No going back - 40. Colin 15

Colin skimmed through the photos from the Italian trip, mainly ones he’d taken of scenery or of Owain on his own. There a few of the both of them, grinning inanely at the camera, but he’d never quite got the hang of taking a selfie of the two of them and photo taking had usually descended into silliness. However, there were also a couple of photos taken by other people; finally, he found the one he’d been thinking of. It had been taken by that nice German couple, what was their name, Anni and Horst, that was it. The two Germans had messed around something rotten, bickering about the best way to take the photo and Owain had ended up getting bored and started larking about.

There it was. The two of them in the Marchese’s seriously grand garden, simply looking as if they were having fun.

He drafted the email without overthinking, or at least tried to. Since his Mother’s suggestion that they join her, Annalisa and Miles for lunch, communications had been a bit light. There had been a couple of photos from Annalisa, but nothing from his Mother. So, he sent them the photo along with a message saying that he and Owain were getting engaged, but that there were no immediate wedding plans, and it would probably be a small event.

Annalisa replied almost immediately, surprisingly. Her reaction was positive, congratulating them and asking for Owain’s email address so she could send congratulations to him, too. She also apologised for being rather quiet, the twins had been ill (nothing too major, but one had started with it and then passed it to the other, so she had a protracted period of sick-room duty), but also life at home had been complicated. Colin took this to be a reference to Miles.

His Mother took longer to reply. When she did it was along the lines of I’m glad you are getting settled, congratulations, though it is strange to think of you marrying a man and I just don’t think I’ll be up to travelling down to the wedding on my own.

Colin simply stared at the email and burst into laughter.

“What’s so funny?” Owain came over and Colin showed him her email.

“Bloody hell, she knows how do damn with faint praise, doesn’t she? What are you going to say?”

Colin shrugged, “That we’ve not settled the wedding yet?”

Owain gave a smirk, “How about that we’ve not settled the wedding yet, but wondered whether we might have in Leighton, so it was nice and convenient for her.”

Colin stared at Owain, “You don’t mean it?”

Owain shrugged, “As long as it’s somewhere nice. So, we can look around”, then he gave an evil grin, “but might be fun to put the wind up her!”

Colin thought about it, but decided not to go so far, simply saying that the venue was undecided, as was the date, and that they hoped to be flexible as it would be nice if she could come. Her response was more platitudes.

Annalisa didn’t respond either and Colin let it lie. A few days later he returned from work and let himself into Owain’s; he hadn’t moved in, quite, but he was spending a lot more time there. That day, Owain was working from home and there was the rather nice smell from the casserole in the oven. The two of them had assembled it together, the night before.

Owain, however, was waiting for him in the hallway, “Annalisa phoned me.”

Colin pulled up short, in the act of taking off his work boots, “Annalisa. Phoned you?”

“Yeah. She wanted to check something before asking you?”

Colin was well puzzled, “What’s this about?”

“She wants to invite us to dinner. You know we talked about it, you and her sharing recipes and that.”

“Yeah, I remember, but things don’t seem to be quite as cosy now and…” he shrugged. “I thought I’d give it time.”

“Seems she wants to go ahead, partly to celebrate our engagement. “

“What about Miles?”

“I asked that; evidently, he’s away for the whole week of the date she suggests. So, he won’t be there. And as for his reaction to our visit, she rather tartly commented that he was going to have to learn to compromise.”

Colin laughed, “I see. So... That barney they had?”

Owain shrugged, “Presumably on the subject of compromise.”

“Miles compromising on not being a dick and a bully. Best of luck to her.”

Owain pulled a face, “Face it, what’s the alternative?”

“Her leaving him?”

Owain gave an evil look, “More like her kicking him out.”

“Yeah, she’d get to stay in the house because of the kids. Bloody hell, he’d have to live with Mum.”

“Couldn’t he rent somewhere?”

Colin wrinkled his nose, “Their house is a big one in a nice area”, he put it in air quotes, “easy distance of good schools for the girls.”

“So. Expensive?”

“Very. Was a bit of a stretch for them, and I think they were planning on Annalisa going back to work.”

“But she didn’t.”

“Nah. She was ill, and it sort of never happened. Short term, at least, Miles would have to live with Mum.”

Owain gave an evil grin, “After all, she’s got the space.”

“Yeah. He’d hate that. Come to think of it, so would she. So…”

“If we go then, Miles won’t be there, and we leave Annalisa to deal with him, OK?” Colin nodded, “All we do is go round for dinner, early so the twins can join us properly. Your Mum will be there, but she’s got to play nice, like she did when they visited here.”

“Annalisa reckons it’ll work?”

Owain shrugged, “Got to hand it to the woman. I think she wants to give it a go.”

Colin sighed, “OK. I’ll email her. She gave you a date?”

They fixed it all up, checked schedules and made sure they both had time booked out so they could get to Leighton nice and promptly.

“Look, I was thinking.”

Colin looked at Owain; they were supposed to be watching TV, but Colin had the latest developments with his family going round in his head, “About Annalisa?”

