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He wrinkles his nose. ‘Bella’s bending my ear about it. Wants to see the flashy kitchen and all that, so she can go one better. I’ll have to stop her sneaking upstairs for a nosy round, though she won’t be the only one, I don’t suppose.’ A grin crosses his face but falls almost instantly into a frown. ‘I can do without it, to be honest. Don’t think I can stand Lovecrap treating me like the staff, do you know what I mean?’
‘Yeah. He’s a bit—’
‘Of a tw—’
‘A bit superior I was going to say.’ Matt holds up a palm and smiles.
‘You want to try working for him – he’s a bloody nightmare.’
‘Ava’s not keen either,’ Matt cuts in. He doesn’t like it when Neil gets all chippy, especially now that Matt’s career is taking off. It’s not the first time he’s had a go at Johnnie Lovegood.
‘Understandable,’ Neil says.
‘Too soon, she’s saying, with all the neighbours, but I’m going to try to persuade her. She needs to get out.’
‘Right. Not like they’ll mind if she doesn’t though, I suppose.’
‘Of course not. But I was thinking it might do her good, you know? It’s been easier for me. At work I’m not surrounded by people who were here that day, who know. If I meet a client, they don’t know anything about me personally and I’m concentrating on the job, which keeps my mind off things, but it’s not like that for Ava. Every time she goes out, she sees someone who knows or who helped. I completely understand that, but she can’t hide from everyone forever or she’ll end up never being able to go out again. I need to find a way of building her up, getting her confidence back.’
They both study the ground. It isn’t lost on Matt, and he’s sure it isn’t lost on Neil either, that they have run for almost an hour and only now, when it is the moment to part ways, is he saying what he has intended to say since they set out. For him and Ava, the invitation has landed heavily, but it will have weighed on Neil and Bella too. It is almost a year since Abi went missing, since the past became forever entangled with the present, exerting a force so powerful that not mentioning it is always a conscious and sometimes rather exhausting act of avoidance.
‘How’s she doing?’ Neil kicks at a weed that has sprouted between the paving stones. ‘I’m sorry I’ve been so busy. Work’s been—’
‘Mad, yeah. You said. Don’t worry about it. There’s nothing you can do.’ Matt stares for a moment at his trainers. There is a hole starting on the big toe of the right one. ‘I mean, she doesn’t see anyone, but you know that,’ he adds, after a moment. ‘I just thought if I could get her to go, even for an hour, she might… She’s trying to get out during the day now, and I guess I just thought that if she could find it in herself to go, she could sit with Fred in the corner if she needs to, keep herself to herself. Perfect excuse not to be the life and soul. And it’s not far to go home if she needs to duck out.’ He wonders who exactly he’s trying to convince.
‘Sure, sure.’
‘Sometimes I wish I’d told her.’
‘Nah,’ says Neil. ‘Nothing to be gained.’ He glances over at the Lovegoods’ place, an expression of disgust crossing his face. ‘He’s a dick though. Rubber Johnnie.’
Matt laughs. ‘He’s not that bad. And his wife’s really nice. Jennifer. It’d be great if you and Bel come. Ava might feel supported… enough to try to come for a bit. And it might be good for the four of us to get together, y’know? It’s been ages.’
Neil nods. ‘We could call in for an hour, I suppose. Show our faces.’
‘Great. I reckon the whole street will be there. Pete Shepherd told me they spent six grand on the lighting alone, and he’s seen all sorts being delivered in the last six months or so. Apparently it took four men to carry the flat screen in. Four blokes! It’s like we’ve got our own resident rock stars.’
Neil huffs. ‘Don’t let Lovegoon hear you say that. He can barely get his head out of his front door as it is.’
Matt laughs. ‘No, but I think people are a bit fascinated with them – well, they seem to be anyway. She’s very glamorous, isn’t she, the wife? Jennifer? Chic, I suppose you’d say. Classy. And I guess we’re all curious to see what the best part of a year’s work and vast amounts of cash can do to a place. It’s bound to be a palace; well, you know what it’s like better than anyone.’
Neil shrugs. ‘It’s big, I can tell you that. I never saw it finished, never saw the zinc effort they put in the garden, but it’s just a house at the end of the day. Just bricks and cement.’
‘True.’ Matt knows Neil doesn’t believe this any more than he does. A house is more than its material components, and an ambitious conversion is always exciting to see. Besides which, Matt is keen to meet his neighbours properly after the terrible way they were introduced.
He glances up at Neil, who is staring at the ground. He’ll be fine once he gets there, Matt thinks. A few beers and he’ll forget his loathing of Johnnie Lovegood, not to mention the four of them getting together for a drink for the first time since that day. It’ll do them all good.
‘So,’ he says. ‘Shall we have a livener at ours first then?’
‘Sure.’
The sweat is cooling against Matt’s skin. He shivers and, taking this as their cue, they lean in, clap each other on the back.
‘Later, mate,’ Neil calls, already a few paces down the road.
‘Later,’ Matt replies, without turning, sliding the key into the lock.
In the living room, Ava is watching television, Fred at her breast. It is a little after half past nine.
