‘My cousin Alan’s standing right over there,’ she said, pointing. ‘I think there’s a very good chance he’s seen what you’re doing.’ Sadness in her eyes. Her son-in-law, the ignominy. She’d been a second mother to me, until mine threw in the towel and life got confusing. She glanced at Biddy, at me. ‘I suppose I can make a joke, say you were getting something out of Biddy’s eye.’

‘Oh yeah. Like, with my tongue?’

Biddy smiled, Carly didn’t. ‘This is a very small town, Chris. Nearly everyone is related to each other, so I’d suggest not doing that in public.’

‘We weren’t thinking,’ Biddy said. ‘Sorry.’

‘That’s all right,’ Carly said, calming. ‘It’s not the end of the world.’ She looked at Biddy with kind eyes, glanced at me with hurt and love, turned and walked away.

I looked at Biddy, tried to –

‘Just whenever you’re ready,’ the assistant said. ‘You’re paying by card, yeah?’

I parked the trolley outside, grabbed the bags, my arms shaking, my hands, opened the boot, started lifting in the shopping.

‘Can we just stand here for a minute?’ Biddy said.

‘Yeah, good idea.’ I got the last bag in.

She was … fuck, she was crying. ‘We’re not doing anything wrong, Chris. I don’t even know why I apologised.’ That was Biddy’s way: if someone tripped over their own shoelaces, she said sorry. ‘Did you see how she looked at me? It was so intense.’

‘Yeah, I know,’ I said, holding her, scanning the car park.

‘We’re the ones doing everything aboveboard and getting called out on it.’

‘Meanwhile, Sarah …’

‘Sarah nothing. You’re always rushing to her defence. I shouldn’t have come, Chris. This just isn’t working.’

‘I love that you’re here.’

* * *

The next day was Biddy’s last. We drove into Numurkah in her mum’s car, sat next to each other in a hotel restaurant drinking coffee, holding hands, touching each other’s legs, wary of anyone who knew anyone who might remember seeing a woman with fluoro hair sitting next to a man whose life was fucked. Carly’s cousin Alan, apparently, hadn’t seen us kissing in the supermarket.

Sarah and the kids were browsing the shops for gifts and would meet us to say goodbye to Biddy in about twenty minutes. She and I would stay another day with the kids, hang out with Carly and Chris.