Emma stared at Kieran, her voice trembling with fury. How could you, Kieran? We were both laughing at that filthy farmhand! she shouted, stepping out onto the garden path, her anger spilling over his betrayal.
Kieran, Im sorry, Emma pleaded, the devil must have led me astray. I still cant work out how I ended up in bed with Plush. He frowned, muttering curses, fingers jittering around a halfsmoked cigarette.
The building had just taken in a new family: Nathan, his wife Lucy, and their fiveyearold daughter Violet. Emma and Kieran, both thirty, their son six, were newcomers in their midtwenties. Sharing the same floor, they quickly fell into daily contact.
Lucy was the picture of a diligent country girl, her heart set on cooking. Cakes, scones, piesshe treated them like trophies. No wonder she marched into the kitchen like a queen with a silver tray. Emma and Kieran, halfjoking, dubbed her Plush because of her round, generous figure. Lucys kitchen was a shrine of glass jars brimming with preserves; Emma could never match that.
Emma considered herself attractive and wellkept, while Lucy forever drifted around in a faded bathrobe, a tiny bun perched on her head. Nathan, thin as a reed, and their chubby daughter were always wellfeda testament to Lucys talent. Still, Emma befriended her. Nathan spent long stretches on the road as a lorry driver, his job taking him far from home.
Hed met Lucy in some backwater lane, stumbling into the village shop for a packet of cigarettes. Lucys eyes snapped onto the lanky stranger immediately; Nathan had no chance of slipping away unnoticed.
Nine months later Lucy gave birth to a daughter, a surprise for the wandering driver. Nathan brought Lucy and the baby back to the city. When Emma introduced the sudden new family to her mother, her mother dismissed both the rural Lucy and the newborn granddaughter outright. Nathan had to rent a flat.
Kieran never stopped critiquing Lucys looks. How can you not love yourself? A woman should he would begin, cutting himself off.
Then Kierans mother fell ill, her health failing. At first Emma and Kieran rotated caring for her, but eventually they hired a caregiver. Lucy volunteered. Ill help out a bit for friendships sake, she said, and I need to buy my husband a rubber boat for fishing. Keep it secret from Nathan, let it be a surprise. She beamed at the prospect of earning a little extra.
Lucy, dont drown my mothers meals in food, Emma warned, shes lost her appetite because of her sickness.
Soon after, work sent Emma on a long business trip. She handed instructions to Kieran, her son, and Lucy, then boarded a train to another city. A month passed before she returned. Kieran avoided her gaze; Lucy kept her distance.
Mom, make the potatoes like Aunt Lucys, and the mince pies were brilliant, her son called from the doorway, puzzling Emma.
Did Aunt Lucy feed you? Emma asked, suspicion creeping in.
Yes, she brought Violet over and took dad with her, the boy reported.
Emma began to piece it together: Nathan was on a route, she was away on assignment That night, after a hearty dinner for Kieran, she forced a confrontation.
Kieran, I know everything. The son told me everything, she said, though a part of her hoped it was all imagination.
What? Nothing happened, Kieran replied, his face as calm as ever. Plush just asked me to fix the tap, he added, his tone indifferent.
Come on, relax. Its just a harmless fling, Emma sighed, relief flaring. But Kieran started visiting his ailing mother more often, lingering longer each time.
She went to the mothers flat. The elderly woman sat composed, yet alone. Emma searched for Kieran and Lucy, finally ringing Lucys flat.
A weary Lucy opened the door, the hallway behind her showing Kieran hunched on the bed, looking feeble.
Emma, feeling like a proper lady, turned and walked away in silence. Her mind reeled. Kieran, whod called Lucy a sloppy mess, was now intimate with her! She could hardly muster jealousy toward the kitchen maid. When Kieran rushed in after her, Emma snapped, Take a shower. Wash yourself properly! Think youre clever? Ill tell Nathan everything. Hell have your head! she threatened, laughing through clenched teeth. She imagined scrawny Nathan flailing his fists before Kierans imposing frame.
Lucy confessed her affair to Nathan. Whether he snapped or simply shrugged, a week later the whole household moved out. As he left, spotting Emma, Nathan said with a hint of pride, No wonder it fell apart. Who could resist my Lucy?
Months later Emma ran into Lucy again.
Hey, love! Still mad? Lucy chirped. Dont be. In the village life we learn to roll with the punches. Ive got a bit left, and your husbands still smiling. Youre always off on assignments You cant leave a hungry husband for too long, Lucy taught her, clutching the hand of a girl who looked uncannily like Emmas own husband.
