But then I saw it was Jack’s number. ‘Mum!’ Ben cried.
I clutched the phone, already horrid thoughts of disasters flooding my mind. Was there another fire? ‘Ben, what is it?’
‘Can you come over, Mum? It’s ready!’
I sagged in relief. For once it wasn’t a broken nose or a fractured collarbone. ‘What is?’
‘Our project, Mum! You have to come and see it. We’re in the warehouse!’
‘I’ll be right over,’ I promised, smiling to myself. He sounded so happy. I grabbed my keys, the cake I’d made for Jack to thank him for his kindness towards Ben, a shawl, a jacket for Ben and then finally pushed my feet into my wellies before letting myself out the door.
Up ahead, the setting sun had smeared the sky with lashes of pink and purple. Ah, sometimes it really was the free things that gave us pleasure in life. I wished Jessica could see this. I wished Luke could see it as well.
As it turned out, the surprise was nothing small. It was humongous, covered with an olive green tarpaulin. Ben jumped around, almost tripping as Jack steadied him. ‘You ready, mate?’
Ben nodded eagerly. ‘Ready!’
I looked back and forth between the two of them, wondering if they had gone completely mad.
‘Now, you know that Ben has been working on this for months now,’ Jack said.
‘Yes, yes, unveil it already!’ I cried, as excited as Ben, if not more. For months now, my baby had spent all his afternoons working on something for me.
Jack walked up to the edge of the tarpaulin. ‘Here goes!’ he cried, and yanked it down.
I stepped back, ready to faint.
36
Triangle
‘Mum! Mum! You okay?’
‘Nina, are you all right?’
I opened and closed my mouth. ‘How… where… did you get this?’ I cried as I looked upon a large vehicle, something between a van and a trailer. It was bright red, green and white, like the Italian flag, with a sign that read Nina’s Arancini.
‘Like it, Mum? It’s your brand-new food truck! No more cooking for restaurants for you!’
I hugged Ben to me, feeling the flood of tears gushing down my cheeks and into my mouth. ‘Oh, it’s absolutely gorgeous!’ I bawled, and Ben jumped up and down on his longer leg, clapping his hands in glee, his face bright red with joy.
‘Well, not brand-new, really,’ Jack confessed. ‘It’s what was left of your trailer, remember?’
I gasped. ‘Oh, my God, Jack! And you’ve kept it all these years?’
He blushed. ‘Sorry it took so long, but Ben and I had, uhm… artistic differences.’
‘Ohhh,’ I cried as I grabbed them both, smothering them with kisses. ‘Thank you, thank you, thank you so much, guys! I’d have never been able to do this by myself! I wouldn’t have even thought of it!’
They led the way into the food truck and showed me the cooker, the deep fryer and the work surface, along with the fridge and all the clever shelving.
‘And now you can sell your arancini and keep the profit for yourself instead of giving more than half of it to those greedy restaurant owners who pass your little miracles off as their own!’ Jack said.
I stepped back and beamed at them as I patted their hair down and restored their clothing to their initial position.
‘You two have made me the proudest, happiest woman alive.’
Jack stuffed his hands into his pockets. ‘Thank Ben – he did all the hard grafting.’
I hunkered down and took Ben’s hands in mine, and he sobered, understanding the importance of what I was about to say.
‘Never,’ I said, swallowing back my tears, ‘has a mother ever been so proud of her son, as I am of you, my darling Ben. But even without this marvellous, selfless gift, you would still be the best son a woman could ever pray for. You and Chloe are the reason I live.’
He looked at me for a long moment, and then threw his arms around my neck with all his might. I kissed his baby cheeks over and over again, aware in the background that Jack was swiping at his cheek nonchalantly.
And after we all had our sob session, I stood up and wiped my eyes, laughing like a lunatic. ‘I’m calling Truro town hall for a licence tomorrow, and I’m quitting the restaurants! And you two are going to be my first guests!’
‘Already done,’ Jack informed me. ‘You can get out there for tomorrow if you want.’
‘You didn’t!’
‘I did. Hey, where are you going?’ he said as I headed for the door.
‘To type a letter of resignation to the Poldark Tours company!’ I called over my shoulder. ‘Come on, we’re going to celebrate!’
I invited Jack over for the afternoon, just so we could take our time talking, but he insisted on helping me make dinner.
It was still so strange, having him back in the house again, but it also felt right, as if the very house was exhaling in relief, and telling him, both with its silences and sounds, that it had been waiting for him to come back. And he listened to it in return, his eyes meeting mine.
‘It’s so good to have you back, Jack,’ I whispered. ‘It just wasn’t the same without you. It was quite rubbish. Absolute shit, in fact.’
Even Minnie and Callie monopolised him by lying each on one of his feet as he sat working away at the table. He should have never disappeared from our lives in the first place, and I wanted him to know that.
His eyes crinkled as he smiled, and I thanked our lucky stars.
As promised, the next day I went over to Jack’s to teach him to bake an apple pie, as it was the least I could do for him.
When I got there, he was already at the kitchen island, surrounded by every known cooking ingredient and implement his mum had ever owned. His kitchen was amazing, with all the proper copper pots hanging above, and a triple oven and a fridge the
