Case Sensitive by A. K. Turner

Author:A. K. Turner
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bonnier Publishing Fiction

Chapter Twenty-Two

As the bus trundled north to Gospel Oak that evening, Cassie couldn’t stop herself smiling as she replayed the unplanned snog with Archie. They had arranged to meet the following evening.

Was it a good idea? Who knew.

Tonight she had to pay a duty call – her first visit to the charity-run hostel where her dad was staying.

She’d put off visiting for too long, scared of it being a downer, but in reality the place came as a pleasant surprise: a tidy low-rise block framed by greenery and with a freshly painted reception area.

After the receptionist had buzzed her through to the cafe, she scanned the room, her eye sliding over a stooped old man at the drinks machine, before realising it was Callum. When he turned and saw her, the joyful look that broke over his face made her give him a longer hug than usual.

‘You look thinner,’ she said, looking him up and down. It still made her weirdly angry, how crap he was at looking after himself.

‘This is a nice surprise!’ he said, still scanning her face with eyes that looked watery and red-rimmed.

‘Oh, I was in the area,’ she lied. In truth, her grandmother had called to tell Cassie that she was worried about him. ‘How are you?’ Making it clear this was more than a polite enquiry.

‘I’m not so bad, Catkin,’ he said, before covering his mouth to cough. ‘But I just can’t seem to shake this cold.’

‘Gran said you threw up after dinner at her place the other evening.’

‘Oh, she told you that, did she?’ He lifted one shoulder ruefully. ‘I reckon I’m still not used to her cooking, after years of prison food, you know. It’s so good but it’s all pretty rich, the Polish stuff, isn’t it?’

Cassie couldn’t argue with that. Babcia never saw a recipe that wouldn’t benefit from an extra dose of cream and butter. ‘Do you have any other symptoms?’

‘I’m fine. Just a bit run-down is all.’ He touched her hand tentatively, and she resisted the reflex to withdraw it. ‘Listen, Catkin, I don’t want you fretting about me. I should be the one looking after you. That’s my job as a father.’

It was when I was a little girl that needed you. Irrational, of course. He couldn’t be blamed for his wrongful imprisonment, but still, there wasn’t any way to make up for those missing years.

Remembering the smell of perfume – or aftershave – on the boat, she wondered if he’d gone there to check up on her. He knew where the spare key was hidden in the cockpit.

‘You didn’t pop by the boat a couple of days back, by any chance?’

‘No, why?’ He frowned, shaking his head.

‘Oh, nothing. I just thought I might have seen you.’

Taking a drink of his tea, he grimaced. ‘I’ll never get used to the taste of London water.’

Noticing a tremor in his hand as he put the mug down, something occurred to her. ‘You’re not back on the booze, are you?’ Callum

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