‘Catrin said the likeness is uncanny!’

‘Well, you’ve got to take work where you can at my age. This new lookalike agency I’ve joined, they’ve already lined me up with four gigs in the New Year, so …’

‘Excellent,’ said Gareth.

He looked at his watch. ‘I’d better be getting back. Jude’s on granddaughter alert. Arriving any day, she is.’

‘Grandchildren. Blimey, Gar, who stole all them years, eh? Bastards.’ And she reached across the table and squeezed his hand.

‘See you, mate,’ he smiled, and squeezed her hand back.

57

Catrin

In the end it hadn’t taken much to persuade her to go on the cruise.

‘It’ll blow away all the cobwebs,’ said Lana, ‘and stop you dwelling on things.’

But when Catrin told her parents, the suggestion was met with a lot of resistance. How could they possibly be away from home for Christmas? Their first Christmas without Sol? What would his parents say?

‘He was your husband,’ said Lana to Catrin. ‘And Romy’s your daughter.’

Surprisingly, Romy needed no persuading. All of Cat’s worries about taking her little girl away from home at Christmas had come to nothing. Romy made no complaints about missing family traditions like opening presents under the tree, going to church with Grandma and Grampa Kelly, or the Boxing Day rugby with her friends … none of these seemed to bother her.

‘Mum! We’ll be in the Mediterranean! On CHRISTMAS DAY!! That’s amazing, don’t you see?!’

And Catrin had laughed, hugely relieved.

There was a brief shared moment of sorrow when Romy hugged her mum and said quietly, ‘Anyway, it wouldn’t be the same opening presents without Dad.’

‘No, sweetpea, it wouldn’t.’

‘So, what d’you say?’ asked Lana, attempting to change the subject, excited that she’d managed to secure a great deal: in exchange for a posh family cabin with its own private balcony, Lana would work each evening of the five-day mini-cruise, doing a stint as a Cher tribute act.

‘We say yes, thank you very much, Aunty Larn!’ smiled Catrin.

Snuggling down in her cabin bed on Christmas Eve, Romy announced, ‘When I leave school I wanna work on a boat.’

Catrin smiled. ‘What, you want to be a cruise singer like your Aunty Lana?’

‘Aw, I’m touched,’ Lana teased.

‘No! I wanna be a captain!’ giggled Romy.

Lana and Catrin laughed.

After dining at the captain’s table on their first night aboard – a treat organized by her ‘fairy godmother’ – Romy had asked him if women ever captained cruise liners. He’d told her that he’d heard of only two female Masters of the Ship to date, and that he didn’t really know of the reason for this. Romy had told him this wasn’t fair. He’d agreed, and asked if she’d like to visit the Bridge and watch him command his ship. She’d ended up staying there for most of Christmas Eve, fascinated by the mechanics and power of the vessel, all governed by a single person at the helm.