Babyville Page 0,137

so, so sorry.”

“Don't worry about that.” Sam gestures them in. “But will she be okay to go home again?”

“Unlikely.” Jill makes a face. “But what can we do? It's always a bit of a nightmare when her routine's broken, but hopefully she'll sleep in the car on the way home and we'll be able to lift her straight out and into bed. I'm so sorry about this. Where can we put her?”

Jill, Dan, and Sam tiptoe quietly upstairs, and unfold the travel cot outside George's room.

“I won't put her in George's room,” Jill whispers. “I don't want to wake him, but it's nice and dark out here.”

“What about the monitor?”

“Don't worry. We don't use one anymore. We'll hear her.”

“Okay, but let me open George's door a fraction, just in case.”

“Really, you don't have to.”

“I'd feel better about it.” Sam quietly pushes George's door ajar.

Jill stays to put Lily down. Dan follows Sam down the darkened stairway, putting his hand on her shoulder halfway down. They both stop, a wave of nausea washing over her as she knows this is it. The moment she's been waiting for. The answer to her dreams.

She turns as if in a dream, everything happening in slow motion. Dan's head moves slowly to hers, and she stays still, eyes closing, head tilting slightly to one side. A soft kiss lands just at the side of her mouth. Her head still tilted, she waits for more, only opening her eyes when she feels the shadow of his head move away.

“I just wanted to say thank you,” he whispers. “For the picture. It's beautiful.”

“Oh. Thank you.” Her voice is a whisper, and she waits for more, for a continuation of the kiss.

“No, really. I mean it. You're incredibly talented.”

“Flattery,” she says, a smile playing on her lips, “will get you everywhere.”

“I bet you say that to all the boys,” he teases softly.

And here it is. The invitation. The one she can't resist. Not anymore.

“No,” she whispers, looking deeply into his eyes. “Only you.”

“Is everything okay?” Jill whispers behind them, coming down the stairs, even her whisper managing to be cheerful. Sam is furious and embarrassed in equal measure. What if she heard? What if she saw? No. Impossible. She would not be so cheerful in the face of an adulterous husband.

“Fine, darling,” Dan says. “I was just telling Sam how incredibly talented she is.”

Jill's hand flies to her mouth. “I can't believe I didn't say anything. Sam! I love it, I love it, I love it! You're amazing! It's the best birthday present I've ever had and I can't believe you painted it! Thank you!” She flings her arms around Sam, who reluctantly pats her back lightly, waiting for her to disengage.

“You can see it was a hit,” Dan says, smiling, and Sam smiles back at him over Jill's shoulder as the doorbell rings again, forcing them all to disengage and go downstairs.

“God, it's good to see you.” Sam smiles up at Mark and rubs his back with affection. “We've missed you.”

Mark shrugs, a twinkle in his eye. “So? You didn't call . . . you didn't write . . . what was I supposed to think?”

“I do feel guilty,” she says, realizing with a start that she does.

“Don't,” he admonishes gently. “I know how it is when relationships end. I know you're not supposed to take sides, but it's difficult not to. And besides, you were always Julia's best friend. You had to take her side even if”—he nudges her playfully—“I was the one you wanted to stay friends with.”

“Come inside,” she says, linking her arm through his. “Come and meet our friends,” and they follow Maeve and Chris into the living room.

The women lead the small talk. Jill's baby-sitter nightmare leads to further stories of child-care horrors, and the men listen with amusement, punctuating the stories only with the sounds of Pringles and peanuts being munched, and glasses being refilled.

And then the men switch places, group together to find common ground, start with the match of the day, move to the horrors of having wives obsessed with babies, gradually reveal their softer sides as they compare notes and eulogize the joys of fatherhood.

Maeve and Jill are instantly at ease. Sam does her best to relax and join in, but all the while she is sitting chatting with them she is aware of Dan directly opposite her. She isn't consciously trying to catch his eye, but she keeps pretending to glance at Chris, her eyes sweeping over