Page 193 of In at the Deep End

He glanced at the screen. Six o’clock. His parents would be at Owen’s by now, probably somewhere in the middle of a crowd. He opened his dad’s contact. He wasn’t really sure why.

I should probably leave him alone.

He pressed call.

His dad answered after three rings. “Hey, mate.”

“Hey.” There was a burst of background noise on the other end, followed by his father moving somewhere quieter.

“Everything all right?”

“Yeah. Eric’s just been delayed. He won’t be long though.”

“Where are you?”

“Stirling. Still at the station.”

“Ah. Not far now, then.”

“No.”

For a moment, neither of them said anything. Matt could hear the faint hum of voices, the occasional clink of something in the background.

“How’s the party?”

“Loud. I’ve met people who worked in the hotel business with Owen, some going back years. The man has a lot of friends.”

Yeah, he does. “Is Owen coping?”

“I think so. He’s roped Callum into helping. Cyn too, by the look of it.” Dad chuckled. “I heard her asking if he was going to pay her at the end of the night.”

“Are you having a good time?”

“Yeah. It’s great. Your mum brought enough food to feed the whole county.”

“That sounds like Mum.”

There was a pause. “You okay, Matt?”

He stared at the glass door of the waiting room. “Yeah.” He swallowed.

Lying again. He was so far from okay he didn’t know what okay looked like anymore.

“That didn’t sound very convincing.”

Matt swallowed again. “I just…” He stopped, unsure how to continue.

Dad waited.

That was one of the things Matt loved about him. He could be irritating and nosy and spectacularly embarrassing, but when it mattered, he knew when to shut up.

And sometimes, somehow, he knew exactly the right thing to say.

“Dad… Can I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

Matt stared at his shoes. “Have you ever…” He stopped and started again. “Have you ever thought you really mattered to someone, and then realised you’d got it wrong?”