‘What do I think about what?’ I said. I’d assumed that the subject was closed.
‘About Ben bringing his friend on holiday.’
‘Amy,’ I said, ‘you’re being crazy.’
‘It’s not easy for him, being an only child,’ she said.
‘I’m an only child,’ I pointed out, with a shrug.
‘So you know it’s not always easy. I remember going on holiday with—’
‘It’s impossible, Amy,’ I interrupted her. ‘I mean, just, you know, legally speaking . . . Passports and parental rights and all that. It’s totally impossible.’
‘Oh yeah,’ Amy said, lifting the covers and slipping in beside me. ‘I didn’t think about that. Do you think it is? Impossible, I mean.’
‘Totally,’ I said. ‘Anyway, it’ll be nice. Just the three of us.’
‘I guess,’ Amy said.
‘God, don’t be too enthusiastic about spending three weeks in Spain with your husband and son, will you?’
‘OK,’ Amy said. ‘Sure, fine.’
‘So that’s settled?’
‘Sure,’ Amy said again, snuggling against me. ‘Sure. OK.’
Three
Heather
A few days after the ‘Spain’ conversation, I got home from the school to find a little red sports car parked on our drive. ‘It’s Ben!’ Lucy exclaimed, running up to tap on the passenger window.
The driver’s side window slid down and an elegant blonde woman smiled up at me. She reminded me of someone famous, and I finally remembered her from parents’ evening and realised that I’d been picturing Ben’s mum as someone else entirely.
‘Hey, I was wondering if I could talk to you,’ she said. She sounded vaguely American and the accent brought the face of the famous person I was trying to find almost within reach. This made the fact that I still couldn’t quite work out who that was even more annoying.
‘Um, yes . . . Of course,’ I said, thinking, Lady Gaga? – No. Madonna? – Almost but not quite. ‘What’s it about?’
‘Um, it’s about Lucy,’ she replied.
‘Oh, really? Has she done something?’ I asked.
‘Not at all,’ the woman said. ‘I, er . . .’ And then she slid the window closed and climbed from the car. We shook hands.
‘I’m Amy,’ she said. Then, turning towards the car and leaning down to peer in and beckon to her son, she added, ‘I’m Ben’s mum.’
‘Yes, I think we met once,’ I said. ‘Well, we were in the same room anyway. At Red Nose Day?’
‘Yeah, that’s right,’ Amy said, reaching out to scoop Ben, who had joined us but was lingering a few feet away, to her side. ‘Ben can be a bit shy, can’t you?’ she said.
‘No,’ Ben replied grumpily, half hiding behind her leg.
‘Can I show Ben my room?’ Lucy asked.
‘Um, sure,’ I said. Addressing Amy, I asked, ‘If you have time?’
‘I have,’ Amy said, ‘as it happens.’
‘I’m coming too,’ Sarah announced.
‘Oh, we don’t want her,’ Lucy said, tugging at Ben’s sleeve. ‘We’re not playing baby games.’
Amy smiled at me and raised an eyebrow.
‘Let me rephrase that, then, Lucy,’ I said. ‘You can take Ben and show him your room if you let Sarah come too.’
Lucy sighed dramatically. ‘Oh, come on then,’ she said, leading the way. ‘But you won’t like it, silly Sarah.’
‘They actually get on pretty well,’ I said, as we entered the hallway. ‘Lucy’s just showing off because Ben’s here.’
‘Oh, I’m sure,’ Amy said. ‘They seem sweet.’
I made tea for us both in the kitchen and apologised for the mess as I handed Amy her mug. She looked around the room and commented, ‘But it’s spotless. It’s, like, hospital clean.’
I glanced around the room again with fresh eyes and wondered what I was apologising for. But I could see the finger smudges on the oven door, even if Amy couldn’t. I could see the dirty tea towel on the chair back and the soup bowl sitting in the sink. ‘So, Amy,’ I said, once we’d moved through to the conservatory. ‘What’s up?’
‘Really, nothing’s up as such,’ Amy said, raising her tea to her lips, but not, I noticed, actually drinking. ‘I’m not sure if Lucy said anything to you, but we’re going to Spain in August.’
I smiled, and for no reason I could identify felt myself blush. ‘Actually, she did,’ I said. ‘I think she’s a bit jealous of Ben’s holiday plans.’
‘The thing is – and I hope you don’t think I’m being . . . I don’t know what the word is, really . . . inappropriate? I hope you don’t think this is inappropriate. But Lucy said you’re not able to go away this year and—’
‘It’s not that we’re not able,’ I corrected her. ‘It’s that we’ve decided not to.’
‘Of course,’ Amy said. ‘God, I’m so bad at this. I really didn’t mean . . .’
‘No, go on,’ I said. ‘It’s fine. Really.’
‘So we’ve got this crazy goddam house booked down in Spain. It’s a real monster, with living areas and five bedrooms and a pool and a jacuzzi, and there are only the three of us going now.’
‘OK,’ I said, sounding and probably looking a bit confused.
‘Reg, that’s Joe’s dad – Joe’s my husband, yeah? Anyway, he was supposed to come with us too.’
‘Joe was? Oh, sorry, Reg was.’
‘Yes. Yes, Joe’s coming, obviously. But his dad was supposed to come too. I was even thinking about inviting my mum, though Joe doesn’t know that, so not a word. But now neither of them are coming, so we have all this empty space.’
‘Sure,’ I said, frowning as I tried to work out where Amy was going with all of this.
‘And it just seems such a waste, you know?’
‘Yes, I’m sure.’
‘And I know this is going to sound crazy, but . . . well . . . I mean, Ben’s an only child, you know? And he gets on so well with Lucy and all . . .’
‘So you wanted to invite Lucy to join you?’ I offered, trying to help stammering Amy out a little.
‘Yeah, kind of . . . Well, no, not really. I mean, that was my original idea. But Joe pointed out all the reasons that wouldn’t fly. I mean, what with passports and parental guardianship and all. And so then I
