Lawrence opened his mouth as if to say something but then shut it again and let go.
Kate knelt and pulled Corbin into her, smothering him in her arms. She looked at Lawrence, eyes questioning. He met her gaze briefly, then dropped his head and walked back towards the house, saying nothing more.
Kate watched him disappear through the gate. Turning to Evan with a sad smile, she brushed a lock of hair behind her ear and said, “Sorry about that. Not the welcome I’d planned. I guess you’ll be on your way home, now?”
Evan stared at her, unblinking. The world seemed to compress, collapsing down, until all she could focus on were his eyes, crisp and blue and depthless. Corbin’s crying sounded distant and liquid, like she was hearing it from underwater.
Finally, he spoke. “No,” he said softly, shaking his head. “I’m starving. Let’s have some lunch.”
Kate grinned, lips and eyes lighting up in unison. She stood, clasping Corbin’s hand to lead him back home. Then she froze, her mouth dropping open.
“What?” asked Evan.
“My muffins!” she howled. Swinging Corbin up into her arms, she ran across the park — apron flapping — as fast as her gumboots could carry her.
FIFTEEN
Evan paused at the sliding door to take his shoes off as Kate burst past him, not bothering to remove her gumboots. The oven timer was buzzing frantically and the acrid smell of burning hung in the air. In the kitchen, she grabbed a pair of oven gloves and yanked the door open. Diving through the billowing smoke, she removed the muffin tray and dropped it onto the benchtop with a loud clatter.
The smoke alarm went off, screeching its dismay. Corbin covered his ears and wailed. Kate threw off the oven gloves, took a dining chair and slammed it onto the floor beneath the smoke alarm, jumping up to rip the battery out. The alarm ceased and she dropped from the chair to hug Corbin.
“It’s okay, it’s okay,” she murmured as she sat him on the edge of the kitchen counter and opened her hand. “See, I’ve taken the battery out. No more noise.”
Corbin pointed to the battery. “Noise gone?”
“Uh-huh.” She hugged him again, rocking him while he nuzzled into her neck, sniffling. Turning to Evan, she said, “He hates the sound. The damned thing is in the wrong place — the slightest whiff of smoke and it goes off. Do you mind opening some windows?”
“Sure.” Evan took off his hat and jacket, then moved around the dining area, opening the windows and sliding door.
Kate switched on the range-hood fan and the smoke slowly cleared. She set Corbin down and surveyed the blackened bulges in the muffin tin. “Well, that was a disaster.”
Evan stood beside her and placed a hand on her shoulder, leaning over to inspect the mess. “Oh, I don’t know, they might be okay inside.” He reached for a muffin but Kate slapped his hand away.
“Careful,” she said. “They’re hot.”
“I just want to cut one open.” Evan picked a knife up off the bench, carefully pried the muffin out and cut the scorched top off. Removing the paper cup, he took a tentative bite, chewing slowly. “It’s not bad.”
Kate laughed.
Evan placed the muffin back on the bench and took her hands in his. “I love it when you laugh.”
She blushed and he pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her in a gentle embrace. She stiffened momentarily, then relaxed and hugged him in return. She felt a weight against her leg and looked down to see Corbin clutching it. She smiled, moving her arm from beneath Evan’s to stroke Corbin’s hair.
“I’m sorry,” she told Evan. “For Lawrence, for burning the muffins…” Her nose twitched. “For stinking out the house. You must think this is a pretty crappy date.”
“Not at all. It’s actually been pretty entertaining.”
Kate pushed away from him and frowned. “Really? Entertaining? That’s not what I’d call it.”
“Well, perhaps that’s not—”
“I mean, come on, Evan, my ex-husband just tried to start a fight with you. What are we doing? Why are you even here? A gorgeous guy like you must have girls falling all over him. Why would you want… this?” She gestured around the room.
He considered the question. Looking at her — Corbin nuzzled into her apron, her slender fingers tracing swirls through his hair — Evan thought she was just about the most beautiful woman he had ever seen and realised that despite his misgivings, despite Yumiko and Lawrence and the nagging feeling that walking away was exactly what he should be doing, he didn’t want to. “I’m not sure, to be honest. But I don’t want to overthink it the way you’re doing. I like you, Kate, and I like Corbin. The rest… well, it can wait, can’t it?”
