“Yeh. But that’s not all you are. Just like I’m not always hard as iron.” Then he put the plates on the table—which was decorated with three overlapping tablecloths and flowers, which was unusual but also nice—and called the kids.
All right, he couldn’t date her. Or more precisely, he couldn’t take her to bed. School rules. Family complications.Possible pain for her, though he’d have done his best to make it worth her while. But no. He met his needs discreetly and didn’t bring them home, and he always had, because that was the only realistic option. He didn’t need this, and neither did she. Not beyond bearing, anyway.
Nobody’d said they couldn’t flirt a little, though. He’d never been much chop at flirting. Too direct. And she clearly hadn’t had much practice at it. Good for both of them, probably. That didn’t mean they had to go round the bend.
You needed a game plan, and that was his. He’d let her know she was attractive, she’d let him knowhewas, and they’d both enjoy it. And have a semi-normal our-grandparents-are-dating sort-of-family relationship.
Easy-peasy.
15
MONKEY WRENCH
“These little round things are weird,” George said.
“They don’t exactly look like food,” Georgia said, “but theyarefood, I guess, because they’reonthe food.” Both kids were poking at the little green capers in extremely dubious fashion.
“Just roll them over to the edge of the plate,” Duncan said. “That’s what I’m doing.”
“We don’t talk about what we don’t like, George,” Skylar said, in what Zane could tell was her teacher voice. She wasn’t correcting his kids; she was correcting her own. Subtle.
“You’re all really picky,” Finlay said. “Heaps of kids are starving to death. Maybe they’d love these things, even though they taste a bit weird.”
“Where?” George asked. “I don’t know anybody who’s starving to death.”
Finlay sighed. “Sudan? Syria? Gaza? Hello?”
Scarlett said, “People who are starving want things like porridge, not this.Ithink they taste kind of good, though. They’re salty and the lemon is sour, and I like salty things and sour things. That’s probably because my tastebuds are more mature than all of yours, because I’m older.”
Finlay said, “Why do you always have to say you’re so awesome?Ididn’t say that, and I like this food. You could just say, ‘Thanks, Ms. Fairburn. This dinner is delicious.’ That would be polite.”
Zane said, “Less of this chat, please. Food’s awesome, Skylar. Cheers for that. How about if we have a topic of general interest instead?”
“Rugby, you mean,” Finlay said.
“Well, no,” Zane said. “I don’t much want to talk about rugby on my days off, and I doubt it’s Olive’s favorite subject, let alone Skylar’s.”
“It’s not,” Olive said, “because it has heaps of rules, and I’m not interested in learning them. I also don’t understand what ‘general interest’ even means.” She wasn’t reading, because Skylar had given her a look even Zane could read when they’d sat down, and the book now resided under her chair. “Nobody else is ever interested in the things I like. I guess that’s OK, though, because I’m not very interested in the things other people like.”
“That’s because you’re weird,” Finlay said.
“Yes,” Olive said serenely. “I suppose it is. How do you decide what topic is interesting to talk about? Do you have a vote?”
Finlay slapped his forehead with his palm. Zane almost laughed, but controlled himself. “You could,” he said. “Or you could just ask a question and see where it goes. Pets, now. Pets are good. You have a cat, eh.”
“Yes,” Olive said. “Snowball. He’s not all that interesting, though. He’s a cat.”
“It’s interesting that he’s so naughty,” George said. “He’s always jumping up on the kitchen benchtop even though he’s not supposed to, and trying to run outside and escape. And if he’s angry at somebody, he sometimes poos in their shoes.”
“Gross,” Duncan said. “Did you ever put your foot in there by accident?”
“He did that about three times,”Finlay said. “When we first got him. He doesn’t do itnow.”
“That isn’t of general interest, and it’s not dinner-table conversation,” Skylar said, before Zane could. “Petsarea good topic, though. Maybe you could think of another thing to say about Snowball that’s less disgusting.”
“Or Georgia could tell about the rats,” Duncan said. “One of them died. That’s interesting.”
“I always think dying is interesting,” Finlay said.
