Part 3 (2/2)

*Gabby! It's so nice to see you!'

*Hi, there,' Gabby says, then she smiles as Claire reaches for a cookie and swoons in delight after she takes a bite. *Tell me you didn't bake all these yourself.'

*I did. It was nothing. Gavin helped.' They all turn to look approvingly at Trish's date. He is standing outside with the men.

*He's that handsome and he cooks too? Are you kidding me?' Claire murmurs. *In my next life can I come back and be you?'

*Oh silly,' trills Trish, looking over at the chopping board. *Can I help? I can finish off the salad if you want.'

Gabby steps forward. *Don't worry, I'm doing it.' She moves over to the board and picks up the knife, slicing the onion while Trish watches her with a frown on her face.

*Oooh. Careful of your fingers,' she warns, just as Gabby cuts herself.

*s.h.i.+t!' She immediately sticks her finger in her mouth, and Claire spins to open a drawer, pulling out the Neosporin and a Band-Aid.

Trish picks up the knife and carries on, tucking her fingers into a claw and slicing the onion into perfect, paper-thin rings, at the speed of light.

*Where did you learn to do that?' Gabby asks.

*I went to cooking school.' Trish shrugs. *It was ages ago, but I picked up some good knife skills.'

*Is there anything you can't do?' Claire says. *There must be something you're really, really bad at.'

Trish stands still, thinking, as Gabby and Claire exchange a secret smile. That she even has to think about it is extraordinary, thinks Gabby. Eventually Trish's face lights up.

*I'm really bad at maths,' she says. *Like, I don't get numbers at all. I can never work out tips in restaurants.'

*Thank the Lord!' whoops Claire. *The woman isn't perfect! So,' she says, glancing out of the window at the men standing round the barbecue, *where did you meet the gorgeous Gavin?'

*Match.com,' Trish says confidently.

*Really? Do you do a lot of dating on match.com?' Gabby is surprised she is so open about it.

*It's become one of the only places. People do occasionally set me up, but out here in the suburbs the singles scene is very small, and you have to cast your net wider. I used to struggle with people knowing, but the stigma really doesn't exist any more. Everyone who's single does it. It's either that or going to bars, which is pretty horrendous. The last thing I'd want is to meet the kind of man who's into the bar scene.'

Claire gives Gabby a knowing look. *They're not all awful ...' She grins as Gabby flushes.

*No?' Trish turns to Gabby, who shrugs and looks away, as if she has no idea what Claire is implying.

*Oh, come on, Gabs.' She turns to Trish to explain. *Ella organized a girls' night out last night at the Grey Goose. We were all there, surrounded by middle-aged cheesy men, except for Gabby. She got totally hit on by this rather adorable young guy. I'm telling you, if I wasn't married I'd have snapped him up. He was delicious!'

*What?' Elliott appears in the kitchen. *Did I hear you just say my wife got hit on by a hot young guy?' He's smiling. *Gabs! You didn't tell me that!'

*I didn't want you to feel threatened,' she says lightly, mortified that anyone is talking about the evening, instantly feeling guilty, wis.h.i.+ng they would just keep quiet and move on, yet thrilled, too, that they are talking about her! Thrilled that she should be the one who was noticed last night, that perhaps Elliott, perhaps all of them, would see her in a new, flattering light.

*Apparently your wife is a MILF.' Claire laughs. *The rest of us were stuck with the lecherous old sleazeb.a.l.l.s. You should count yourself lucky you have a wife who's still got it.'

Elliott puts his arms round Gabby as he kisses her neck. *Oh I do,' he says. *I absolutely do.'

Alanna appears, sidling quietly up to the counter and attempting to slide a large handful of chocolate-chip cookies into her pocket.

*Alanna!' Gabby is shocked. *Put those back right now! Those are for after we've eaten.'

*They're not just for me,' she protests. *I was sent inside to get them for everyone.'

Gabby shakes her head. *And I suppose if they asked you to jump you'd say, ”How high?”'

Alanna just stares at her. *What?'

Gabby sighs. *Never mind. Put them back. Everyone can wait.'

Alanna grumbles in a way that seems far too teenaged for an eleven-year-old, but puts the cookies back.

Trish walks over. *How is Alanna finding middle school?' she says. *My girls had such a rough time, and I hear it's got worse. A very difficult transitional phase.'

Gabby would love to be able to say that everything is fine, but everything is not fine. To others, Alanna seems to be the same girl she has always been, only quieter, but Gabby knows that, having given up trying to be in with the group she called the Populars at her old school a little girls Gabby has known all their lives, who are sweet as pie with the adults, and vicious minxes as soon as they are on their own a Alanna has found a new group of friends in middle school.

A new group of friends who were clearly the Populars in their own elementary school and who are exactly the same as the old girls Gabby never liked, only couched in different clothes, with different names.

Alanna refuses to talk about them, and when Gabby encourages her to find different friends, ones who are not obsessed with boys at the age of eleven, ones who aren't given the iPhone 5 as soon as it comes out, Alanna doesn't want to hear. She isn't interested in the girls in the softball team, or the girls from art cla.s.s. She wants only to be accepted by the cool girls in school, and nothing her mother says or does will make her want anything else.

Gabby takes a deep breath. *Alanna's a tough cookie,' she lies to Trish. *I think she'll be fine.'

Chapter Six.

The sheets are refres.h.i.+ngly cool as Gabby slips between them, pulling up the covers and revelling in the comfort of her bed, the comfort of her life, all of it effectively rendering more and more dreamlike the fact that she met a man to whom she was attracted last night.

In the bathroom Elliott brushes his teeth, then he turns away from the basin and leans against the door jamb, looking at her.

*I like that Trish,' he says. *And Gavin seems like a great guy. Young, though. How old do you think he is?'

*Thirty-five?' Gabby ventures, before making a face.

*What? You didn't like him?'

She sighs. *It's not him. It's Trish. She's always pleasant enough, so why do I feel so d.a.m.ned inadequate around her?' Gabby laughs, knowing how ridiculous she sounds.

*Why would you feel inadequate? I'll admit, she's great at a lot of things, but so are you.'

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