Kate took a deep breath. “I guess so,” she said, a weak smile gracing her lips.
“Good.” Evan pulled her close again.
She rested her head on his shoulder. They stood for a moment, silent and still, until she noticed another odour drifting on the air, distinct from the smell of burnt muffin but equally unpleasant.
“Oh, Corbin,” she said, slipping out of Evan’s embrace.
“What?” said Evan.
Kate looked down at Corbin, still hugging her leg. “Have you done poos?”
“Oh.”
Corbin shook his head. “No,” he said firmly.
Kate laughed and picked him up. “Don’t lie to me.” She raised him high and sniffed his pants, scrunching up her face. “You have so!” To Evan, she said, “Sorry, but I need to change his nappy.”
“I’ll do it.”
“Pardon?”
“I’ll change him. I don’t mind.”
She frowned. “Have you ever changed a nappy before?”
Not that I can remember. “Sure, lots of times,” he lied.
Her frown deepened. “Whose?”
Evan shrugged. “Don’t worry, it’ll be fine. Just point me in the right direction.”
She puffed her cheeks out, slowly exhaling, but relented. “Okay, if you say so. I’ll take you down to his room.”
“No need. I’ll find it. You stay here and finish prepping lunch. We won’t be long.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah, no worries.”
“All right,” she said, sounding unconvinced. “Down the hall, third door on the left. There’s new nappies on the change table.” To Corbin, she said, “Go with Evan. He’s going to change your bum.”
Corbin gave her a questioning look, but when Evan headed out of the kitchen he followed him, traipsing muddy footprints over the tiles.
“Wait!” Kate exclaimed. He stopped and she removed his gumboots, sighing as she noted her own trail of prints across the floor.
“It’s only mud,” said Evan, stepping closer. “Superheroes can’t stop for mud. ”
“You think I’m a superhero?”
“I’ve never seen anyone run so fast in gumboots.”
Kate giggled.
Smiling at her, Evan took Corbin’s hand and led him into the hall. He found Corbin’s bedroom, cheery and warm, the walls painted a bright lemon yellow and adorned with colourful posters and framed photographs. In the far corner was a white wooden cot, a mobile suspended from a hook on the ceiling above it. Beside the cot was a white chest of drawers and at its foot was a matching change-table, the mattress covered in a blue and yellow teddy-bear print.
Evan sat Corbin on the edge of the change-table and removed his beanie, mittens, and jacket. “Right, now for the hard part. Lie down.”
Corbin did as asked and Evan slid his trousers off. He found a new nappy on the top shelf of the change-table, placed it beside Corbin’s prone body and, breathing through his mouth, unfastened the soiled nappy and raised Corbin’s legs. The poo was smeared across Corbin’s buttocks and Evan recoiled from the mess. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.
Corbin squirmed and Evan gripped his legs tighter, then loosened them again when the boy squealed. “Sorry, buddy. Now, what do I use to clean this up with?”
He noticed
a nylon strap hanging loose from the sides of the change-table. Still holding Corbin’s legs, he draped each end of the strap over his torso and fumbled one-handed with the buckle, finally managing to fasten it, pulling the strap tight so Corbin couldn’t roll over. Crouching, he searched the shelves of the change table for something to wipe Corbin’s bum with. He couldn’t see anything obvious and was about to call out to Kate for assistance but then changed his mind, deciding he could improvise.
“Don’t go anywhere, okay?” he said, refastening the nappy.
Corbin nodded.
He exited Corbin’s room and found the toilet. Ripping a length of toilet paper off the roll, he stepped back into the hall, hesitated, then took the entire roll off the holder before returning to Corbin.
Scrunching his nose, he unfastened the nappy again, lifted Corbin’s legs and cleaned the mess as best he could. Once finished he slid the filthy nappy down the table, piled it high with toilet paper and scrunched it together, carefully placing the loaded package on top of the dresser.
Kate shouted from the kitchen. “Everything okay down there?”
