Dominic’s in the garden, shears in hand as Kate and Maddie pull into the driveway.
Snipping, thinks Kate. He’s always snipping.
‘Kate, Maddie,’ he calls as she slams the car door. ‘How was Noah?’
Kate doesn’t reply, but Maddie does. ‘He was fine, Dad. I thought he was fine, didn’t you, Mom?’
Kate doesn’t answer. She smiles at Maddie and then asks her to go and put the kettle on.
Maddie runs inside, into the house, and Kate looks at Dominic, fresh after his shower, his shorts loose and casual, his golf shirt crisp. Her perfect husband.
Her hands are sticky from the heat of the steering wheel and all she wants is to get inside and run them under the tap. The day may be cooling down, but Kate is burning with anger.
She walks up the path and opens the front door, leaving her husband to his garden and his incessant pruning.