“And your Mum. We go up to see them, make a fuss of the twins and take Annalisa a nice thank-you present. If your Mum is nice and polite, then we stay but if things get sticky, then we leave.”

“You reckon?”

“That’s what I told Annalisa when she phoned me, that I thought you’d be up for it but not if your Mum was on her ‘Miles is a good boy’ trip.”

Colin snorted, “If Annalisa has threatened him, then Mum’ll be on eggshells. Miles can do no wrong, but I bet she doesn’t want him under her feet at home the whole time. And you know what?”

“What?”

“I think that Annalisa’s Dad gave her some money so that they could buy that house. If she had any sense, that would be in black and white.”

“Annalisa has never struck me as lacking sense, so with any luck...”

“Miles is well and truly fucked”, and a grin spread slowly across his face.

They settled down and watched a bit of inane TV.

Eventually Colin turned to Owain with a smile, “So, if we’re telling folk about the wedding, what sort is it going to be?”

Owain wiggled his eyebrows, “Who’s coming, more like?”

Colin’s brows knitted, “You reckon Annalisa, Mum and the girls?”

“Looks likely at the moment, and Annalisa could drive down with your Mum. That problem sorted. Mhairi and Joe.”

“And Joe’s girlfriend.”

“Not sure there is one at the moment. Your Jase and Monique.”

“We did tell them about it, yeah. What about your work?”

Owain pulled a face, “I’d say Jo and Sandra because we’re doing family stuff with Sandra. The rest, I can take out for a knees-up. What about your guys.”

Colin nodded, “And gals now, we’ve gone equal opportunity.”

“Finally!”

“Yeah, picked up a couple of great young women from the college, and trying another out. So, yeah. My lot.” He sighed, “I reckon Bruno and Jimmie, because they were in from the beginning.”

Owain grinned, “Saucy bums and illicit trysts and all.”

Colin went a bit pink but nodded, “So, I’d make that around 14 or so.”

“Register office and then a private room at a pub or something. Nothing too fancy.”

“Shame there’s nowhere associated with your family.”

“Bloody hell, I don’t think we want grandad and his shenanigans being involved thank you.” Owain smiled, “No, somewhere nice. Walking distance of the register office, suit us down to the ground.”

---

Owain wasn’t around when Colin got in from work, the man gave a shout from the bedroom. He’d evidently gone to work for the day, which meant Owain had been moaning about having to sit in meetings. However, Colin had brought a surprise for Owain, too.

When Owain came downstairs he didn’t quite come to a halt. Whilst Colin was busy removing his work boots and thick socks, Joe was standing on the door mat, looking at Owain expectantly.

“Hi, Uncle Owain, I was trying out working with Colin today and he said it would be OK to join you for dinner.”

Owain grinned, “Well, if Colin says it’s OK, then it is, after all he’s doing the cooking.”

“Thanks”, and Joe started removing his own work gear.

“What about your Mum?”

“Oh, she’s out with the girls from the office”, Joe gave a sheepish grin, “Well, that’s what she calls them, but they are all her age. They are going to Leo’s for dinner.”

Owain smiled, “Very civilised.”

Joe gave him a cheeky grin, “Is that code for boring.”

“Less of it. And aren’t you a bit paint-spattered.”

Joe’s hair even had flecks of paint in it. He looked sheepish, “I was doing a ceiling and staircase and”, he shrugged, “it was harder than it looked.”

The boy hadn’t done badly at all, Colin felt he ought to support the lad, “He did brilliantly, and I’ve seen new blokes a lot worse.” In fact, Joe had picked things up quickly. He was also starting to relax a little, and whilst he didn’t contribute much to the banter, he had told a couple of stories about things that happened on the course, particularly when it came to making and painting the sets.

Colin hadn’t said anything to Owain or Mhairi yet, but if Joe continued to enjoy the work, having painting and decorating as a skill would come in useful if Joe was trying to spend time acting or writing. Mhairi evidently wanted him to get qualified, but Colin wondered whether she’d ever considered a practical skill rather than trying to make Joe better at academic subjects.

“Why don’t you go and shower, I’ll get you something of mine to wear. You can try and remove some of that stray paint, whilst Colin assembles dinner.”

Joe gave his uncle a grin and positively ran upstairs.

By the time Joe came back down-stairs, wearing an old t-shirt and shorts of Owain’s, Colin had the risotto well underway. This was a new recipe for him, but he was feeling a lot more confident about cooking, especially for folk other than Owain and himself. He’d already downloaded a batch of recipes he wanted to try.

After tucking into a large portion and seconds, Joe became thoughtful. “I had a session with Tom.”

Owain simply stared at Joe, not recognising the name, “Tom?”

“Tom Walsh, he was the guy you met after the performance at the Summer course.”

“Oh, him! He was encouraging you do to more with your writing.”

Joe looked a bit sheepish but ploughed on, “Yeah, I took the script with me, and we worked through it.”

“Any good?”

