He grins. ‘Good point, well made. Right, come on. The piano stool is calling.’
‘Umm, Amy?’ I say, taking in her shorts, T-shirt and flip-flops as we congregate for breakfast the next morning. ‘Are you planning to wear that to church?’
‘Yes, why?’
‘Didn’t you see the dress code I posted on the group chat?’
‘Too long,’ she says dismissively. ‘Didn’t read it.’
I see what this is, and I’m not falling for it. She’s determinedly trying to get her revenge by doing everything she thinks I’ve done to her.
‘OK,’ I say. ‘It’s up to you, but I would suggest you change into something more modest. Have you got a dress or skirt that covers your knees?’
‘What’s wrong with my knees?’ she asks aggressively. ‘I’m hardly waving my tits at them.’
‘They like you to cover most of your body,’ I explain. ‘Long trousers for men, covered legs and arms for women.’
‘That’s ridiculous. I should be able to wear whatever I like.’
‘You don’t have to come.’ Please, I think, let her decide not to come.
‘No, it’s fine. Stewie and I will get changed after breakfast.’
‘It’s Grace’s turn to drive Mum,’ Raphael observes happily as he stands aside to let Gabriel and me clamber into the back of his Jeep after the service. Lily, Dan, Amy and Stuart are getting into Grace’s SUV, along with the formidable Mrs Campbell.
‘Mum has never learned to drive,’ Gabriel explains quietly as Raphael starts the engine and Uriel fiddles around connecting his phone to the radio. ‘But that doesn’t stop her telling us all how we should be doing it. Anyway, what did you make of the service?’
‘The choir was superb,’ I tell him. ‘And the guest pianist was incredibly handsome. I’ll confess to finding him a little distracting.’
‘Interesting. There was a very attractive woman in the congregation, and I was captivated by her dress.’
‘My dress?’ I ask, confused. ‘What about it?’
‘It’s just a nice dress. You look good in it,’ he says, evidently for Uriel and Raphael’s benefit as he then leans over to whisper in my ear. ‘It’s the same one you were wearing on the beach. It, umm, brought back some very pleasant memories.’
I can feel my face heating as the memory comes back to me too. ‘Pastor Andrew seems nice,’ I say in an attempt to change the subject. ‘I was surprised how short his sermon was though. I was expecting to be there for hours.’
‘It varies from pastor to pastor and church to church. Pastor Andrew’s are on the shorter side. His view is that he onlywants to get one or two key points across each week, so the congregation has a fighting chance of remembering them.’
We lapse into silence as Raphael makes the turns that have become so familiar to me over the last few days. ‘Here we are,’ he says as he drives through the gates and pulls up next to Grace’s SUV and another car I don’t recognise. ‘Casa Campbell.’
I’m just about to tell him I know, before I realise that, although he’s aware that Gabriel and I have been seeing each other, he doesn’t know I’ve been here before.
‘It’s lovely,’ I say instead. ‘Quite a lot grander than a lot of the other houses here.’
‘Welcome to the life of a high-ranking government official,’ Uriel says with a grin as we climb out.
‘Who does the other car belong to?’ I ask Gabriel quietly.
‘Grace’s husband, Leonard. He’s not a churchgoer so he just comes straight here for lunch.’
‘And your mother is OK with that?’
‘Not really, but she loves everything else about him, and she tells him every week that she’s praying for him to find salvation.’
‘Boys, is that you?’ Mrs Campbell’s voice calls from the sitting room as we walk through the door.
‘Who else would it be, Mum?’ Raphael asks. ‘You literally saw us getting into the car to come here five minutes ago.’
