‘Malachi and I were kids when we first saw a village like this,’ he began, falteringly at first. He hadn’t told this story in...well, ever. ‘There was a toyshop in town which had one every Christmas—not that we were ever allowed in, of course. The owner would chase us down the road if we even peered into the window, for steaming it up with our snotty noses.’
‘He really said that?’
‘He said a sight worse than that. Even clipped our legs with the back of a broom handle on more than one occasion.’ Sol shrugged. ‘Anyway, sometimes we would wait until it was dark and sneak out of the house if we could leave Mum for long enough. There was a guy with a sugared doughnut stall and if he was still there cleaning up, he used to give us any leftovers, which would otherwise get thrown away.’
‘That’s nice.’ Anouk smiled as though her chest was tight and painful at the thought of Sol’s childhood.
She’d had no idea. But then, no one did. Clearly that was the way Sol liked it.
‘He was a decent guy. Years
later, when Mal had made his first real money as a boxer, he bought the business from the guy for about five times its worth, just to repay him.’
‘Did he know?’
‘Yeah, he was so damned grateful, it was really nice to do. Mal then gave the business to a couple of kids he knew would appreciate it, from the first centre we built. They ended up getting four stalls between them and they’re still going strong.’
‘Wow.’
She thought Sol was going to say more but suddenly he caught himself. As if he didn’t know why he’d told her that. Possibly it had all been stuffed down in the same box for so many years that now she’d sprung the lid, random snippets were springing out left and right, completely out of his control and in no logical order.
Or maybe he was just playing her.
‘Anyway. Mal and I used to sneak down to watch the little trains going around, and the carousel, and the people going in and out of buildings on that turntable. And we vowed that we would make it through to the other side and we’d buy every damned piece of that village in existence. We swore we’d become the kind of people who idiots like that toyshop owner would fawn over. Never again would we get chased from a shop doorway or window.’
‘You guys must have had the kind of money to buy a village world years ago. Several times over. But you didn’t?’ Anouk eyed him thoughtfully. The deep blue pools were fathoms deep.
‘We did, as it happens.’ He smiled a genuine smile. ‘We bought the lot. Just to know what it felt like.’
‘And?’
‘And it felt good.’ He laughed suddenly. ‘A bit surreal, that first time we set it up. Young adults reliving a childhood moment that had once been denied them. But after that we felt like we’d made our point, if only to ourselves. So we split it out and sent a bundle to each of about five or six kids’ community centres.’
‘And one of them was Care to Play?’ Anouk guessed.
‘Yeah. Once the kids there found out, they decided that was what they wanted to do for us, buy a new piece every year. It’s a matter of pride to them, to do something to raise money for a new toyshop, or ride, or ice-skating rink.’
‘That’s really nice.’ She glanced around ruefully. ‘Even I bought into the idea. I thought you’d love this, but you just do it for the kids.’
‘Why not? They get pleasure from it, too.’
‘That’s another thing which confused me,’ she admitted. ‘At the centre you’re an inspiration for making good from nothing. At the hospital, the rumour is that you both came from money?’
‘At the hospital it’s just that,’ he growled. ‘A rumour. Malachi has become a multimillionaire thanks to his boxing, but I’m not.’
‘You must earn a decent salary as a neurosurgeon?’
He raised an eyebrow at her.
‘Did I say I was complaining?’
‘Well, no,’ she conceded. ‘So why not just tell people that?’
‘Why bother? It isn’t any of their business and because it would invite questions, more interest, delving into my past—and Malachi’s.’
‘Surely that’s a good thing? Two boys, with humble beginnings, have done incredibly well for themselves. It’s the fairy tale, people would have lapped it up. You’d have had even more women falling at your feet.’
She hadn’t intended to sound so cross when she’d made that latter observation.