‘He’ll be remembering the reaction he got at that open mic night,’ said Tiger. ‘That’s got to have some pull to it. It was like he was Springsteen or someone.’
Maggie laughed. ‘Don’t tell him that. But yes, I think you’re right. It was the way that crowd cheered that’s basically pushed him forward and made him brave.’
‘Should have done it years ago,’ said Tiger.
Maggie nodded. He was right. Leon could have been playing in public for all these years and been getting that reaction every time.
Tiger pulled up a chair and sat next to her. ‘That’s what Angie used to say,’ he said. ‘She was always going on about how he was wasting his talents.’
At the mention of Angie’s name, Maggie felt her throat thicken, but she was all right. The pain of the loss was becoming manageable. That was something else that time could do.
She smiled fondly. ‘Yes,’ she agreed, ‘she was. And she knew that when Leon finally did perform, he’d see what we all saw because of how the audience reacted. It’s just a pity it’s taken him three decades to get there.’
Tiger shot her a wry smile.
For a moment they sat, each in quiet contemplation. Maggie thought about Angie and the way she had continued to touch and guide their lives long after she had left them, impossible to forget.
Tiger broke the silence. ‘I always regretted that you and me never . . . you know . . .’ He made an inappropriate hand gesture to illustrate his point and Maggie rolled her eyes. ‘Angie’s predictions went a little awry there,’ he added.
Maggie frowned. ‘Did she predict that?’ she asked. ‘She never said anything to me!’
‘Every time I turned up she used to go on about how I should ring you.’
‘And yet somehow you never did.’ Maggie laughed sardonically.
Tiger shrugged. ‘Yeah. Sorry about that,’ he said. ‘I wish I had done, though.’
Maggie raised her eyes and found his and for a moment they shared a look heavy with meaning and regret.
‘Yes,’ she said. ‘I wish you had done too.’
Tiger sighed. ‘You’re much better off with Leon,’ he said. ‘He’s a far better bet than I ever was.’
Maggie nodded. ‘Yep. That’s true enough.’
A silence fell again as they each contemplated what might have been.
Then Tiger spoke again. ‘She knew us all pretty well, didn’t she? Ange, I mean.’
A single fat tear escaped and rolled down Maggie’s cheek. She caught it with the tip of her finger.
‘Yes,’ she said. ‘She really did.’
55
Her exams were over! Romany could hardly believe it. All that work and worry and sheer bloody shittiness of the year that had gone, and now it was finally behind her and a long hot summer lay ahead. It was going to be amazing, as long as she didn’t let herself think about results day, hanging like a shadow over everything.
Still, if her mum had been here, she would have told her that there was absolutely nothing that could be done about it now, and so there was no point worrying about something she couldn’t change. Romany decided, for once, to take her mum’s advice. She was going to party! July was one long list of social engagements and if she was lucky, she might even get to go on holiday to Spain with Laura and some of the other girls. It was going to be great.
But there was one other black spot on her horizon.
Daniel.
Since the day of the photoshoot, she had pushed him and what he had said out of her mind. She had no room for it, no bandwidth to deal with any of its implications, but she knew that she couldn’t just ignore him forever. They were going to have to talk and it was up to her to make the first move.
No time like the present.
She pulled her phone out of her back pocket and opened up messages. Then she stopped. She had only just finished her exams. Surely she could give herself a couple of weeks off before she confronted what was waiting for her.
But she knew herself well. She needed to speak to him, get everything out in the open or she would fret about it and it would spoil her entire summer. Again, she could hear her mum in her head. ‘Just do it, Romany. What’s the worst that can happen?’
The worst that could happen was that she would end up with no dad. No change there then.
She didn’t have Daniel’s number, so she messaged Hope.
Hi. I need to talk to Daniel. Can you get him to get in touch please?
Ten minutes later a message popped up.
Hi. It’s Daniel. What works for you?