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State of you, though, Claire said.
Peat stains like a bugger, Will said.
Looks like you’ve been at the fake tan, she told him.
I’ll jump in the shower, he said, without moving. He made it sound like going out was going to be just another chore. Maisie smiled.
I’ll go and check on Tom, Claire said.
*
In his bedroom Tom was sleeping fiercely, with the cover flung off and his pyjama top pulled up to his chin, one fist laid over his eyes against the light. It didn’t seem long since they’d moved him out of the cot, but he was already close to outgrowing the toddler bed. As she watched, his feet shook suddenly and he turned over. She remembered all the nights she’d spent in here with him, willing him to sleep. It had been so exhausting. They’d been so young. They hadn’t been ready for it. She wasn’t sure they were ready yet.
When she went through to their room, Will was sitting on the bed with a magazine. He hadn’t even got in the shower. She told him the table was booked, and they were running late.
He told her it was a nice dress she was wearing. Which was something at least. He asked if it was new.
That was the problem, right there.
No, she told him, it wasn’t new. He’d seen her in it before. She’d worn it to Matty Fincher’s barbecue the previous summer, didn’t he remember?
Maybe, he said. Remember you looking good that night. Just don’t remember that dress exactly.
Well, I reckon Matty Fincher does, she told him.
She bent down to pick some clothes off the floor. She knew how that dress rode up. It was too short. But there was no response from Will. Nothing. She told him Matty Fincher hadn’t been able to keep his eyes off her all evening, that he’d kept finding excuses to talk to her. Even put his hand on me at one point, she said, watching him.
Yeah, Will said. That’s Matty Fincher for you.
There was shouting again from the woods, further away. Another scream. She glanced across the landing and through the bathroom window. It looked like there was smoke going up from the direction of the flooded quarry. Who knew what was going off.
She turned in front of the mirror and thought she saw a ladder in her stocking, high on the back of her right leg. She made a show of swearing, watching Will from the corner of her eye. After a long pause he asked her what was up.
Ladder, she told him. She lifted the hem of her dress a little. Just there, she said.
She saw him looking, for a moment, and she saw him thinking about it. Then he turned back to his magazine. He sighed.
Listen, he said. I’m sorry. It’s been a right day. I’m too tired now. You go out without me. Go for a drink with Donna or someone. Don’t mind me. You’re all dressed up now.
It was the sigh that did it. She didn’t even look at Maisie on her way out of the house, and she gave neither of them the satisfaction of slamming the door.
*
Donna was surprised to see her. It had been a while since they’d been out together. But she looked at Claire’s get-up and said to give her five minutes to get ready. That’s what friends do. Claire would do the same for Donna, if she could find someone to look after Tom. She went into the kitchen, and that big wet dog of theirs would have jumped up and ruined her dress if Donna’s brother, Jack, hadn’t grabbed it by the collar and held it close.
Don’t mind him, he said. Only being friendly. Claire smiled, smoothing down the front of her dress. Donna’s brother didn’t go anywhere.
Something about Jack made her self-conscious. He looked older than she’d remembered. He must have been seventeen or eighteen. He’d grown quickly. The dog was pulling away from him, and she could see it was taking some strength to hold it back.
They could hear Donna moving around upstairs, her wardrobe door banging open and shut.
Jack was looking at her the way Will had always done when they first got together. This was the age they’d been. He’d had the same clumsy way of making his feelings clear. She felt exposed, suddenly. She pulled at the hem of her dress. It really was too short.
She asked how school was going.
I’m not in school, he told her. He was grinning. He looked pleased with himself. I left a couple of years back. I’m all grown up.
The dog had relaxed a little, and he was standing straighter. He was tall. She certainly felt noticed now.