“Yeah, great, nearly done,” Evan called back. He took the fresh nappy and unfolded it, pleased to note that the front and back were marked. He grinned at Corbin, the grin turning upside down as he saw the boy’s face contort and flush red. He looked down to see Corbin’s sphincter iris open, like a spaceship door in a sci-fi movie, and a brown alien head forcing its way through.
“Dude!” he exclaimed, scrambling to place the new nappy under Corbin’s bottom, capturing the procession of ellipsoid blobs just in time.
Corbin’s face returned to its normal colour.
“Are you finished?”
Corbin’s reply came in the form of a contented smile.
“All right then, let’s do this. Just as well I brought the whole roll.” Evan wiped Corbin’s bum, keeping a watchful eye out for further extra-terrestrial intruders. Once finished, he folded the pungent package and laid it beside the first.
He took another clean nappy and fastened it in place, slipped Corbin’s trousers back on and undid the nylon strap, then sat him up. “All done, bro,” he said, lowering him to the floor. “Now, where do these go?” He gathered the soiled packages and followed Corbin down the hall.
Kate was just finishing setting the table when they returned. Corbin ran up to her, and behind him Evan held up the offending nappies. “What do I do with these?”
Kate frowned. “How come you’ve — watch out!”
Evan lifted the scrunched bundles for closer examination. “Why, what’s wrong — oh!”
A brown nugget slid from the largest package and plummeted to the kitchen floor, landing on the tiles with a squelch. Kate squealed.
“Shit,” said Evan, eyes bulging.
Kate burst out laughing. “I’m sorry. Your face…”
“Poo,” said Corbin, crouching to investigate.
“Don’t touch it!” Kate cried. She snatched a roll of paper towels from the counter and knelt on the floor. To Evan, she said, “You’re supposed to fold the tabs over to contain everything.”
“Tabs?”
“The sticky things,” said Kate, rolling her eyes.
“Oh, I see,” said Evan, breaking into a sheepish grin as he folded the tabs on each nappy and stuck them down.
“I thought you said you’d changed lots of nappies?”
“Yeah, back in the days of safety pins. It’s been a while.”
Shaking her head, Kate placed a paper towel over the poo, sliding her fingers together to contain it. Lifting the mound off the floor, she twisted the towel around the contents, creating a package that reminded Evan, in a mildly disgusting way, of a Hershey’s Kiss. “Here, hold this,” she said, wrinkling her nose.
Evan took the third package from her.
“Flush that one down the toilet and the other two can go in the bin, outside on the deck. And can you get me the tub of wet-wipes?”
“Wet-wipes? Sure. Where are they?”
Kate rocked onto her haunches, her brow knitted. “In Corbin’s room. On the dresser. The ones you used to clean his bum with.”
“I didn’t see them.”
Kate raised her eyebrows. “Then what did you use?”
“Toilet paper.”
“Toilet paper?” Her voice went up an octave.
“Sure. I couldn’t find any wipes so I got a roll from the loo. Lucky I did too, cos it turned out he hadn’t finished.”
Kate’s jaw dropped in horror. “You can’t use toilet paper on babies! It’s like sandpaper. His poor bum!”
“He’s fine. Although, to be honest,” he said, the sheepish smile lingering, “there were a couple of splotches stuck to his balls that were pretty hard to get off. I didn’t want to hurt him.”
“So is he clean or isn’t he?”
“Pretty much,” Evan ventured.
Kate sighed and stood. “I’m going to have to check your handiwork. I’ll have that,” she added, taking the Hershey’s Kiss. “You get rid of those. Come on, Corbin.” She disappeared down the hall, Corbin following.
Evan went outside, spying the rubbish bin at the far end of the deck. Lifting the lid to find it half-full of discarded nappies and little else, he was assaulted by a wave of stench that made his eyes water. Holding his breath, he added his packages to the heap and slammed the lid back down, then backed away. He stood at the top of the stairs and cast his eyes over the yard, coming to rest on a rough circle of cracked and blackened earth, at odds with the prim neatness of the garden surrounding it. Judging by the size of the circle, the bonfire had been a significant one. He gave a low whistle and shook his head, returning to the kitchen to find Kate kneeling on the tiles with a package of wet-wipes and bottle of spray-cleaner. “I see you found the wet-wipes.”
