“What a place to spend your childhood,” I say, nodding toward the boys still jumping from the harbor wall. “Do you have a favorite memory, of growing up here?”
It’s a trite question, perhaps too personal, but Ted looks to be considering it seriously. He gazes out across the cove, tapping a finger against his mug.
“When I was younger, I used to drive around with Dad in his cab when my mum was working. Passengers didn’t seem to mind. I loved hearing him talk to people; he always knew the right thing to say. He could tell when someone wanted to talk, when they didn’t. People always left his cab happier than they got in. Even those having a bad day, it was as though he drove them away from whatever had upset them. All these years later, if ever I’m stressed, all I want to do is drive . . .”
He trails off.
“It’s a happy association for you,” I offer. He nods.
Taking a swig of coffee, he stands up, turns to lean both hands on the white railing, and looks down into the sea below.
I walk over to stand next to him, keen to keep the conversation going.
“I think objects can be powerful conduits for memories.” I hold out my arm to show him my wristwatch. “This was my dad’s. He died when I was three. I’ve worn it ever since my wrists were thick enough to hold it. I had to have an extra hole put into the strap so it would fit. I know it’s big and ugly, but it’s all I have left of him.” I stroke my finger across the face of the watch. “I often think how the leather is ingrained with his sweat. I like to imagine how many times he must have glanced at the face, just as I do. Maybe something of him is still in there.”
When I look up, Ted is watching me almost reverently. Then his eyes quickly fall to his wedding ring, and he turns it around and around between his finger and thumb.
“That’s a beautiful way to think of it. I . . .”
“Ted? Ted Palmerston?” comes a voice from behind us. We both turn to see a thickset, muscular man with a shock of ginger hair and a tattoo of the Jersey flag, a white rectangle with a diagonal red cross, on his arm. He has his hand outstretched toward Ted, a huge grin on his face. “While I live and breathe, Palmerston returns.” He laughs.
Ted’s eyes seem to grow larger as he holds up a palm in greeting.
“Hey, Danny,” he says.
Danny looks at me, waiting for an introduction he doesn’t get.
“I’m sorry to hear about your dad,” he says, turning back to Ted. “I always poke my nose into his porch whenever I pass L’étacq. You know, check he’s OK.”
“That’s decent of you, Danny.”
I look back and forth between the two men.
“And I . . . I heard about your, er, situation. I’m sorry, that’s got to be tough.”
Ted nods, and Danny eyes me curiously.
“Hi, I’m Laura,” I say, giving him a wave. “I’m a passenger of Ted’s.”
Danny glances down at the cups on our table and at Ted’s awkward expression. He’s rubbing his beard again, as though if he rubs it hard enough, a conversation genie might spring out. Maybe it’s not just me he gets all monosyllabic around.
“I see.” Danny looks back and forth between us with a sly smirk. “Well, you ever want to go for a beer and set the world to rights, you just let me know, mate. Though maybe you’re all set.”
Danny gives him a wink and then rejoins the woman and boy waiting for him over by the kiosk awning. They start talking, looking back in our direction.
Now I have so many questions: What is wrong with Ted’s dad? What’s his “situation”？ Is he in trouble with the law? Has he entered a beard-growing competition for money and now doesn’t know how to get out of it? By the look on Ted’s face, now isn’t the time to ask.
“Excuse me, I need to make a phone call. Thanks for the coffee, take whatever time you need to explore the beach,” he says gruffly, then strides off back the way we came, shoulders hunched up around his ears.
Now I’m worried he felt interrogated. Dee tells me I have a habit of asking too many questions when I first meet people. She says, “People don’t want to be bitten into like an apple, Laura—to show you their core in one conversation. Sometimes you have to peel the skin away slowly.” It made me think of the game my mother used to play when I was a child—where she’d try and peel an apple all in one go. You had to be gentle with the knife, create an even ribbon of peel, so it came away in one piece. I’ve never been able to do it—I don’t have the patience or the sleight of hand.