CHAPTER 41
As I had expected, once Jimmy had been recognised there was a surge of people wanting to sit near him and play along, or just to listen. Steph asked him how he had managed to keep so many seats together.

“Ah whey, ah just telt them they war fer me band, like. Whey, ne lies there!”

CHAPTER 39
Steph did indeed go along to the competition, and Kelly and I went along to watch her and a few of the other virtuosi do their party pieces. Lots of fiddlers, lots of guitarist/singers, and a single piper. I gave Kell a prod.

“Well?”

“Yeah, like he’s not bad, could tighten up his tempo a bit”

CHAPTER 38
Eric was gone in the morning, but his side was still warm, so it hadn’t been that long. As I luxuriated in the warmth of the bag, the zips opened and he handed me a mug of tea.

“Don’t say I never do anything for you!”

CHAPTER 36
That was the start of the next stage.

CHAPTER 34
“The next step? That is largely up to you.

CHAPTER 32
I got changed out of the clothes I had worn for all of an hour, and pulled on my lycra. As I was sorting out the bikes from the shed, I had a sudden thought.

CHAPTER 30
It seemed that my vice, the one I pandered to and indulged, was being hugged. I wasn’t quite the centre of attention at the gathering, but close to it, and I felt a little embarrassed at taking the interest away from what had been a superbly organised event.

CHAPTER 28
Kate turned up by car, as I had suspected she would, in order to start ferrying some of Ginny’s stuff to their new house. To my surprise, she brought in a suitcase which was obviously full from the effort she took to bring it up the stairs. She laid it on the bed.

CHAPTER 26
Eric was already up, as I struggled to get myself into some state of mind that would let me join humanity on a roughly equal footing. Ginny was awake, looking at me.

CHAPTER 23
Ginny of course wanted chapter, verse and hymn number. I gave her as much of the day as I could remember, even Dennis’ plaintive little complaint about feeling alone.

CHAPTER 21
Steph put down her fiddle and looked at me sitting with my flute lowered.

“What?”

CHAPTER 20
I should have seen that one coming, I really should. I knew, after all, what Sal specialised in, and with hindsight Steph had been just a little too straight, a little too hard edged. She covered it up well, and everything about her shouted ‘woman’.

CHAPTER 18
Off at Victoria and up the platform to the ticket barrier, surrounded by girls in minimalist dresses and shoes that looked like egg slicers.

CHAPTER 16
We retired to the easy chairs and sofa, Kate curling up in Ginny’s lap, with some rather nice coffee brought by the McDuffs.

CHAPTER 14
I awoke lost, something tangling my legs, and started to wriggle a bit before I remembered.

CHAPTER 12
She had me, if I wanted to let her. Too many years of subterfuge left me less than open, though.

CHAPTER 10
It was the first night in a long time that had passed the right way and I was awake with Ginny as she slathered her toast with some repulsive brown sludge.

CHAPTER 8
“Yeah, I know, but I don’t know about the rest. We’re going to finish up here, and after the wine is done we shall have some frozen yoghurt, to which my lover here is very partial.

CHAPTER 6
I had no real choice, of course, but to agree with her. I was just starting to wobble a bit from the wine, but I was still sort of sober. Kate and Ginny sat with me for a while, silent in the flickering light and the odd sting of the smoke, until a small piece of paper was pressed into my hands and the shorter woman led the taller away by her hand.

CHAPTER 4
Ginny was holding me as I woke, shushing me like a child until I could stop the shakes.

“Talk to me, Adam?”

“No”

CHAPTER 3
I was still on late turn, of course, so she bullied me into getting the tourer out of the shed and loading it with panniers.

CHAPTER 1
I put the bike in the shed and settled the rucksack onto my shoulders as I tugged the straps tighter to compensate for standing upright.

CHAPTER 48
Tom had a stack of neatly-bound files waiting for me when we got back, but Em took my arm.