Chapter 50

“Mam,Da,this is Andy.”Luke made the introductions as soon as they stepped inside Luke’s parents’house.

Andy wasn’t sure what he was expecting Luke’s parents to be like.But on meeting them,he knew immediately that they were good people.Luke’s dad was tall,with thinning white hair.Hewas probably in his late fifties,and he still looked in good shape.Luke’s mother was plump;she wore her greying hair tied in a bun.Although he’d shaken hands with Luke’s dad,he got a maternal hug from Blodwen,as Luke’s mother had asked Andy to call her.She was,Andy thought,a real Earth Mother type.Though,with eight children,he thought that probably was a good thing.

Conversation around the huge dining table was lively.Andy thought he would feel like an outsider,but almost everyone was keen to include him,telling him funny stories about Luke’s childhood,much to Luke’s embarrassment.The longer they talked,the more Andy noticed that Luke’s voice was changing to match the accent of his family.

The huge amount of food Blodwen brought to the table soon disappeared.Andy had to admit Luke’s mother certainly knew how to cook.

“And in honour of our Luke’s coming home,I made his favourite for afters.”

“Rice pudding?”Luke asked.“Oh,Mam.Thanks.”

Blodwen went into the kitchen and soon returned with a large enamel dish containing a huge amount of rice pudding,which had browned at the edges.

“I suppose he’ll get the skin,”one of Luke’s younger brothers whined.

“You be quiet,”Mr Matthews said.Andy still didn’t know the man’s first name.

“We don’t often get to see our Luke,”Blodwen said.

The boy sulked.

“We can share it,”Luke said.

The boy immediately perked up.“Thanks.”

The rice pudding tasted of some spice or other.Luke,who was sitting next to Andy,said,“Mam always grates some nutmeg on top.”

Andy smiled.“It’s good,”he told Luke,then Blodwen,who smiled appreciatively.

Once he’d finished,Luke’s dad got to his feet,kissed his wife’s cheek,and said,“Thanks,Blod,love.You did us proud.”

Andy couldn’t ever remember his dad doing that to his mother after a meal.

“It’s not often we get to see our Luke,so I wanted to make it special.And him bringing his,er…young man home to meet us,too.”

“It’s been a while since I was called a young man.But,”Andy squeezed Luke’s hand that was resting on the table,“we both thank you for such a great spread.I’ll not want to eat again for the rest of the weekend.”

Blodwen smiled,“I hope you’ll be hungry by tomorrow,because our Gwen’s coming down from Aberystwyth to meet you both.”

Luke groaned quietly.No one else seemed to hear.

Mr Mathews,who was still standing next to his wife,said,“I’ll give you a hand with the dishes,and then I’ll be off to see to my tomatoes.”

“Go on,I can manage.Besides,this is my best china;I don’t want you dropping it.”

Luke’s dad gave the room a helpless shrug before leaving.Andy offered to help with the dishes,telling Blodwen she’d done all the cooking,so it wasn’t fair to leave her with all the clearing up.

“Thank you,but our Luke and Samantha will give me a hand.You go and follow Harry to his greenhouse.”

For‘the talk,’Andy thought.

Harry’s greenhouse was fairly large,about twelve feet long Andy judged as he approached.Through the glass,he saw Harry tending to his tomato plants,a lit pipe sticking out of one corner of his mouth.Andy remembered what Luke had said about imagining his father interrogating him,pointing his pipe accusingly at him.Sliding open the door,Andy hoped Luke had been joking.

“Looks like you’ll have a good crop,”Andy said,looking at the many vines,heavy with unripe fruit.

“Hope so.”

Andy scrabbled for something else to say.“Uh,what variety do you grow?”

“Elsa Craig.”

Andy was becoming desperate.“They certainly look healthy.My dad uses Epsom salts.Do you do that?”

“Uh huh.”Harry puffed on his pipe.

It’s like pulling teeth.“Luke tells me you used to be a miner.My dad was,too.But the coal dust got to his lungs and—”

“It’s not the safest of occupations.But it’s still a shame they closed all the pits.”

“I agree.Though my dad uses much stronger language than that.”

Harry laughed.At last the ice seemed to have been broken.Andy let out a sigh of relief.

They talked about the miner’s strike of the early eighties and how it had divided local communities.

“Some folk here still won’t talk to their neighbours,even though it’s been—”Harry pulled out his pipe and gestured.

“Getting on for twenty-five years,”Andy put in.“I was at school at the time.We were given free school dinners,only at our school those getting free meals had different coloured meal tickets and—”Andy shook his head.“Not a happy time.”

“It was a nasty business all round.”

The two fell quiet again,but Andy sensed it was a comfortable silence.He thought,though,that he ought to bring up the subject that so far no one had really raised.“Mr Matthews,I love your son very much.I promise I’ll do everything I can to look after him and make him happy.”

Harry puffed on his pipe a couple more times before removing it.“I know you will,boyo.Luke,when he would ring his mam and me,spent most of the time talking about you.Blod was convinced you’d be something akin to a reincarnation of Dewi Sant.”

Andy gave Harry a blank look.

“St David,patron saint of Wales.”

“Oh.”Andy remembered Sam and Donnie saying something similar about him because of what Luke had told them over the phone.

“Don’t worry;we’ve known for years our Luke has had a tendency for exaggeration.But,”Harry paused to tap the contents of his pipe into a metal bucket,“I can tell that he has made agood choice with you.”

Andy felt his cheeks getting flushed.He hoped the warm humid atmosphere of the greenhouse would hide any redness.No such luck.

“No need to get embarrassed.I can tell just by seeing you two together that you really care for each other.”Harry went on to tell him about how Luke had moved to London,how they worriedabout his choice of career.“Blod and I tried to understand,but—”

“I know.”Andy really did.

“And thanks to you,he’s given all that up and found himself a proper job.”

“I did very little.”

“Gwnewch y pethau bychain mewn bywyd.”

“Sorry?”

Harry put his hand on Andy’s shoulder.“It’s something St David is supposed to have said.‘Do the little things in life.’”

“Oh.”Andy felt uncomfortable.

Thankfully,Harry changed the subject.“Where are you two staying?Sorry we couldn’t put you up.”

“That’s all right.”Andy wasn’t sure he would have wanted to sleep with Luke in his parents’house anyway.“We’ve booked a room at the Holiday Inn Express in Llandarcy.”Andy knew he’d mispronounced the name,but thankfully Harry didn’t correct him.

“Oh,you’re only a couple of miles away,then.”

“Uh huh.”Andy,sensing the interrogation was over—and that he’d gained Luke’s father’s approval—made his excuses and left Harry to tend to his tomato plants in peace.

****

That night as they lay in bed,Andy asked Luke if there were any old friends he wanted to pay a visit to while they were in the area.

“No.I don’t have any friends here.”

Instinctively Andy tightened his hold on Luke.