Chapter 53

“When my parents split up, I was just a teenager and I suppose I didn’t fully

understand what was happening. There were a lot of arguments. A lot of

tension.”

“Oh, Patrick.”

Lee’s arms tightened.

“I had terrible,

vivid nightmares. I even sleep-walked for a time. My parents appeared all the time

in dreams, moving away so I couldn’t catch them up. I’d wake up yelling, angry

and scared.” He cleared his throat, self-conscious now. “I was a more

imaginative creature as a kid.”

Lee sighed

gently against him. “You’re imaginative now. Just in a different way.”

Patrick smiled

over Lee’s head. “Thank goodness. Anyway, I grew out of the nightmares and

developed a more mature perspective about my parents. They were far more

pleasant people apart than together, and we all worked on access arrangements.

It was a very long time ago.”

“You’re not that

old, Mr Gruff.”

Patrick laughed

aloud. “And you’re not that young, idiot boy.”

Lee moved