[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

did seem to have a real flavour for once. He smiled at Flynn over the table, and poured him a
fresh glass of wine.  Mmm. Highly eligible, apart from those few flaws your mate pointed out.
Can t think why I haven t been snapped up.
 Oh, God. I m so sorry. I dragged you there and& 
 And he s not your responsibility. Neither am I. We don t even have to talk about him.
 Don t we? Flynn looked as if the possibility of not doing so came as a revelation as well
as a relief.  You know, that would be nice. He s been in my face a bit lately. He applied him-
self to the food for a few moments, then glanced around the kitchen, back into the living
room s round cavern beyond it.  Okay. This is very good. I like your dog. I like your& I ve
already made it painfully clear that I like your house. How did you find it? It doesn t look derel-
ict to me.
Thomas gave him a glimmering look.  Well, you haven t seen upstairs yet. As for how I got
it very cheap, is the answer. There s actually a demolition order on it.
 You re kidding. Isn t it listed?
 It was. It s one of a chain of towers strung all the way round the north coast. They were
used to keep a watch out for smugglers or by them, to lure ships in with lights, depending on
whose legend you listen to. Lots of history. But this one s about ready to crumble into the
sea.
Flynn s eyes widened. Thomas noted the expansion of their pupils, and smiled. He looked
less fazed than allured by the concept of plunging off the cliff in a welter of masonry. Thomas
recalled his own first response to the news of his home s drawback a stir in his gut, a tug,
like gravity, at the idea of life-terminating risk, a vision of the brief sweet avalanche such a
conclusion would be and he wondered at the qualities of a man who would share his mo-
ment of excitement. His ultimate indifference. Flynn said softly,  Will it go before we finish din-
ner, you reckon?
 Oh, any time over the next century or so, according to the council surveyor. They don t
seem in much more of a hurry than that to knock it down, which is useful for me though I
rent it by the month, just in case.
Another easy silence fell.  How s your friend? Flynn asked suddenly, breaking Thomas s
reverie.  The one you were going to help the other week& Victor, was it? In the boathouse?
 Oh, Victor&  Thomas sighed. He thought about reaching for the Riesling, but Flynn s
glass was still full, and somehow the impulse was not as strong as usual anyway.  He s out of
the boathouse, at any rate. For now. Vic s a combat-stress case. Army. Three tours in Afgh-
anistan, and he s pretty much destroyed. Drinks too much, can t deal with people. Shuts him-
self up in his lair every so often. I m not surprised it looks good to him. He fell silent. It had
struck him that, barring a few hard-won disciplines and social graces, he could have been de-
scribing himself, and he was suddenly afraid that Flynn had not missed the parallels, either.
His expression was extraordinary. Thomas thought he had never seen such compas-
sion muted, bright-eyed, fierce in a human face. He felt some dammed-up thing inside him
start to strain behind its walls.  He ll be okay, he said roughly.  If the bloody MoD coughs up
his compensation, anyway. Are you finished there? Go and sit down and I ll make us some
coffee.
Flynn got up. If he minded their conversation s sudden ending, he didn t let it show.  Okay.
Thanks for dinner. He put out a hand to scratch behind Belle s ears, and she paced a little
way after him as he left the kitchen, then cast an anxious backward glance at Tom and re-
turned to sit at his feet.
Tom was glad that Flynn had obeyed him without question. He needed, fiercely, to be
alone for a short time. He had forgotten the pains and joys of serious, significant human inter-
action of talking, about something other than the weather, and of being heard. Barely aware
of his own actions, he switched the kettle on and turned to start the washing up.
 Thomas?
He froze. Damn, he should have tried not to let the cutlery clatter. He might have known
that Flynn was too polite a guest to leave him to clear up, no matter how much he needed the
break. He went through to the living room, wiping soap suds off his hands with a tea towel.
Flynn was kneeling between two piles of his uncategorised books, apparently sharing a per-
usal of them with his wolfhound.  Yes? You okay?
 Fine. But leave the dishes. I ll do them later.
Thomas looked at him. His presence altered the room in ways Thomas could not account
for. Always somehow numinous, now lit by a single lamp in the corner, it had even more of a
solemn, waiting air about it, as if any moment it would be filled by the song of angels or mer-
maids. Well, he could hear the sea, a distant, almost subsonic booming in the cliff-caverns far
below.
 It s okay, he said.  I ll just run them through now. It won t take five minutes.
 This is quite a collection, Flynn commented, as if he hadn t heard him. He was carefully
turning over the pages of a 1960s account of the Kennedy assassination. Fascinating, practic-
ally written on the day. Thomas found himself more interested in the movements his hands
made. Capable, deft. Incredibly gentle. Thomas wanted, with a violence that shocked him, to
feel their touch on his skin. His mouth dried out.  Henry James, Thackeray, DIY, Flynn con-
tinued, glancing over the wildly eclectic mix.  And yet everything else is so organised and& 
he gestured to the well-scrubbed flagstone floor, to the room s other surfaces, giving back the
lamplight without a trace of dust,  & so beautifully clean.
Thomas swallowed. He never spoke to anyone about his compulsion towards order.
Barely acknowledged it to himself. But Flynn wasn t challenging him. His expression was kind,
as if he already understood.  I know. I feel as if I have to.
 Like the washing up.
 Yes. I feel as if I have to.
Flynn uncurled from the floor. Not taking his warm gaze from Thomas, he went to the sofa,
sat down and stretched one arm along the back of it. Crossed one ankle over his knee. He
smiled at Thomas, a long, slow smile that left no room for doubt.  Leave it, he said huskily.
 Come here.
So Thomas came to sit beside Flynn. It was awkward Flynn had not moved his arm, and
the sofa was not large, but he thought he had made a reasonably casual job of it until he real- [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]