He shrugged. “The job’s reached its natural end.”

His dad studied him in silence for a moment.

Matt stilled. “What?”

“Nothing.”

“You’ve got that face again.”

“What face?”

“The one where you’re pretending you’re not asking a question.”

Dad cocked his head. “I was just wondering whether you’ll miss it.”

Matt stared at the worktop. “Yeah.” He picked up a tea towel and began folding it even though it didn’t need folding. “I mean, I’ll miss the garden. And the house. And…” He stopped.

“And Owen?”

Matt swallowed. “Yeah.”

His father didn’t say anything, and somehow that made it easier to continue.

“I didn’t realise how much I’d got used to being there.”