work?’ she asks.
‘In town.’
‘Office work?’
‘No, I’m a mechanic.’
‘That could come in handy.’
‘I work long hours.’ I hope she doesn’t ask me to fix her car.
‘Saturdays too?’
‘Yes, I’ve just got back.’
‘You must be tired. Would you like some dinner?’
‘Thanks, that’s kind. But I’m going out. In fact, I’m supposed to be already on my way.’
‘Oh, sorry. I’d better let you go then.’
‘Maybe another time.’
She moves away at last, the matches in her hand. ‘Thanks for these. I’ll replace them next week.’
‘Don’t worry. I’ve got plenty.’
She shakes the box and steps down off the porch.
When she’s gone I retreat into the house to collect my bag. And then Jess and I are on our way to Emma’s, via the bottle shop.
The light outside the bungalow glows warmly and Jess and I stand there like shadows till I muster the courage to knock. Emma opens the door and looks down at Jess, steps back and swings the door wide.
Jess and I slink inside. Jess looks up at me with a worried expression and then at Emma. It’s as if she’s trying to work us out.
‘You can put Jess’s rug on the floor there,’ Emma says, pointing to a corner where she has already placed a bowl of water.
I hand over the bottles of wine and roll out Jess’s blanket. ‘Here, Jess.’ I point to the rug.
Jess sits obediently on the rug and smiles at me. She has an obliging lap of the water then glances at Emma, looking surprisingly relaxed. Emma has been clever giving Jess her own space. She hasn’t forced herself on the dog. Perhaps she has a better understanding of animals than most biologists do.
‘She’s a good dog, isn’t she?’ Emma says. ‘Most dogs aren’t so well behaved.’ She pours two glasses of red wine, hands one to me and leans over the bench to check a pot on the stove. ‘Could you put on some music?’
I flick through the pile of CDs on the floor and pull out an Alex Lloyd album. While I’m figuring out the buttons on the CD unit, I hear the click of Jess’s toenails crossing the floor. She taps into the kitchen and sits down near Emma, panting up at her.
‘Would you like a bone?’ Emma asks.
Jess follows Emma to the fridge and bats her tail wildly on the floor while Emma fishes out a plastic bag. Emma puts some newspaper down, give Jess the bone and ruffles her head.
‘Make sure you keep it on the paper,’ she says. ‘I don’t want blood all over the floor.’
Jess looks positively joyous. She crouches down and gets to work on the bone. She seems to understand Emma’s instructions about keeping it on the paper.
‘I think she likes you,’ I say. ‘I wasn’t expecting her to accept you so quickly.’
‘She’s a nice dog. You’ve done a good job with her. I’d love to have a dog, but I’m away too much.’ She gazes down at Jess and then at me. ‘What would you do with her if you went south?’
‘I don’t know. Find someone to look after her, I suppose.’
‘You’d miss her.’
‘Yes. It’s a pity they don’t have sled dogs at Mawson anymore.’
Emma laughs. ‘She wouldn’t pass for a husky anyway.’
She comes across the room and sits on the couch with me. She’s still wearing the same clothes as this morning, but it’s warm in here, so she’s unbuttoned the shirt a hole or two. I can see her collarbone, the satin sheen of her skin, the rise and fall of her breasts as she breathes; it’s very sexy.
‘How was work?’ she asks.
‘Busy.’
‘You don’t get sick of it?’
‘No, I like it.’
‘Not too repetitive?’
‘Every job’s repetitive.’
‘Yes, I suppose it is to some degree. Even mine . . . tagging penguins, water offloading, data entry.’
‘I like engines—the way they work. It’s clever.’
‘It must feel good to fix things.’
‘I enjoy finding solutions.’
Emma flicks at my knee with her fingers. ‘What about in your personal life?’
I pause. ‘That’s a bit harder.’
She stands up to serve dinner and I move to help her. ‘Just stay on the couch,’ she says. ‘It’s a tiny kitchen. You’re best out of the way.’
Jess is still on the kitchen floor working on her bone. She looks up as Emma steps over her, then glances over to me and wags her tail: four short beats against the floor. She wants my approval to like Emma, so I nod and Jess returns to her bone, pleased.
Emma serves beef stew with lentils and rice. We eat on the couch