Page 82 of The Second Chance Supper Club

Cath felt her heart flip. How the heck would that go down? ‘Or perhaps we could …’ Andreas continued. ‘We never really hosted as such at the beach. It was more a communal effort.’

‘Ah, but you’ve had so much to deal with lately,’ Cath countered. ‘Let us look after you both again, for this time at least. And if it’s a no-go for Will,’ she mooted, her thoughts flailing wildly, wondering if he’d be prepared to invite her to his place ever again, ‘I’m always on standby at the cottage.’

‘Well, let’s put it out there, and see what the others think, first.’ Andreas was already reaching for his phone, ready to message.

Her heart gave a little lift. Phew, one hurdle was over, it looked like the supper club would continue, but there was yet a bigger hill to climb: the massive mountain between her and Will. The next supper meet-up might well be a test. Could Will cope with the thought of having her there at his house for a supper? Should she even go or should she politely duck out this time to give them all some space and save his feelings? She wasn’t at all sure what to do for the best. She remembered the way he’d so coolly sent her away, whilst they continued looking for the terrier. That had felt like another brick in their own personal wall. It was a brick that weighed on her heart. After everything, he might not even want to host or stay a part of their supper club group any more, not when it involved seeing her.

Despite all her best intentions of steering clear of any new relationships, her heart had led her that way anyhow … and yet again, it was hurting. Yes, she’d made a positive step forward with Andreas and Dan for sure, and that was great, but another challenge awaited her …

Chapter 47

The next challenge wasn’t the one she’d imagined.

That very evening, as she was getting out of a warm, soothing bath and beginning to feel a little more like herself, she heard her mobile ringing from downstairs. She had left it in the kitchen. There was no way she could get there in time without risking an injury on the narrow cottage stairs, and hah, she was in fact naked. She decided to check the caller and ring them back, once she’d had chance to dry properly and get her PJs on. It’d be nice to sit down and have a natter with whoever it was; unless it was a junk call, of course.

A few minutes later, she reached her phone. Oh, it was Adam. Well, that was nice. She’d go and make a cup of camomile tea, ready to settle down in the front room and call him back for a chat.

She dialled. It took several rings before he answered.

‘Ah … he-ey, Mum.’ His voice sounded groggy, somehow off. She struggled to put her finger on what was odd about it. Had he been drinking perhaps? It was almost ten o’clock at night, perhaps he’d been out with friends or something? Oh, but why wasn’t he working? Wasn’t this in fact one of his shift nights in the bar he’d told her about?

‘Adam, are you okay?’

The question lingered between them for a few seconds. ‘Ah …’ His subsequent ‘yeah’ came out flat.

‘Adam, something’s up. You don’t sound at all yourself …’ ‘Argh, sorry, Ma. I shouldn’t be b-bothering you with this…

It’s all right. I’m fine … honest.’

She wasn’t going to be fobbed off that easily. ‘Well, something’s troubling you,’ she persevered. ‘Talk to me … Is it money?’ she prompted. He wasn’t in a well-paid job doing bar work after all, and a flat and expenses, even if shared, soon added up. Cath didn’t have an awful lot of spare cash herself; but she could certainly help him with finances by dipping into her small savings account if necessary.

‘Well, partly … it’s just … I’ve only gone and lost my job in the pub. They said they wanted me for the s-summer,’ his voice was slightly slurry, ‘but now we’re in September, there’s a queue of eager students turning up again, happy to take minimum wage.’

‘Oh, Adam. That’s such a shame …’ Cath sighed.

‘And well, yesterday, I got a last-minute interview. Something I’d really love to do … a zoology research project linked to the uni, so I texted … let the pub know, and took the afternoon off. Hah, let’s just say it didn’t go down well … I-I was fired.’ His tone sounded so dull, weary.

‘Ah, sorry, son. But hey, it’s good news about the interview, at least.’ Cath tried her best to be upbeat, trying to boost her son’s battered confidence. She knew all too well the stream of ‘no thanks’, of second interviews that had led to blind alleys, and rejections that he’d already had to deal with.

‘Well … I’ll just hang out and wait for the email saying “Thanks, but no thanks”. There’re literally hundreds of us trying to get one job … I keep hitting my head against a brick wall with it all. S-so fucking frustrating.’

She’d normally admonish him for swearing like that, but she could hear the pain and frustration in his voice. She let it go. Silence ensued, with both lost in their own thoughts and emotions for a few seconds. Concern was mounting in Cath’s already troubled mind. Her son sounded so low.

‘Adam, is James there?’ That was his flatmate.

‘Nah, he’s off with the new girlfriend, Kim.’

Oh, he was there on his own, bless him.

‘Just little ol’ me … and my mate, Jack Daniels.’ He gave an ironic chuckle.

No wonder he sounded odd. He was down and he was drinking, not a good combination. Jesus, might he be thinking of doing something stupid? Or not really thinking at all? Anxiety thrummed like an alarm bell in her mind.

She’d never dreamt until this moment that he might feel totally depressed, might consider hurting himself … not even with all the shit going on between her and Trevor, but tonight he sounded different. With all that had happened as a family, that destruction still very raw for all of them, and now this, coming back to a jobless Leeds, it was no wonder if he might feel like he wasn’t getting anywhere.

And he sounded so bloody low.

Her maternal instinct fired up. ‘Right, that’s it. I’m coming down. It’ll take a couple of hours in the car. I need to see you, Adam. I need to be there for you.’ Cath was resolute.