thinking on his part.
‘Did Amber not show you the schedule?’ Jeremy said, as sincere as Rob was sardonic. ‘It’s designed for the pain to be sharp but short. The last thing we want is to make enemies of our new neighbours.’
‘She hasn’t shown me, no,’ Rob said, his gaze resting on my mouth. ‘I’ll have to invite her over and quiz her.’ At this, an extremely pleasurable fluttering started up in my abdomen, the kind of sensation that can only be activated by someone new and untried. He raised his eyes to Jeremy’s. ‘So how are you finding the commute?’
As they chatted about signal failures and defective heaters I sipped my drink and watched. I made a point of not comparing the two men directly, their respective heights, breadths, thicknesses of hair, but I did allow myself to think that, based purely on appearances, an outsider might guess incorrectly at which of the two I was married to.
Just then a latecomer was shepherded into our huddle. Liz, she was called, a neighbour from the house across the road, who scattered two painfully loud infant boys in opposite directions as she came to a halt. Thirty seconds later they had reunited to scrap over a toy motorbike, a tussle that Jeremy stepped in to umpire while she slipped beside Rob and began discussing primary-school curriculum with him. The gist seemed to be that she felt that theteaching of spelling in England was all wrong, nay a ticking time bomb, and he had useful comparisons to make with the education systems in France and Sweden.
‘That’s
very
interesting,’ she said with an eagerness that bordered on mania. Though pretty enough, she had the most hectic-looking haircut I’d ever seen – it was as if it had been scribbled on her head by Quentin Blake – and make-up so poorly applied I wondered if she’d handed crayons to her sons and given them free rein. ‘Do you think we’ll
ever
get it right here?’ she asked Rob, almost in plea.
‘Only by accident,’ he said.
He was clearly a prized guest: Caroline brought him a selection of snacks as if he was far too important to be expected to go and help himself, and several times children came up to try to engage him in a game, as if they’d collectively discerned that he, of all the men present, might be a superhero.
‘You’ll be a great father, Rob,’ Liz told him, with the softest of sighs. ‘When the time comes,’ she added.
Presently Jeremy was invited by Richard to inspect his outdoor lighting system just as Liz was summoned indoors to see what her sons had done with a twelve-pack of Andrex, and all at once there we were, Rob and I, alone under the magnolia, unsupervised.
‘She’s nice,’ I said, nodding after Liz. ‘Big on literacy, I take it.’
With an easy manoeuvre, he turned his back to the rest of the group and smirked privately at me. ‘They’re
all
big on literacy, Amber. They’re big on everything to do witheducation, which is why I don’t always come out to these things. I tend to get cornered.’
That explained the ‘enigma’ crack, I thought,
and
the VIP treatment. I had an inkling as to how he’d come to be lured on this occasion.
‘They might as well be sitting in the classroom themselves,’ he continued. ‘You wait till the entrance exams come around, you won’t believe your eyes. I swear, they’ll be down on their knees, lining up to tackle the non-verbal reasoning on their kids’ behalves.’
I giggled. ‘I suppose it’s better than not giving a damn if your child bothers turning up at school or not.’
The smirk deepened. ‘Do I gather from that statement that we can add truancy to your list of former crimes?’
‘What former crimes? I don’t know what you’re talking about.’ Smiling, I glanced around the terrace. ‘Isn’t Felicity here?’
‘No, she’s out of town, visiting her daughter. She’ll be back this evening.’
I liked that he knew her whereabouts; it implied a certain protectiveness of her. ‘She
‘Did Amber not show you the schedule?’ Jeremy said, as sincere as Rob was sardonic. ‘It’s designed for the pain to be sharp but short. The last thing we want is to make enemies of our new neighbours.’
‘She hasn’t shown me, no,’ Rob said, his gaze resting on my mouth. ‘I’ll have to invite her over and quiz her.’ At this, an extremely pleasurable fluttering started up in my abdomen, the kind of sensation that can only be activated by someone new and untried. He raised his eyes to Jeremy’s. ‘So how are you finding the commute?’
As they chatted about signal failures and defective heaters I sipped my drink and watched. I made a point of not comparing the two men directly, their respective heights, breadths, thicknesses of hair, but I did allow myself to think that, based purely on appearances, an outsider might guess incorrectly at which of the two I was married to.
Just then a latecomer was shepherded into our huddle. Liz, she was called, a neighbour from the house across the road, who scattered two painfully loud infant boys in opposite directions as she came to a halt. Thirty seconds later they had reunited to scrap over a toy motorbike, a tussle that Jeremy stepped in to umpire while she slipped beside Rob and began discussing primary-school curriculum with him. The gist seemed to be that she felt that theteaching of spelling in England was all wrong, nay a ticking time bomb, and he had useful comparisons to make with the education systems in France and Sweden.
‘That’s
very
interesting,’ she said with an eagerness that bordered on mania. Though pretty enough, she had the most hectic-looking haircut I’d ever seen – it was as if it had been scribbled on her head by Quentin Blake – and make-up so poorly applied I wondered if she’d handed crayons to her sons and given them free rein. ‘Do you think we’ll
ever
get it right here?’ she asked Rob, almost in plea.
‘Only by accident,’ he said.
He was clearly a prized guest: Caroline brought him a selection of snacks as if he was far too important to be expected to go and help himself, and several times children came up to try to engage him in a game, as if they’d collectively discerned that he, of all the men present, might be a superhero.
‘You’ll be a great father, Rob,’ Liz told him, with the softest of sighs. ‘When the time comes,’ she added.
Presently Jeremy was invited by Richard to inspect his outdoor lighting system just as Liz was summoned indoors to see what her sons had done with a twelve-pack of Andrex, and all at once there we were, Rob and I, alone under the magnolia, unsupervised.
‘She’s nice,’ I said, nodding after Liz. ‘Big on literacy, I take it.’
With an easy manoeuvre, he turned his back to the rest of the group and smirked privately at me. ‘They’re
all
big on literacy, Amber. They’re big on everything to do witheducation, which is why I don’t always come out to these things. I tend to get cornered.’
That explained the ‘enigma’ crack, I thought,
and
the VIP treatment. I had an inkling as to how he’d come to be lured on this occasion.
‘They might as well be sitting in the classroom themselves,’ he continued. ‘You wait till the entrance exams come around, you won’t believe your eyes. I swear, they’ll be down on their knees, lining up to tackle the non-verbal reasoning on their kids’ behalves.’
I giggled. ‘I suppose it’s better than not giving a damn if your child bothers turning up at school or not.’
The smirk deepened. ‘Do I gather from that statement that we can add truancy to your list of former crimes?’
‘What former crimes? I don’t know what you’re talking about.’ Smiling, I glanced around the terrace. ‘Isn’t Felicity here?’
‘No, she’s out of town, visiting her daughter. She’ll be back this evening.’
I liked that he knew her whereabouts; it implied a certain protectiveness of her. ‘She
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