Me-Before-You-by-Jojo-Moyes

or what have you – she would hold up a document in front of Will, showing
other injured young men taking part, and say, ‘If I’m going to try all these things
you keep saying I should, then you have to do them with me.’
I have to admit, I was secretly rather impressed by her. She was a resourceful
little thing.
Will listened to her, and I could see him reading the documents she laid out in
front of him.
‘Where did you find all this information?’ he said, finally.
She raised her eyebrows at him. ‘Knowledge is power, Will,’ she said.
And my son smiled, as if she had said something particularly clever.
‘So … ’ Louisa said, when all the questions had been asked. ‘We will be
leaving in eight days’ time. Are you happy, Mrs Traynor?’ There was a faint air
of defiance in the way she said it, as if she were daring Camilla to say no.
‘If that’s what you all want to do, then it’s quite all right by me,’ Camilla said.
‘Nathan? Are you still up for it?’
‘You bet.’
‘And … Will?’
We all looked at him. There was a time, not that long ago, when any one of
these activities would have been unthinkable. There was a time when Will would
have taken pleasure in saying no just to upset his mother. He had always been
like that, our son – quite capable of doing the opposite of what was right, simply
because he didn’t want to be seen to be complying, in some way. I don’t know
where it came from, this urge to subvert. Perhaps it was what made him such a
brilliant negotiator.
He looked up at me, his eyes unreadable, and I felt my jaw tense. And then he
looked at the girl, and smiled.
‘Why not?’ he said. ‘I’m quite looking forward to seeing Clark throw herself
into some rapids.’
The girl seemed to physically deflate a little – with relief – as if she had half
expected him to say no.
It’s funny – I admit, when she first wound her way into our lives I was a little
suspicious of her. Will, despite all his bluster, had been vulnerable. I was a little
afraid that he could be manipulated. He’s a wealthy young man, despite it all,