He pushes back his hair distractedly. ‘I can’t, can I? She’s an adult. She can make her own decisions. It’s nothing to do with me …’
I take hold of his hand and squeeze it. ‘Maybe she’ll get sick of him and meet someone her own age.’
‘That’s what I’m praying for,’ he mutters.
I’m at a loss as to what else to suggest. It makes my worries about Charlie being shy and never having had a girlfriend seem pretty trivial in comparison. I like to think I’m broad-minded, but how would I feel ifhefell for somebodymyage?
‘There’s not an awful lot else you can do right now,’ I add.
James smiles wryly. ‘I could get him into the surgery and neuter him.’
I splutter. ‘He’s an adult man, not a dachshund—’
‘A very, veryoldadult man …’
I give his arm a gentle tug. ‘C’mon, let’s go back in.’
‘I’m sorry,’ he mutters.
‘It’s not your fault.’
‘I should’ve said he couldn’t come—’
‘Sounds like you didn’t have an awful lot of choice,’ I suggest as we head back inside and through to the kitchen where Esther, Miles and Charlie seem to have found themselves sitting together at the table. Kim and Lorenzo have launched themselves into a whirl of activity at the sink,washing up (even though I have a dishwasher), drying dishes and putting things away. Cupboards are opening and closing, the sink tap is gushing and the coffee percolator is sputtering away.
As I reach for mugs on the shelf I catch Esther asking, ‘So, what’re you into, Charlie?’
‘Uh, science mainly,’ he replies, sounding surprised that she’s taking an interest. ‘Astronomy. Stuff like that.’
‘I’m into that too,’ she says.
‘Are you?’
‘Yeah. I read about it all the time.’
‘Oh!’
‘I’m Taurus,’ she adds. ‘What sign are you?’
Is she teasing him or is it a genuine mistake? I really musttryto like her, I remind myself, and give her the benefit of the doubt.
‘Erm, I meant astronomy, not astrology,’ Charlie says apologetically, as if he made the mistake.
‘Oh, sorry,’ Esther says with a throaty laugh. ‘I always get them mixed up. So it’s about the Milky Way and the galaxy, all that?’
‘He works in a newsagent’s,’ Lorenzo calls out with a grin. ‘Spends his Saturdays selling chocolate, don’t you, Charlie?’
‘Most of it out of date,’ he says, smiling now.
Esther seems intrigued by Charlie, but I’m still not sure if her interest is genuine. ‘Can I ask you something, Charlie?’ she starts.
‘Sure,’ he replies.
‘Where does the moon go in the daytime? I’ve always wondered that …’
‘Me too,’ Miles announces, face set in rapt attention.
I try to focus on getting all the coffee things together as Charlie starts to explain how it all works. But I’mstill wondering if this is all perfectly innocent, and they’re just being friendly, or it’s some kind of cruel joke:Get the boffy kid to explain how the universe works while we pretend to be interested, haha!James, Lorenzo and Kim are all chatting between themselves now. Maybe I’m being overprotective; a ridiculous mother prowling on the periphery, when her son is perfectly capable of handling himself.