“Uh-huh. On the dresser. Just where I said they were. To be fair, there was a book sitting on top of them so they would’ve been invisible to anyone taking a man-look.”
“Ha, ha,” said Evan. “I was just admiring your garden. It’s very pretty.”
“Thank you,” said Kate, standing. “I love gardening. It’s not at its best right now, but it’s beautiful in spring.”
“What are you gonna do about the burnt patch?”
She stared at him, her expression unreadable. “I don’t know,” she murmured. “Maybe just resow the lawn, pretend he never existed.” Then she broke into a smile, eyes dancing. “Or maybe a sculpture — something avant-garde. A Duchamp urinal, perhaps, to signify him pissing all over our marriage.”
Evan nodded, smiling with her even though he didn’t know what a Duchamp urinal was. Not wanting to reveal his ignorance, he changed the subject. “I found the bin. Just out of curiosity — how many nappies do you go through in a week?”
Kate washed her hands at the kitchen sink. “Don’t even ask — it’s ridiculous. Here, Corbin, you wash your hands too.” She lifted Corbin to the sink and squirted soap onto his outstretched palms, holding him awkwardly as he rubbed his hands together, working up a lather. “When he was born, I had such good intentions. I was going to use cloth nappies and wash them regularly.” Corbin plunged his hands into the stream of running water, washing off the soap. Kate lowered him to the floor and handed him a tea-towel. “I tried for a couple of weeks but then the reality hit. When you’re up half the night breastfeeding, the last thing you want to do the next day is wash a pile of nappies. Disposables are just so convenient. I buy these biodegradable ones — made from bamboo fibre — but still, I feel guilty.”
“You shouldn’t. From what I’ve seen, you’re a great mum.”
Taking the tea-towel from Corbin, Kate looked Evan in the eye. “You think so?”
Evan nodded. “I know so.”
“Thanks, that means a lot. Well,” she said, “I think we’re finally ready. Let’s eat, shall we?”
They did. Corbin stuffed himself with fruit, sandwiches and biscuits, and when he had cleared his plate, Kate wip
ed him down and led him into the lounge, where she put a DVD on for him. Bringing another beer for Evan, she returned to the table and filled her wine glass again. Watching as the pale yellow liquid bubbled out, Evan found himself staring through the glass to the sweeping landscape of her cleavage.
“I’m up here,” said Kate, and he snapped his eyes back to her face. A warm smile played across her lips.
“Sorry,” he said, blushing. “It’s just that you look really good.”
“Without my apron? The fifties housewife look wasn’t doing it for you?”
“Oh, I wouldn’t say that. If you were wearing the apron and nothing else I’m pretty sure that would do it for me.”
One side of her smile curved higher, accompanied by a matching eyebrow. “I’ll keep that in mind.” Elbows propped on the table, she absently traced circles in the air with her wine glass, then took another sip. “So,” she drawled, “would you like a walk after lunch? I’ll show you the sights of Cromwell.”
“There’s sights in Cromwell?”
“Er, not really,” she said, shrugging, “but we could go down to Old Cromwell Town. I love it down there.”
“I’ve never been.”
“Well, there you go, that’s settled. It’s very charming — romantic even.”
Evan raised his eyebrows. “Romantic, huh? I like the sound of that.” He reached across the table and took her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze.
Kate cleared her throat, swallowing. A wayward blonde lock had drifted over her eye and with her free hand, she brushed it aside, trapping it behind her ear. “The other thing about going for a walk is that Corbin will probably fall asleep in his buggy, and we might get a little time to ourselves.”
“And what would we do with that?” murmured Evan, leaning closer.
“Oh, I don’t know,” said Kate, her voice a breathy whisper.
Evan tilted his head, anticipation tingling through his parted lips. He heard footsteps and dragged his gaze away from Kate to watch Corbin waddle into the dining room and climb onto the chair next to him. Blood pulsing, he fell back, the promise of the moment fading. With a rueful smile he said to Corbin, “Hey, buddy, whatcha doing?”
Taking the Plunge Page 11