Joel sucked in a breath. ‘What does that mean, exactly? She will soon.’ He repeated what his son had said. ‘Come on, you might as well tell me.’
Sean shrugged. ‘I’ve left home,’ he said, opening the fridge door again and pulling out a pack of bacon. ‘Can I make myself a sandwich? I’m really hungry.’
Joel stared at him. ‘Hold it,’ he said. ‘Before we go any further, I want you to explain how you got here and why your mother doesn’t know yet. Then I’ll ring her and put her mind at rest.’
‘I shouldn’t bother.’
Sean was fiddling with the plastic wrapper of the bacon but before he could go any further his father stepped forward and snatched it out of his hands. ‘Answers, Sean,’ he said. ‘Then we can talk about breakfast. Why are you shivering? For God’s sake, have you been out all night?’
‘No.’ Sean was indignant, but Joel didn’t believe him.
‘So where have you been?’ he demanded.
‘I can walk, you know.’ Sean hunched his shoulders. And then, seeing his father’s expression, ‘All right, I spent the night in the barn up the road.’ He grimaced as Joel showed his horror. ‘It wasn’t so bad. There was some straw in the loft and a horse blanket. It smelled a bit, but it wasn’t bad.’
Joel stared at him. ‘So how come your mother doesn’t know yet?’
‘How’d you think? She and the hulk went out last night and they don’t usually check on me when they come in.’
‘Don’t call Stewart “the hulk”,’ said Joel, though he had to admit Louise’s second husband did have a beer belly. ‘And what are you saying? That they went out and left you in the house on your own?’
‘Hey, I’m old enough,’ protested Sean, eyeing the bacon enviously. ‘Look, couldn’t we just have something to eat before you phone Mum?’
Joel hesitated, then he tossed the bacon back to him. ‘I’ll ring your mother,’ he said resignedly. ‘Don’t set the place on fire.’
‘Thanks, Dad.’ Sean grinned now. ‘D’you want some, too?’
His father shook his head. ‘I’m going to take a shower after I’ve made that call. If you’re cold, just adjust the thermostat on the Aga. You know how, don’t you?’
Receiving his son’s assurance that he did indeed know how to adjust the stove which heated the entire house, Joel went across the hall to the stairs again and rescued his coffee. As expected, it was cool now, but he intended to ring Louise before doing anything else. And from his bedroom. He had no intention of allowing Sean to listen in.
His ex-wife answered the phone with a note of irritation in her voice. ‘Yes?’ she said, and Joel guessed she’d probably had a late night. For the first time, he resented the fact that she and Stewart had custody of Sean. What kind of role models was he being faced with every day?
‘It’s me,’ he said abruptly. ‘Do you know where Sean is?’
‘Still in bed, I expect.’ Louise didn’t sound worried. ‘I’ve banged on his door and told him he won’t have time for any breakfast, but does he listen? No way. Anyway, if you want to speak to him, Joel, you’ll have to wait until tonight.’
The temptation to say ‘OK’ and ring off was appealing, but the last thing Joel needed was for Stewart Barlow to accuse him of kidnapping his son. ‘He’s not in bed, he’s here,’ he said, without preamble. ‘As you’d know, Louise, if you’d bothered to check on him last night.’
Louise was briefly silenced. She wasn’t used to Joel criticising her and he guessed she was wondering how to respond. ‘Are you saying he’s been with you since yesterday evening?’ she demanded, after a moment. ‘Don’t you think you should have taken the trouble to let me know before this?’
‘How do you know I didn’t ring last night?’ asked Joel flatly.
Another silence. Then, ‘So he has been with you all night? Oh, Joel—’
‘No.’ Joel interrupted her. ‘I was only making the point that you weren’t there, even if I had phoned.’ He sighed. ‘I thought children had to be at least thirteen before being left alone.’
Louise sighed. ‘We weren’t out for long—’
‘Even so…’
‘What’s he been telling you?’ She sounded suspicious now. ‘He can be a little monkey, you know.’
‘I know.’ Joel was reluctant, but he had to be honest. ‘As a matter of fact, he only arrived on my doorstep a few minutes ago.’
‘So where did he spend the night?’ She sounded worried now.
‘He says in a neighbour’s barn.’
‘My God!’ Louise was horrified. Then she hesitated. ‘So why didn’t he come to you last night?’
‘I’m afraid I was out, too,’ said Joel unwillingly. ‘I had a meeting at the college. I didn’t get back until late.’
‘So you weren’t part of the welcome-home committee for Olivia Foley?’ teased Louise, not without a touch of jealousy. ‘I expect you’ve heard she’s come back to see her father.’
Joel quelled his impatience. He had no desire to discuss Olivia’s return with his ex-wife. ‘If I’d known Sean was likely to turn up, I’d have been here,’ he retorted shortly. ‘And I don’t think you should have left him alone in the house.’
‘I don’t, usually.’ Louise was defensive. ‘But Stewart wanted to go out and I didn’t think there was any harm in it. We were only down the road, for goodness’ sake! If he’d needed anything, he had the pub’s number.’
‘Whatever.’ Joel wasn’t prepared to discuss it over the phone. ‘Look, I haven’t had time to talk to him yet. I need to find out why he decided to do a bunk. Give me the rest of the day, can you? I’ll give you a ring tonight.’
‘But what about school?’
‘He can take a day off, can’t he? It wouldn’t be the first time, I’m sure.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Nothing.’ Joel backed off. ‘Come on, Louise. Give the kid a break.’
Louise was obviously not happy about the situation, but she decided not to be awkward. Perhaps she was afraid Joel might report her to the authorities. The custody order could be changed in his favour if he chose to complain.
‘Well, OK,’ she said at last. ‘But I think you should bring him home tonight.’
‘We’ll see.’
Joel didn’t argue, but he didn’t promise anything either. He still had to find out why Sean had chosen to run away.
Fortunately, he only had one tutorial this morning and he could take his son to the university with him. Sean could play on the computer in his office while he was in the lecture hall.
His coffee was cold now, and, putting it aside, he studied his reflection in the mirror above the bathroom basin. He didn’t look good, he thought ruefully. He looked as if it were him, and not Louise, who’d had a heavy night.
He wondered now why he’d married her in the first place. It wasn’t on the rebound. Well, not precisely, anyway. After Olivia left, he’d wasted no time before applying for a place at university, and the next four years had passed with the minimum amount of pain.
It wasn’t until he’d returned to Bridgeford that the whole sorry mess of his marriage to Olivia had come back to haunt him. Had he thought that marrying someone else and having a child would make him happy? It hadn’t,