East of the City (50 page)

Sebastian Ward’s death had moved my life on. I’d been through the fire. And so had Tubs and Katy. And so, in her way, had Lee.

‘Wish me luck,’ I said to Katy, and she kissed me, not knowing why.

Take a punt, my old man must have told me that a million times.

My life was starting over. Maybe not the life I’d always thought I’d wanted, but that life had crumbled beneath my feet. And in so many ways, Sebastian’s death had set me free. Mum and Dad were gone, and now at last I felt that I could finally let them go. And Katy was going back to college, not to gaol. And things might be awkward between Tubs and me for a while, but that would come round in the end. I didn’t have a penthouse, I had Nev’s shops, and I was finished with Lloyd’s, but even that wasn’t going to kill me. My life was starting over. The world, if I had the courage for it, was full of possibilities.

Take a punt. For the first time since my bust-up with the old man, I knew in my heart he was right. I got a taxi to the airport and booked myself a seat on the next flight out to Dublin.

I had a proposal to put to Lee Chan.