Winnie opened her door wearing slippers, an apron and an expression that suggested she had been expecting trouble but not this particular delivery. “Oh,” she said when she saw Iris’s face. “Come in.” Her apartment smelled of coffee and furniture polish. A half-finished crossword lay on the table, a pencil balanced across it. The television …
On Saturday morning Daniel made coffee while Iris checked the message from the estate agent. The couple who had viewed on Tuesday wanted a second look. This afternoon, if possible. The garden had worked its persuasion, apparently, though they had questions about the roof. She put the phone down. “More strangers in the house?” Daniel …
At six-forty on Friday, Iris discovered that fifty chairs looked like a great many chairs when she was expected to stand in front of them. People were beginning to arrive through the side entrance. Priya checked names against the booking list, Hugh showed them to their seats, and Mrs. Hallet stood beside a rack with …
The fixture buyer arrived Thursday morning with a van, a second man and precisely the list Daniel had sent him. Ed Moran was shorter than Iris expected from his brisk telephone voice. He wore work trousers, carried a blanket over one shoulder and examined the first island from the floor upward before looking at the …
On Monday afternoon, Iris stood at the end of the main aisle while Hugh held a noticeboard in front of his face. “Higher?” he asked through it. “No. Lower. I’d like the audience to know you survived.” He lowered it. The board was covered in faded gold letters advertising a sale that had taken place …
Daniel’s father was standing in the garden wearing the shoes. Iris recognized them before she saw his face: loose at the heels, flattened at the backs, entirely unsuitable for the wet path between the greenhouse and the kitchen door. Daniel stopped beside her with a paper bag of pastries in one hand. “Don’t,” Iris murmured. …
Joan approved the evening on Wednesday, with two conditions: no champagne and no speeches longer than three minutes. “The second condition may be harder,” Priya said when Iris read out the email. “Hugh’s been warned.” “I meant you.” Iris looked at her over the paper. Priya grinned and escaped downstairs with the poster before she …
The barber downstairs had three questions for Iris. “Will there be noise, will there be smells, and will people keep ringing my bell?” He sat in the empty upstairs room wearing a white shirt and a dark waistcoat, with one ankle crossed over the other knee. His name was Saul Adler. The building belonged to …
Beth came home on Saturday with a bag of washing she claimed was mostly towels. “Mostly?” Iris asked. “The important portion.” Her daughter stood in the hallway, twenty-seven and suddenly eight again, looking around at a house that was beginning to detach itself from her. The photograph of her at graduation remained on the little …
The business adviser at the library wore a cardigan the color of oatmeal and asked Iris how many hours she wanted to work. It was not the question she had prepared for. “As many as I need to.” The woman, whose name was Laura, wrote nothing down. “How many would you like to?” Iris looked …
