Josh stood up and somehow smiled, greeted Suki. But his head was still full of what Claire had told him, and his heart was consumed with loathing for his wife – and the Cleavers.

89

89

The three of them meeting up for lunch became a regular thing. Every week, Josh Claire and Suki met and talked and laughed, and Josh began to think that Suki was like another daughter; she was the image of her mother and she was a charming girl, ebullient, very American and forthright. And Suki liked him.

Claire and Josh had regained all their old closeness, but still sex was off the agenda, which was fair enough, he thought; she had good reason to be wary of the whole idea.

One spring day after meeting Claire and Suki for lunch in a recently opened diner that was getting rave reviews, Josh walked a couple of blocks and then hailed a cab back to his hotel. When he got to his room, a telephone call came through. It was Shauna.

‘Hi,’ he said, wondering how he could sound so normal when in fact his whole world had been turned arse-backwards. This bitch and her low-life mates had hurt Claire. He’d disliked Shauna for a lot of years, detested her domineering ways and her scheming and her poncey aspirations, but now all that had turned into stark, black hatred.

‘Josh, can you come home?’ she said.

‘Why? What’s up?’

He didn’t want to go home. He wanted the next day to pass quickly so that he could see Claire again.

‘There’s been trouble. I’ve been putting off telling you this. Didn’t want to bother you.’

‘What?’

‘It’s Aysha.’

Josh’s attention sharpened. ‘Aysha? She all right?’

‘Josh, I hope you’re sitting down. She’s pregnant, and it’s Joey Minghella’s.’

Josh flopped back on to the bed. ‘Fuck’s sake,’ he said angrily. ‘You kidding me?’

‘You need to come home, Josh. We have to talk about this.’

The thought filled him with dread. He didn’t want to leave Claire. He was worried that if she was out of his sight he could lose her again. ‘Yeah. Sure.’

Christ! Of all the times for Aysha to get herself in trouble. There was a bout planned for next Saturday, but he was going to have to cancel. Then he thought again of Claire with her gentle blue eyes, the love of his life. If he got involved with her now, this was how his life would be: he would be torn in two, ripped in half between his family in England and his lover in the States. Wanting to be with her, needing to be there for his kids. But he was involved with her. He couldn’t help that.