On The Road To Love

A family game gets serious in this heartwarming short story by Patsy Collins.

What better way to spend a car journey than playing I Spy?

ISPY with my little eye, something beginning with W,” ten-year-old Leo said. “Windscreen,” Rowan guessed without stopping to think.

It was right there in front of her, but she was supposed to let the kids win, wasn’t she? To win them round.

That’s what a friend had advised, but Rowan wasn’t so sure it was the right thing to do. You don’t trick your way through a relationship if you want it to be one of mutual respect, love and trust.

“Yes.” Leo sounded pleased.

“No.” His older brother Max didn’t.

“Ow!” Leo cried, followed by, “No.”

“No cheating,” their dad, Howard, said. “It’s Rowan’s go now.”

She’d rather he hadn’t intervened. That could seem as though he were siding with her, rather than his boys.

Still, it did confirm she’d been right not to give unlikely answers to let them win. That was cheating, just as much as not allowing a correct answer to prevent herself from being the victor.

Although I Spy didn’t really work like that, did it? It wasn’t cumulative with just one winner.

Rowan spotted an ice-cream van parked up ahead. The traffic was moving so slowly that Howard, if he picked up on the clue, could pull in and let her out to buy some.

But was buying treats a good idea? She didn’t want to be seen to be trying to buy their affection.

She was overthinking this. People bought ice-cream all the time, usually just because they liked it.

“I spy with my little eye, something beginning with

I,” she said.

“Ice-cream!” both boys called enthusiastically.

That was quicker even than her answer had been. Did they share a psychic bond?

“Let’s have one, shall we?” she suggested.

“Yay! Ice-cream so freezy, makes me sneezy,” the boys chorused as Howard drove straight past the ice-cream van.

“Dad, stop!” That was Max.

“You missed the icecream van,” Leo explained.

Howard pulled over at the next opportunity.

“Ninety-nines all round?” Rowan offered.

“Yes, please! They’re the best.”

“Thanks, Rowan.”

“I’d rather have a can of something cold,” Howard declared.

No mind-reading going on there. A lot of the time Rowan thought she knew how his kids felt, but that was less often the case with Howard.

He liked her, that much was obvious. Sometimes she was certain it was more than that, that he felt about her as she did about him.

What she needed was some kind of clear sign.

Howard took a swallow of his drink, put the can in the cup holder, and started the car. He hadn’t gone off ice-cream, but simply wanted to get them to the beach as soon as possible.

Those little sacrifices he made for the boys, and her, were just one of the things she loved about him. He’d missed the second half of a semi-final football match to rescue her the time she ran out of petrol.

When she realised,

Rowan had apologised.

“You’ve done me a favour,” he replied. “Their performance was painful to watch.”

Maybe so, but she’d only remembered about the match because his car radio was tuned in to the commentary.

As the others ate their ice-creams, Max resumed the I Spy game.

The next two words both started with L. There was sniggering from the boys, making Rowan guess they were trying to spell out rude words, just as they often did when playing Scrabble.

She didn’t discourage that. Having fun with words and being creative seemed a better way of encouraging an interest in English than telling them off.

She was proved right. “Yellow,” was the next word and the boys seemed very pleased with themselves.

“Whose go is it now?” she asked, after Orange had been guessed

“Mine. I spy, little eye, starts with U.

“Ugly!” Max declared, when everyone failed to guess. “Ugly like Leo!”

The reaction to that brotherly taunt, and subsequent “Ow” were very half-hearted.

Today it seemed something more important than their usual squabbles was

holding their attention. “Spy, little eye, M,” Max said.

They were both oddly determined to persevere with the I Spy game. Rowan had been right; there was something weird about it.

They were a bit old for it really, and she’d discovered that them wanting to do something educational or helpful usually meant a hidden agenda.

Offering to clear the tea table whenever they visited her on a Sunday meant they’d “dispose” of any cake that she’d thought would be left for her coffee break the next day.

Asking her if they could watch a “really interesting” documentary on TV usually had something to do with the fact it finished after the time Howard usually sent them up to bed.

That, she was sure, was just a childhood wish to stay up late, not an attempt to prevent her being alone with their dad.

Sometimes they did things which meant the pair of them spent more time together, such as suggesting Rowan stay over last night, so in the morning they could drive straight to the beach, instead of calling round to pick her up on the way.

She’d had a feeling that something was up for days. What could it be?

Maybe they were teasing her. She didn’t mind that

– it proved they liked her and were relaxed enough around her to treat her as they did each other and their dad.

She’d like a permanent role in their lives. She’d been seeing Howard for a year. He was keen to include her in family activities and talk about the future as though she’d be there for it.

Then, just as she started to feel she was no longer on the edge of things, he’d back off. It was unsettling for her, and surely for the boys, too.

Rowan made an effort to concentrate on the I Spy game. There were two Rs one after the other and then another Y, which took ages to guess as nobody could think of anything.

The choice of letters must mean something. The way the boys were laughing confirmed that, as did the piece of paper she realised they’d been referring to.

“I spy with my little eye, something beginning with D,” Max said.

“Dunce!” Leo replied.

“You saw yourself in the mirror! Ow!”

Rowan glanced back and saw Max had rolled up the paper and was whacking his brother with it. Leo was overreacting to what was only a token effort at revenge for the insult.

Such behaviour was typical of them and seemed to bring them closer together rather than making them fall out.

Under normal circumstances, Rowan would have ignored it, but she was sure these weren’t normal circumstances, and that piece of paper could give her a clue about what was going on.

She snatched it from Max’s grasp.

Oddly Max didn’t try to get it back and both boys sat quietly, waiting.

Rowan uncurled the sheet of paper, turned it the right way up and read the simple message.

She closed her eyes for a moment and read it again. It said Will You Marry Dad.

She glanced at Howard. His concentration was on the road.

She couldn’t tell if he was aware of what his boys had been up to. A quick look at them showed they were still waiting for her to react.

“Are you serious?” she asked.

“Yes.” They said it quietly and with sincerity.

Rowan reached back and managed to grasp Leo’s left and Max’s right hands.

“That’s sweet of you both, and I’d really like to say yes, but it’s your dad who has to make the decision. And do the asking.”

“He wants to ask you, but he said if you said no then we’d lose you. We don’t want that to happen,” Max explained.

“So we thought we’d ask you instead,” Leo added. “Good idea,” she said. “Ask who what?” Howard asked.

“Ask Rowan if she’ll marry you.”

“Oh!” Howard exclaimed, realising what was going on. “What did Rowan say?” “That you have to ask.” He glanced at her.

“Did you?”

“Something like that.” “Will you, Rowan? Will you marry me?”

“I spy with my little eye . . .” Rowan began, looking around her.

The End.