What became of us

water with their grandfather.
    ‘Yes. The garden’s perfect for children. It’s too much for the two of us really, but days like this make all the work worthwhile.’
    ‘Will you still live here when Trevor retires?’ Roy asked, suddenly a little anxious about the prospect of living in the village without his in-laws around.
    ‘We used to think that we’d retire to the cottage, but hopefully it’ll pay for somewhere small around here,’ she told him, allaying his fears, ‘if we can be useful.’
    They had put all their savings into a cottage in a village near the North Yorkshire Moors near where Trevor had been born.
    ‘You were very clever to buy property,’ Roy told her.
    ‘Well, it’s lovely to live in a place like this, but we always knew we would have to give it up one day. Trevor’s a Yorkshireman, so he was all for investing whatever we had in bricks and mortar. Better than any pension plan really. Penny had Joshua Street when she needed it...’ Her voice trailed off as she was lost in thought of her beloved daughter. ‘Of course, we only had enough for a deposit on Joshua Street, but the girls’ rent just about paid for the mortgage, and then Penny took it over when she was earning, and then you, and now it’s almost paid up, isn’t it?’
    ‘Five more years, I think,’ he said. ‘I was sad to say goodbye to Joshua Street,’ he added, flushing slightly at the memory of what had happened there the previous night.
    ‘Yes, it served its purpose well, even if the first occupants were a bit of a motley collection,’ Geraldine remembered fondly. ‘None of them had a penny more than their grants, which is why I think she chose them. But look at them all today!’
    ‘Yes,’ he said. ‘I’m sorry that Ursula couldn’t come,’ he added, feeling vaguely annoyed that he had to excuse his sister yet again.
    ‘She rang, didn’t I say? Oh dear. Her little one has chickenpox. It’s not serious, but she was happier going home. I told her she was quite right. She says they’ll try to come down in the summer holidays.’
    Geraldine smiled her approval and pointed at his untouched cup of tea. ‘Perhaps you’d prefer something stronger?’ she asked, as he stared through the kitchen window into the darkening garden.
    ‘I’m sure we have some gin. Not so sure about the tonic, but there’s orange?’
    ‘No. Thanks. I’m pretty wiped out after last night,’ he said, adding quickly, ‘I drank quite a lot and we had to wander round for ages until I thought I was sober enough to drive.’
    ‘Oh, for goodness sake, Roy, I wasn’t born yesterday,’ Geraldine said.
    He hadn’t really expected her to believe him, but he certainly hadn’t thought she would challenge the perfectly reasonable version of events he had made up to fit the facts and cause as little offence as possible.
    ‘What do you mean?’ he asked, wrong-footed.
    ‘Well, of course, I could never prove it, but I’d be most surprised to learn that you and Manon simply wandered round Oxford until you were sober enough to drive,’ she said, with a little laugh.
    ‘You don’t seem very concerned,’ he said.
    ‘Roy, you’re a grown man. I expect you to be a good father to my grandchildren. I don’t expect you to remain faithful to my daughter all your life.’ Her voice was suddenly gruff. She stood up, turned her back to him and ran the kitchen tap to do some non-existent washing up.
    He did not know what to say.
    The silence was filled with her missing her daughter and his guilt. Then suddenly she turned to him and said, ‘You might as well know that Penny told me that I wasn’t to give you a hard time if you wanted to be with Manon. I don’t mind saying that I was horrified at the time. But I think now that I probably misjudged everyone. My daughter was very wise, you know.’
    He was like a sailor on the deck of a ship in a stormy sea lifted into sudden hope, then thrown into the depths of despair. Had Penny really said such a thing? Had she known all along?
    Geraldine sniffed.
    ‘There was never anything between us when Penny and I were together.’
    ‘Oh Roy, do you think if I didn’t know that, I’d be telling you this?’
    ‘I... I... I don’t know!’
    He didn’t know anything any more. He didn’t know how to cope, he didn’t know whether he was in love, he didn’t know whether he was doing the right thing, or thinking the right thoughts. He felt as if he had lost himself, as if he had shattered into