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All three nodded, half listening, eyes wide and filled with brightness.
Ross grinned. 'Well, OK, let it rip…which do you want to go on first…?'
Three different answers came, all panted eagerly. Emma laughed. 'I'll take Donna on the little merry-go-round. You take Tracy and Robin on the horses.'
Donna proudly took her seat in a big red London bus, seized the driving wheel and noisily clanged the bell rope which hung down beside her. The music started. The merry-go-round began to turn slowly.
Emma stood and waved. Behind her she heard the music of the other one. She glanced over her shoulder. Ross was riding a bright yellow ostrich, holding the slippery barley-sugar pole with one hand while the other held Robin in front of him. Tracy sat raptly on a shimmering silver-blue horse whose white mane flowed like moonlight in the lights.
Ross looked across at her and winked. She smiled back. She envied the children. They were lost in wonderland, bright-eyed in the land of dreams. She could remember how it felt, but she could no longer quite share that old enchantment. She still loved the fair, but faith no longer sealed her eyes against the realisation of how shabby the stalls were, how tawdry th
e paints and gildings on the merry-go-round. Adulthood made one too critical, perhaps.
When she had helped Donna off the bus, Ross joined her, holding Robin's hand. 'How about some candy floss?' he suggested.
The children eagerly acclaimed the idea. Later, gingerly nibbling at the fluffy aureole of the pink cloud she held, Emma felt a bubble of laughter welling up in her throat. I'm happy, she thought. I'm deliriously happy! I was never this happy with Guy! Then her mind pulled up with a jerk. What am I saying? What am I thinking?
She looked at Ross. He was already half-way through his candy floss. Some had stuck to his nose, leaving a sugary pink streak across it. He looked at her, grinning.
'There's pink sugar on your nose,' she said.
'Does it suit me?' he asked cheerfully.
She considered. 'I think it does, rather. Makes you less grim, less the ogre.'
'Ogre?' He flipped a derisive eyebrow. 'Was I ever that?'
'From the first second,' she said firmly.
'What does that make you?' He pretended to study her, his grey gaze thoughtful on her glowing pink cheeks, warm brown eyes and windblown hair. 'The good fairy?' He shook his head. 'You look more like Brown Owl.'
'Hoot hoot…' offered Donna helpfully.
They all laughed.
The dodgem cars were popular, but Emma found them a little too violent, and Donna soon grew tense, so she and Donna were glad to retire to the sidelines to watch the others from a safe distance, hearing Robin shriek with glee at each tremendous bump, hearing Tracy shout fiercely, 'Bump him, Uncle!'
They had a go on each stall, each ride, before they finally agreed to call it a day and leave for home. As the evening wore on the crowds grew thicker. People had come from miles away. There was so little entertainment in the country, one had to seize one's chances of a little fun while one could.
When they left it was pitch dark. They edged their way out of the car park and headed for home. Donna was fast asleep on Emma's comfortable lap. Robin was sleepily curled up in the circle of her arm. Tracy sat beside Ross, chattering to him, still keyed up with excitement over her evening.
When the children were in bed Emma made supper. Edie had gone down to the pub to help her sister for an hour or two, by special arrangement, and wouldn't be back until ten o'clock. Emma fried eggs, bacon, mushrooms, tomatoes and bread. Ross made the tea and laid the table in the kitchen. 'Cosier, as there are just the two of us,' he said.
They sat companionably opposite each other, both quite hungry after the hours in the cold night air. The smell of the food was ambrosial. Ross sighed.
'I've never been so ravenous! You're a born home-maker, Emma.'
She felt her cheeks glow with pleasure.
They had just finished their meal, leaning back with sighs of contentment, when Amanda appeared in the doorway. Her sapphire-blue glance skimmed the room, the loaded table, their faces, the intimacy of the setting.
'Am I interrupting anything?' she asked icily.
Ross looked at her lazily. 'You just missed the meal of the century,' he said. 'Simple but utterly satisfying.'
'How nice.' Her voice was glacial. She looked at the plates and a grimace of distaste twisted her lovely features. 'Fried food? How fattening! I detest it.'
'Perhaps if you have a tough job of work to do you would grow to like it,' Ross said calmly. 'I put in a solid day's work, so I need a good solid meal when I get home.'
