‘Thanks. I imagine we’ll need a team to spruce the place up before the events. I’m expecting a big crowd. Lots of wives too. A garden party could be a good option.’ Pearly was thinking on his feet, and when Gumbo had gone, he went back inside and jotted down a few things. Gumbo’s practical skills could be useful, as long as he didn’t usurp the place of the high school’s caretaker, or gardener, but then Gumbo wasn’t a usurping sort of person. Pearly wrote ‘tidy up team — Gumbo?’ and ‘Garden party — Helen?’ She was a good organiser. And she would know what might appeal for a wives’ and partners’ excursion.

‘Aren’t they a bit old hat, those separate gender things?’ Helen said later in the evening when he mentioned it. ‘A garden party, sure, but I don’t know about a women-only event.’ She’d had a shower after gardening. Her hair was still damp, and she sat in the leather armchair that caught bright, slanted sunlight through the living-room window. Pearly noticed with mild surprise that her toenails were painted pink.

‘I just thought it might be boring for them sometimes, all of us jawing on about teachers and games and classmates that mean nothing to them, and there’s the footy match.’

‘What the wives don’t fancy they needn’t go to,’ said Helen. ‘Most people come to these things with a group and are capable of organising themselves. They’re not kids.’

Pearly wasn’t so sure. If the partners weren’t happy then the guys wouldn’t be either, but he didn’t want to push it further at the moment. He went over and stood behind his wife’s chair. He massaged her neck and shoulders, and neither of them talked for a while. Gumbo’s visit had reminded Pearly of his own settled good fortune. He deserved it, of course, through talent and application, but he knew that being deserving was no guarantee of recompense. And there were things that he had once hoped for that were lost to him.

‘Very colourful toes,’ he said. The light was intensifying the shine.

‘Normally I can’t be bothered. All that time to apply it and then the hassle of removing it. Thanks for that.’ The gratitude was for Pearly’s massage, and he moved to a chair of his own, but out of the direct sun.

‘You don’t mind me taking on the school thing?’

‘You’ll be good at it. I just wonder, though, if it’s fair to Anne to take on another big responsibility while you’re mayor. Some places no bigger than this have a full-time mayor. You’ve said yourself you’ve felt sometimes you’re not pulling your weight. Have you had a decent talk with her?’