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By Root 1456 0

a founding partner when Ed was still relatively young—at primary school—and the two of them had spent far more time together than most fathers managed. He’d been married before—had four children with his first wife, who was rich and thin and bitter—Ed said they all called her the Duchess, as in Windsor. Ed’s half brothers and sisters were all weird, he said, poisoned against his father by too many years of listening to the Duchess deride and castigate him, although it was her, and not him, who had left the marriage. He didn’t see much of them or their children. He told Amanda he thought his dad’s relationship with his four older children had a lot to do with why he was so close to the three more he had had with Ed’s mum, Nancy.

“It’s like he knew he’d played a part in losing them, even though what happened wasn’t really his fault. It made him determined to be really close to me and my brothers.” Amanda nodded.

“And I was the youngest, which helped. Tom and Dan were at senior school when Dad retired, and they were always busy with sports and girls and stuff. I had him to myself a lot. We used to go fly-fishing and tinker with engines and things.”

“Sounds pretty idyllic.” Amanda smiled.

“You know, it sort of was. He and Mum have always been really, really happy together. That filters down, you know.”

She nodded. “My mum was happily married, too.”

“To your dad?”

“No!” She laughed. “Sounds a bit like your dad, actually. My father—he’s dead now—he went off with someone, before I was born. I’ve got two big sisters—Jennifer and Lisa—they’re quite a bit older than me. I suppose I must have been the Elastoplast baby. Or an accident. One of those. Didn’t work. He scarpered when Mum was about four months pregnant, I think. Bugger. But they were not happy together. That’s what Mum always said. And I don’t think Jennifer and Lisa have many happy family memories from before. It wasn’t a big shock or anything, I don’t think. Probably he just had the opportunity first.”

“Were you and he close?”

She snorted. “Barely. I didn’t see much of him, to be honest. He lived a long way away, and he started a new family. Died of a massive coronary about five years ago. Didn’t go to his funeral. Didn’t especially want to. Wasn’t especially missed, so far as I ever knew. Mum went, and my sisters. But then they’d lived with him, and I never did.”

Ed shook his head. “Families.”

“Don’t know one without a sniff of trouble.”

“Not possible, I don’t think. My mum’s lot, maybe. They’re pretty straightforward.” He shrugged. “So—your mum married again?”

“She did. Mark. The architect—remember, I told you?” Ed nodded. “They married about sixteen years ago, when I was pretty young. Had Hannah, my kid sister, who’s fifteen now.”

“Christ—four girls!”

“Christ—three boys! What about your brothers?”

“Tom’s a lawyer, like Dad. Works at the old family firm in Cornwall. He’s in training to be just like the old man. He married a girl called Ginny, and they’ve got a couple of sprogs who’ll no doubt grow up to be lawyers and work at the old family firm. Tom and Ginny live in Mum and Dad’s old house. Beautiful place, with five or six acres. Mum and Dad moved to the sea, to a smaller place, when Tom got married. We have Christmas at their place, because there are lots of us—Mum’s relatives descend en masse—and that’s the only place where there’s room for us all. Dan’s a captain in the tank regiment. Went to Sandhurst—the full monty. Career soldier…We’re lucky, really, we’ve all gone in very different directions, so there’s no competition, you know—no one treads on anyone’s toes. That helps.” He stopped talking and kissed her on the mouth, pulling back and smiling. It acknowledged how good this felt. “Tell me about your sisters?”

“Lisa is the oldest. She’s most like me, I suppose, if I’m like any of them. She’s meant to be marrying this great bloke, Andy. But I think she’s collateral damage, from Mum and Dad’s divorce—commitment-phobe, that sort of thing. Then there’s Jennifer. Neat freak. Shoes always match the outfit, if you know what I mean; she’s married to