“That’s fantastic,” Jonty said. “You’ll be able to roll across the floor on that and I can ride…” Oops.
Jonty’s present from them was a grey hooded fleece robe. From Marks and Spencer. He could feel Devan bristling at his side, but the gift was great.
“I love it, thank you. It’s so soft.” He smiled at Devan’s mum and got a smile in return.
Cato brought the bottle of champagne over and filled up Devan and Jonty’s glasses, then settled on the floor cushion beside them.
Jonty pushed to his feet and handed out his gifts. “You’ll have to open them at the same time. They’re all the same, yet different.”
He’d spent hours making the pictures. Family scenes for Devan’s sisters with sea glass figures representing each member of their family. Just pieces of glass stacked one on top of the other on a piece of board where Jonty had drawn a seascape, but he thought they looked good. For Cato he’d made a spiralling design like a star in a night sky, larger pieces of white glass on the outside going down to tiny darker fragments on the inside.
Cato gave him a hug. “I love it. It must have taken you ages.”
It had.
Jonty gave Griff and Suki a sea glass picture of birds standing on pebbles and a box of Flakes.
“I didn’t know you’d be here, so I had to use a couple of presents I was going to give Devan.”
“This is beautiful,” Suki said.
“Guess you get the Flakes, Griff,” Jonty said.
“You didn’t need to give us anything,” Griff said.
“I wanted to.”
For Devan’s parents, he’d made a family tree picture using driftwood with little sea glass chicks on the hand-drawn branches.
“Devan wrote the names,” Jonty said. “This is for both of you too.”
It was a photo book full of images of Devan doing ordinary things like eat toast or drink coffee, ones of him kiteboarding and surfing, behind the wheel of his car, out at Dunstanburgh, on the beach at Bamburgh, at Hadrian’s Wall… All the places they’d visited since Devan had arrived in September. In every picture, Devan was smiling.
“I didn’t put any pictures of—”
Devan pressed his hand over Jonty’s mouth.
“Pictures of you looking grumpy.” Jonty glared. “Two more gifts.” Jonty carried over the large box and a small packet to Devan’s parents. “The smaller one is for you.” He gave it to Devan’s mother.
“Thank you.”
When he was back at Devan’s side, he whispered, “The large box isn’t a sex swing.”
Cato heard him and let out a startled laugh.
It was an LED polar bear with a moving head, and Devan’s father was delighted. The bear was plugged in and put by his father’s chair.
“Thank you, Jonty. I’m going to start a Christmas zoo.”
“No, you’re not,” said his mother but she laughed and opened hers.
Jonty curled up next to Devan.
“Oh God, oh God,” Devan muttered at his side. “Please don’t let this be a subscription to Pornhub.”
Cato spat a mouthful of champagne back into his glass and turned a wide-eyed gaze on Jonty before turning back to his mother.
She pulled out the tote bag that Jonty had bought and decorated, looked at the front and back and laughed. A proper laugh. A real smile. Jonty sighed.
“What does it say, Mum?” Griff asked.
“Never trust an atom. They make up everything. And on the other side it’s a quote by Enrico Fermi. Before I came here I was confused about this subject. Having listened to your lecture I am still confused. But on a higher level.”
She turned to Jonty. “Fabulous. Perfect for my lecture notes. Thank you, Jonty.”
And Jonty hoped he’d done enough.
Chapter Seven
Jonty carried a tray of dirty breakfast plates, mugs and glasses into the kitchen. Devan’s father was stacking the dishwasher, and his mother was filling roasting trays with parboiled potatoes, parsnips and carrots. Everyone else was either outside in the snow or tidying up in the sitting room. Devan was bagging up the mountain of Christmas paper.
“Thanks, Jonty. Is that the last of them?” Will asked.
“That I could see, yes.”
“Your work with sea glass is amazing.” Will slotted the plates into the bottom rack of the machine. “What got you interested in that?”
“I think because sea glass started off as something unwanted but turned into something that could be loved.” Like me.
“How long have you been collecting it?” Will asked.
“For years, but it’s getting harder to find. Some of the pieces I used are machine polished. They look like sea glass but they’re really not. Devan’s going to take me to a bay near Vladivostok where there’s a beach of sea glass. In the Soviet era, the Russians dumped vodka, beer, wine bottles and broken porcelain from a local factory into the bay and the sea has produced this fabulous jewelled beach. I’m so excited.”
“You’re a treasure hunter,” Georgina said.
Jonty wasn’t sure how to take that. “You think I want Devan’s money?” he whispered.
“I’m sure—” Will started to speak but his wife cut him off.
“No, I didn’t mean that. Please don’t think I did. I just meant that you see treasure where others might not, you see worth where others don’t.”
“Sharing Christmas with all of you in this wonderful house is a treasure,” Jonty said. “I was really worried when Devan was driving here. I wanted you to like me, though I suspected you wouldn’t. I know you don’t think I’m good enough for Devan. I don’t have money. I don’t have prospects. I don’t have a degree or even A levels. My background is…not good. I know Devan told you about my parents. I didn’t want him to because I don’t need anyone to feel sorry for me.”
The two of them stood still and watched him as they listened.
“I’ve never let what happened to me stop me enjoying life. I always hoped things would get better. I’m definitely a glass half-full type of person though Devan would say I never leave a glass half-full.” He gave a nervous chuckle.
“I had a good friend when I was a teenager. We did everything together. But though Tay loved me, he didn’t love me like Devan loves me. I might not be good enough for Devan, but I am good for him. I make him smile. I make him happy. I wish I could sort out the issue between him and Griff, but I’m not sure Devan can forgive him.”
Georgina sighed.
“You do both know exactly what Ravi did, right?” Jonty asked.
“Five months later,” Will said. “I told Georgina.”
“And have you talked to Devan about it? Or Griff?”
“We thought it better not to,” Georgina said.
Jonty swallowed hard. “Part of Devan’s problem is that he doesn’t feel you’ve been on his side. Not since he was a boy. I get that your world crumbled when you realised Griff had cerebral palsy. I know it’s often not obvious for a while.”
“His brothers and sisters walked before they were one,” Will said. “Griff didn’t walk until he was two. He was slow to speak. Slow to do a lot of things. It’s hard when you look as if you’re not…” He cleared his throat. “People are so quick to judge. But Griff is bright. There’s nothing wrong with his brain.”