“Yeah, brilliant. He’d got some interesting ideas.”

“So, next time we see it, the scene will be radically different.”

Joe went thoughtful, “Not radical. Just tighten some bits up and give a bit more depth to others.”

“Great stuff.”

“Thing is, we were talking about the idea of doing it again, you know, at the Library.”

“To coincide with the exhibition about the family?”

“Yeah. Seems Tom’s done stuff at the Library before. Thing is, there’s no money.”

“You mean the Library or the Youth Drama Project.”

“Both really. The Library can’t afford to pay the drama group a fee and they also need someone to pay the rent on the room, otherwise they’re losing business.” This latter phrase said very disparagingly.

Owain grimaced, “Welcome to the modern world of local services. You get what you pay for.”

Colin rolled his eyes and warned him “Owain”. The penny-pinching of local councils and local politics riled Owain in a way that Colin sort of understood, but he was a bit more laid back. If ever Owain got on what they called his soap-box, Colin had a neat retort. He’d suggest that Owain go into local politics to sort things out, and Owain’s response was always ‘Not on your life’.

Thankfully, this time Owain smiled, “OK. So, off my soap-box, but with my business head on. You need someone to stump up the money.”

Colin nodded at the idea, “How much?”

Joe pulled a face, but was then very businesslike, “Rent the rehearsal space and pay the coach for the rehearsals, rent the Library and pay for Library staff”, he sighed. “There have to be two staff there at minimum, not volunteers.”

“That it?”

“Think so. We could have a collection for the drama project.”

Owain nodded, “Sounds do-able. Have you asked your Mum?”

Joe looked alarmed, “To pay?”

“Well, it’s very logical.” Owain looked a bit resigned, “OK, do you want me to say that I’ll contribute something and then I’ll ask your Mum?”

Joe broke into a broad smiled, “That would be brilliant, Uncle Owain.”

Colin thought this a neat idea and wondered whether they could make something of it for the business as well, “And if we can have a nice ad in the programme, then I’ll contribute something too.”

“Ad for what?”

Owain smiled, “Think Joe, Colin runs a local business. Help him tout for trade.”

“That’s brilliant.”

Colin had put Joe’s bike in the back of the van to run him there, so once Joe had helped them with the washing up, then it was easy enough for Colin to run the boy home. Throughout the trip, Joe was chattering away about his work on the scene and his excitement at getting it performed again.

On the journey back, Colin thought about the drama project a bit more and wondered whether there was any mileage in Reliable Renovations offering to have a regular advertising spot and be seen as supporting them. So far, Colin’s business had been through basic adverts in the local paper and, increasingly, word of mouth, plus listings on web sites, which was another form of paid advertising. The drama project would be a more rewarding sort of link up.

---

A couple of days later, Colin was round a Owain’s again. It was take-away this time, they’d both been too tied up to sort out dinner.

Chinese out of the way, Colin turned to Owain, “How was Mhairi?” The two had had lunch together, the first time for ages because of holidays.

“In good form. She agreed with alacrity to my idea for the two of us sharing the cost of the performance, with some contribution from the business. Her only stipulation was that it should be anonymous. Which was fair enough, don’t you think?”

“Sure. You’ll need to confirm things with the drama project.”

“Yeah, Joe gave me an email address, so I’ll get one sorted out in the morning. And I plan to let Sandra know. But Mhairi had news too.”

“What about?”

“My grandad.”

“Has she found out where the family papers are?”

“A fair idea, it’s a bit depressing really.”

“Why?”

“She did some digging with the help of the women at her work, and she contacted a couple of the old faces at church that she’s still on speaking terms with.”

“She actually speaks to them?”

“One or two, mainly the really old ones. And it seems they remembered grandad moving into the home, and a woman at work had a contact with a woman that used to work in the home.”

“Wow. Small town or what?”

“I think it’s more that people of a certain age still remember the firm and the family.”

“Fair enough, but did she find anything out?”

“Seems that the whole thing, grandad’s move into the home, the sale of the house and disposal of the contents, were all handled by his solicitors.”

“Didn’t Sandra tell you that he seems to have used the same ones for personal and company business?”

“That’s about it. And evidently he planned everything in advance. Chose the home, the lot, down to the fine detail. Dad wasn’t involved, except to visit him.”

“Not a lot of love lost there, then?”

“No. I wasn’t surprised, really.”

“So, the family papers?”

“Presumed taken by the solicitors.”

“Who’ve already told Sandra there is no germane paperwork connected to your grandad and grandma or the firm.”

“The same.”

“So, the idea of a bonfire looks more likely.”

“Afraid so.”

“Bit frustrating.”

“But what we expected. After all, if Dad and grandad weren’t on good terms, who the hell would want all that paperwork.”

“You and Mhairi?”

“Still young and safely ensconced in the arms of the Brethren. Not likely.”

Colin nodded, it was what they expected, but still a bit disappointing for Owain, there had always been the idea that someone would have something, “So, you wait for Sandra’s research project?”

“That’s about it.”