“So how’s things in big school, in general, I mean?”

He shrugs.

“Mr. Richards seems okay.”

He glances at her then away.

“What about the other teachers—who’s the nicest?”

He shrugs again. The crumpets and cake arrive with the teapot and she pours them both tea. Blake eats his crumpet fast and then another, then the chocolate cake; he seems to relax.

“So what’s it like, pruning trees?”

“It’s all right.”

“Eric really values your help; you know that, don’t you?”

“Yeah.” He sounds casual but his face flushes pink.

“I thought we might go somewhere this weekend, find a wood maybe. A family outing, what d’you reckon?”

“Okay.” He sits up. “Dad too?”

She glances out the window; a couple walk by, arms entwined, each with a hand on the baby carriage, smiling at the unseen child. She shouldn’t have used that word, “family.” Blake thinks she and Martin are together but it’s hard enough to be polite to Martin; an outing with him would be impossible.

“He’ll be busy,” she says, still looking through the window. “You know, tutorials.” She glances back. Blake is staring at her; his expression contains contempt and something worse, like pity. She was wrong; he doesn’t think they’re together; he knows what’s happened and probably why. Izzy must have filled him in.

“We should get back.” She stands up, jolting the table. Her teacup tips over and the dregs spill, a dark stain spreading quickly on the white cloth. She pays at the register then they drive to Eve’s road in silence. She parks a short distance from the entrance to Eve’s drive.

“Now we’re on our own, we need to talk properly about what the teacher didn’t find,” she begins, “because I know there’s something you aren’t telling me.”

Beside her, Blake has become completely still. Only his fist moves, opening and closing, opening and closing.

12. November

Melissa

Melissa steers the car carefully into their driveway and switches off the ignition. She leans back, exhausted. The drive from Salisbury took longer than the journey there and now it’s early afternoon. Paul will be safely at work, albeit fuming about the temporary absence of his car. She must find clothes for herself and some for Izzy, assemble the material for the Wiltshire project, call a real estate agent to arrange viewings of available flats to rent, and then leave by taxi to pick Izzy up from Eve’s house, all before he comes home. She doesn’t even want to get out of the car. If it hadn’t been for Izzy, it would have been hard to leave the shelter this morning. It had felt safe, far safer than the home she is about to enter.

The heat had bellied out as the door had opened. They’d felt the warmth on their cold faces. They’d stepped inside, squeezing past strollers crammed in the narrow lobby. A teddy lay on the bottom step of the stairs. Faint strains of music floated down from higher in the house and the smell of toast came up the hall to meet them.