‘Of course.’
Alison began to pour us both some more wine. I pressed the answer button on my telephone.
‘Hi,’ I said.
‘Ahoy there!’ said Lindsay – loudly and somewhat unexpectedly. ‘Avast, me hearties! Splice the mainbrace and hoist the topsail! How are you coping with life on the jolly old ocean waves, you salty old seadog, you?’
‘Excuse me?’
There was a pause. ‘Max, is that you?’
‘Yes.’
‘Well, what’s it like on the boat, then? What’s your cabin like?’
‘I’m not on the boat. I’m in Edinburgh.’
There was a longer, more shocked silence. Also, a noticeable change in Lindsay’s tone of voice. ‘You’re
‘I’m still in Edinburgh.’
‘What are you doing in Edinburgh?’
‘I’m having dinner with an old friend.’
‘Max,’ said Lindsay – and now I could definitely hear an edge of anger – ‘what are you
‘I know that. I’m going tomorrow.’
‘Tomorrow? Trevor and David got to their destinations yesterday. Tony went there and came back in one day!’
‘I know that, but you told me there was no hurry.’
‘Not hurrying is one thing, Max. That doesn’t mean you have to treat this journey as an excuse to wander through the country at the firm’s expense visiting everybody you know on Facebook.’
There was something strange going on here. Why was she suddenly giving me such a hard time? Two days ago she had been supportive and affectionate. Had something changed in the meantime?
‘Lindsay, are you OK? Is everything OK? Because I think you’re being a bit … well, I think you’re overreacting a bit.’
There was a pause at the other end of the line. Then she sighed. ‘Everything’s fine, Max. Everything’s fine. Just make sure you get there, and do what you have to do, and then get back. OK? Just get on with it.’
‘Of course. I’ll be on the ferry at five o’clock tomorrow. No question.’
‘Good. That’s what I want to hear.’ She seemed to be on the point of saying goodbye, but asked me one more question: ‘How’s the video diary coming along?’
I hadn’t shot anything, needless to say, apart from that footage of my father’s block of flats in Lichfield, and the service station at Abington.
‘Fantastic. Well, of course, I’ve mainly been saving it for the boat journey, and the islands themselves. But what I’ve got so far is pretty good as well.’
‘Great. I knew I could rely on you, Max.’
‘Where are you?’ I asked. For some reason I had the sense that she wasn’t calling from home.
‘I’m in the office. Just having a bit of a conference with Alan. Yeah, working late. We’ve got a few things to … iron out.’
On that slightly enigmatic note, she hung up. As I put my phone away, I noticed that a little warning sign had come up on the screen to tell me that the battery was almost empty. Better recharge it tonight. Meanwhile, Alison gave me a questioning look as she delicately placed a sliver of beetroot between her teeth.
‘That was Lindsay,’ I explained. ‘From Head Office. Keeping tabs on my progress.’
‘Or lack of it,’ said Alison.
I smiled. ‘Well, there’ve been quite a few delays so far,’ I admitted. ‘Yesterday I saw Caroline again. For the first time since she … walked out.’
‘And how was that?’
For once the right word came easily. ‘Painful.’
For the second time that evening, Alison reached out and touched me, this time laying her hand gently on mine.
‘Poor Max. Shall we talk about it? I mean, talk about why she left. I’d heard a few things, but I don’t know if they’re true.’
‘What have you heard? Who from?’
‘From Chris, mainly. He said that when they went on holiday with you a few years ago, things were … well, a bit tense.’
‘That’s true. It wasn’t a very successful holiday. In fact all sorts of things went wrong. Joe had this nasty accident, and …’
‘I know. Chris told me all about it.’
