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‘Mercy opened up to you, not me.’
‘Edward! Sometimes I want to shake some sense into you...!’
The provocative twitch of his lips told her that she could go right ahead, if that was her inclination, and she resisted the urge.
‘What on earth happened to you when you were a child?’
‘You think I was a poor little bright boy, with his nose in a book and no friends? It wasn’t like that.’ He pursed his lips. ‘Not quite like that, anyway.’
‘What was it like, then?’
‘I was different. By the time I was ten I could keep up with a university undergraduate on an intellectual level. On a social level, I wasn’t quite ready for women, all-night parties and beer-drinking contests. It was difficult to find my own space.’
‘You felt out of step, you mean? Your emotions and theirs?’
He looked at her gravely. Then suddenly he smiled. ‘Most people assume I don’t have any emotions.’
His look taunted her. Dared her to tell him different.
‘That’s not true, though, is it?’ She dared him back.
‘I don’t think so.’
The dare turned dangerous all of a sudden. He was waiting for her to kiss him. Charlotte baulked at that one.
‘Look, Edward, I know that you’re used to being better and faster at everything than everyone else, and that it’s a lot easier to do things by yourself. But if you want Isaac to be interested in what you’re doing then you have to slow down a bit and do things at his pace.’
He hesitated. ‘I’m...not very good at that. As you can see.’
‘No one’s born good at things like that—you have to learn. You’re supposed to be a genius. Can’t you learn? Or don’t you want to learn?’
‘I want to.’ The admission was a little stiff, and left Edward nonplussed for a moment. ‘Why don’t you go and tell Isaac...?’
She glared at him and he grinned.
‘Why don’t I go and tell him myself?’
‘Good idea.’
‘Right.’ He clapped his hands together, as if he was about to embark on one of the most complex experiments of his life. ‘Do you think he’d like his own kite? One that’s more his size, perhaps?’
Charlotte almost told him no, that Isaac didn’t need a kite. But she knew he’d want one, and Edward needed this.
‘I think he’d love that. Go and ask him.’
* * *
Edward didn’t deal in half-measures. The shop he took them to sold nothing but kites, and on a bright late summer’s morning, was full of people. He led Isaac straight to a selection of different coloured children’s kites, and the two of them became immediately absorbed in sorting through them. Charlotte decided to leave them to it.
‘I’m just going to pop to the chemist, to buy some soap. I won’t be long. Stay here with Edward, won’t you, Isaac?’ She nudged his shoulder with her hand.
Isaac ignored her in favour of the kites, and Edward looked up at her. He seemed to know how hard it always was for her to leave Isaac, even for a few minutes, and he took hold of the boy’s hand as a gesture of intent.
‘I won’t let him out of my sight. Go and do your shopping.’
She decided to take her time, to give Edward and Isaac a chance to buy the kite by themselves. There were some nice apples on display outside the greengrocer’s and she stopped to buy three, to go with the packed lunch in the boot of the car.
In the chemist’s she ran her finger along the lines of jars and bottles which were beyond her purchasing power, now.
