“It was an assessment.”
Amanda’s mouth opens.
I point at her. “Don’t.”
“I was only going to say assessment is what you call a compliment when you’re wearing steel-toe boots.”
Nour laughs, and I decide the wine is no longer my friend.
“He listened,” I say, because apparently I am defending him now, which is new and unwelcome. “That’s all. He listened, he didn’t push past instructions, and when I explained why the training mattered, he took it seriously.”
Amanda watches me with the kind of expression she used to wear when we were teenagers and I insisted I did not fancy someone despite knowing his timetable, favourite crisps and bus route.
“What?” I say.
“Nothing.”
“Amanda.”
“It’s just that you know an awful lot about a man you’ve only professionally challenged for one day.”
“I did not torture him.”
“I didn’t say torture.”
“You were thinking it.”
“I’m your sister. Of course I was thinking it. I know you.”
Nour lifts her glass. “For the record, I was also thinking it.”
“You are both extremely unsupportive.”
“We are very supportive,” Amanda says. “We’re supporting the truth.”
“The truth is that he is here because he made a mistake and now he has to understand the work we do.”
“And yet somehow, in one day, you have learned that he runs mountains, talks too much when he’s nervous, listens when it matters, takes correction better than expected, and has moments.”
I stare at her.
Nour’s smile widens. “That is quite a list.”
“It is a basic factual summary.”
“It is a character study,” Amanda says.
“I hate both of you.”
“No, you don’t,” Nour says, reaching across the table to squeeze my hand briefly. “You moved counties to be nearer this level of irritation.”
“I moved for a promotion.”
Amanda’s smile turns smug. “You like us.”
“I tolerate you.”
Nour laughs, and for a moment the kitchen feels exactly like the reason I came. Warm, irritating, familiar. Amanda at the hob. Nour with one leg tucked under her, weddingring catching the light when she lifts her glass. Evidence of the children everywhere, even when they’re out of the house. A family I did not build, but one I get to stand close to.
