‘Yeah, I suppose you’re right.’ Kieran sounded a little more cheerful, but reservation hung in the silence that followed. ‘Okay, I’d better get on, but if you hear anything, you will let me know, won’t you?’
‘Sure,’ Tom reassured him. ‘But I don’t really know what you think I’m going to hear.’ There was no way Cat would be thinking of calling off the wedding. Nell would have mentioned something like that, even with everything else she had going on. It also comforted him that Cat and Kieran never stopped smooching when they were together. Even though Tom wasn’t a relationship expert, he would have noticed if something had changed to wedding-cancelling degree, and as far as he could see, Cat was as in love with Kieran as ever, even if she was feeling the pressure of the wedding preparations.
‘Just let me know anyway, yeah?’ Kieran asked with the kind of sigh that took all the air from your body.
‘I promise. It’ll be all right, mate. Cat loves you and that hasn’t changed. It’s probably just her long hours and trying to organise everything so quickly.’
After hanging up, Tom was conscious that he was now running late. He loved the afternoon delivery session – the peace and quiet of the car and the moments of surprise and excitement when he delivered unexpected flowers. Those smiles were one of the best bits of his job and driving through Swallowtail Bay was always a pleasure. So many of the streets were lined with trees and there were even some Victorian boulevards with big walkways in the middle. Those walkways were covered in the remaining red and gold leaves that hadn’t yet been blown away to wherever leaves go, and they looked beautiful. The car had warmed a little, but he was still cold and he shuddered, though he wasn’t sure if it was at the temperature or his conversation with Kieran.
The main road that ran the length of the town and parallel with the sea, linked Swallowtail Bay to the two nearest towns. Driving along with the blue-grey sea beside you and salty sea air filling your lungs was enough to refresh even the gloomiest of souls. On a day like today, cold but thankfully not windy, the sea would be calm and serene, making a nice change from the wild, high waves they’d had recently. The first bouquet was needed over on the other side of town and Tom pulled his seatbelt on and began on his way.
Exiting the main junction off the high street and onto the long road that ran parallel to the beach, Tom checked right at the roundabout before pulling out. After moving a few feet, the honking of a horn penetrated the song he was singing along with, alerting him that something was wrong, followed by a loud crunch at the side of the van.
‘Aargh!’ Tom’s body rocked to the left then shot back to the right, bashing into the van door as a scraping sound filled his ears. His seatbelt tightened at his neck, jolting him backwards into his seat. Instinctively, Tom’s hand grabbed the back of his head and he heard angry voices growing louder and louder as someone knocked at his window.
‘What the fuck are you doing?’ A large angry man, his face red with rage, knocked again.
‘I’m sorry – I—’ Tom opened his door a little and the man stepped back allowing him to get out. His legs were wobbly, and he held on to the roof as he looked around. A tightening in his throat made him think he might be sick, and in vain he tried to control the swirling in his stomach. The man’s people carrier had scraped the driver’s side of Tom’s van. His skin prickled as he realised he’d driven out too soon, causing the man to swerve away enabling them both to have a narrow escape. If he hadn’t, it could have been so much worse.
‘You just drove straight out of the junction. I’ve got kids in the car, mate – you didn’t even look.’
‘I did, I promise you. I looked both ways.’ He glanced over and saw a woman at the people carrier checking on two crying toddlers in the back. Tom felt his eyes sting as worry and guilt hit him like a tidal wave. ‘Are your kids okay? I’m so sorry, I don’t know what happened. I did look and I didn’t see you – I just didn’t see you—’ Tom’s hand shot up and grabbed his hair as he tried to understand what had happened. The cries of the children calmed a little with gentle shushes from their mum, but Tom knew that the problems with his sight – problems that seemed to be growing more and more severe – could well be to blame for this. His peripheral vision was getting less and less clear, so it was entirely possible that even though he glanced left and right he simply hadn’t seen them. The whiplash in his muscles began to tighten through his back and neck. ‘I’m so, so sorry. I’ll pay for the damage to your car.’
The man seemed to soften a little with Tom’s clear concern for his children. ‘All right, mate. Thanks. The kids are okay, just a bit shaken up, like us. Are you all right? You look a bit white.’
His kindness was almost too much for Tom to bear when he could have really hurt them, albeit unintentionally.
