Eddy almost reminds Anna of the Seb he’s known for more than half his life. Seb, the boy who swapped his brand-new bike for Eddy’s old one when they were thirteen because Eddy was trying to impress the first girl he fancied, Seb who literally dragged Eddy across the finish line at the London Marathon, Seb who occasionally leaves them home-made loaves on their doorstep, Seb who writes Blake, his godson, beautiful letters every year for his birthday. But somehow, Eddy knows reminding Anna of that Seb now will only make him fall from her grace harder.
Instead, on the sofa, Eddy keeps his arm around his wife and they talk through their shock, each asking questions they know the other won’t be able to answer. They stay like this until they’ve finished the wine and then they lie back, their bodies pressed against one another, stretched along the full length of the sofa.
Eddy feels weary in both heart and body, but still, sex is probably a good idea. It’d reassure Anna, remind her that they’re OK, that they’re solid. He pulls her hair to one side, starts kissing her neck until she makes those little sighing noises he loves, and she reaches for him. When they’re finished, they lie back again on the sofa and Eddy strokes her hair and she massages his hand as she says, ‘I think it was Blake, by the way.’
‘Blake?’
‘Who took those condoms.’
‘Ahh, of course!’ And Eddy adds, because he knows Anna will like it, ‘I’ll chat to him.’ Even though he probably won’t.
Against his chest, he feels her smile. He’s glad they’ve shared their secrets with each other tonight, and their unscheduled sex reconnected them. The dynamic between Eddy and Seb has changed, in a way he could never have anticipated, but Eddy’s never been able to function on his own – now he’ll need Anna more than ever.
He kisses the top of her head and says, ‘Love you, A,’ and he feels her smile again so he closes his eyes, content and safe, knowing he is loved.
Just after midnight they go to bed and Eddy wakes in the morning with his arms still around Anna. She’s the only woman he’s ever been able to cuddle while he sleeps, one of the things that made him realize she must be ‘the one’. He’s working from home today, so he’s in no rush to get out of bed. Eddy pretends still to be asleep as Anna gets up and pads downstairs. He listens to her unloading the dishwasher, boiling the kettle, and then hears her chatting to Simon, the postman.
‘Morning, Si. Heard about your back, you poor thing.’
A couple of minutes later she walks back upstairs, putting a cup of tea on Eddy’s bedside table. He’s about to talk to her, but she’s on the phone already. She likes to call her sister, Sami, who lives in the Lake District, first thing in the morning. His eyes only open a sliver, he can see she’s still in her dressing gown, staring out of the window, as he listens to her leaving a voicemail.
‘V, it’s me, Anna. Listen, I need to ask you a favour – would you be able to collect Albie after school and have him at yours for about an hour today? I know it’s last minute, but I can explain everything when I see you, and Albie would love to show Luca his new Lego car. Sorry to ask, but I have a meeting and predictably all the after-school clubs are booked …’
Eddy’s eyes fly open. What the hell is she doing? Albie is supposed to be going over to Abi’s, isn’t he? She turns around as he sits up in bed and mouths, ‘What the fuck?’ which makes her stumble and rush her sign-off: ‘Message me to let me know this is all fine.’
Before Eddy can open his mouth, Anna beats him to it. ‘It’s not safe, Eddy. I can’t risk Albie getting into a precarious situation.’
‘What are you talking about, “precarious situation”?’
Anna tilts her chin up; she really gets the hump if she feels like she’s being patronized. ‘Abi, obviously.’ She glances at the door. It’s open a little, so she goes over to close it, which is unnecessary as Albie’s downstairs listening to a football match, quietly munching through the seven Weetabix he eats every morning. ‘I can’t trust her with Albie.’
‘You can’t trust her with Albie?’
‘He’s a child, Eddy, my little boy – I won’t let a possibly unhinged bunny-boiler we barely know look after him. And besides, what will Rosie think when she finds out that I let Seb’s mistress look after Albie!’
‘Anna, you’re overreacting.’ He thinks about adding ‘as usual’ but knows that would totally derail the conversation.
‘I’m not, Eddy. Think about it. She’s obviously turned up here to blackmail Seb – she might be some kind of scammer or catfish; she might have done this many times before.’
‘Anna, we hardly know the woman! And besides, you can’t warn the whole town off her. This is irrational—’
Anna waves her hands, talks over him. ‘You’re right, Eddy, completely right! We hardly know the woman and that’s exactly why she shouldn’t be looking after our son. It’s my fault and I won’t ask people we don’t know well for help with childcare again, OK?’