One Perfect Summer

we’d be able to go for a drive to the Norfolk coast this weekend, but the weather forecast is miserable.’ I go into the hall and put my arms around his waist.
    ‘Hey, you,’ I say, gazing up at him.
    He looks down at me and gives me a quick kiss. ‘What’s that cooking?’
    I tell him, although I have yet to put the steaks on.
    ‘Mmm. I’m starving. Shall I open a bottle of champagne?’ He never calls it bubbly.
    ‘Um . . .’ I don’t think this is going to feel like a celebration anytime soon, but whatever makes him happy. ‘Sure.’
    ‘How was your day?’ he asks as we walk into the kitchen.
    ‘Fine,’ I reply breezily. This is my chance to tell him about Bennie, but I chicken out. ‘How was yours?’
    ‘Good. We made a breakthrough with the blah, blah, blah.’ I have no idea what he’s talking about. ‘You haven’t any idea what I’m talking about, have you?’ he asks with a raised eyebrow.
    ‘Not now, not ever,’ I reply with a grin. ‘You’re the brainiac in this family.’
    Ouch. With a short, sharp shock I’m reminded of Joe. There’s no getting away from this.
    ‘Something happened today,’ I tell him softly.
    His brow furrows as he unwraps foil from the top of the champagne bottle. ‘What?’
    ‘Wait,’ I interrupt before he can go any further.
    He hesitates, his thumb at the base of the cork. It feels wrong to say this to the sound of it gleefully popping.
    ‘This shouldn’t be a big deal. I don’t want it to be a big deal. But I heard about . . . Joe again.’
    His eyes bore into me. ‘Go on.’
    ‘He’s in a film called Sky Rocket . One of the children in my class was talking about it. It’s quite a big . . . deal . . .’
    He looks down at the bottle in his hands. ‘I know.’
    ‘You know he’s in it?’ I ask with surprise.
    ‘No, I know about the film. A colleague went to see it at the weekend.’ He places the bottle on the countertop.
    ‘I’m sorry,’ I blurt out.
    He meets my eyes for a moment before looking away again. He shakes his head. ‘You don’t have to be sorry,’ he says quietly. ‘It’s not your fault.’
    The relief is immense. He touches his fingertips to the champagne bottle and slowly pushes it across the countertop, away from him.
    ‘I don’t really feel like this anymore.’
    ‘Should I get on with dinner?’ I ask tentatively.
    ‘No,’ he says. ‘I’ve lost my appetite.’
    To my dismay, he walks out of the kitchen. I hear his footsteps on the stairs and then over my head as he goes into our bedroom and shuts the door. I switch off the hob warming the peppercorn sauce and go after him.
    ‘Lukas,’ I say gently, walking into the room. He’s lying on the bed with his arms folded over his face. I sit down next to him and put my hand on his stomach. He flinches under my touch.
    ‘Do you still love him?’ he asks in a muffled voice.
    ‘I don’t even know who he is anymore,’ I answer truthfully.
    He takes his arms away from his face and looks at me. ‘You’re avoiding the question.’
    ‘Of course I don’t love him,’ I snap. ‘I knew him years ago. We were eighteen! I don’t know anything about him now.’
    ‘Do your parents know who he is?’
    ‘No. Well, I doubt it. I’m sure they would have mentioned it if they recognised him.’
    ‘Don’t tell them,’ he says fervently. ‘I don’t want anyone else to know.’ He stares at the ceiling. ‘I want to have children,’ he says in a low, determined voice.
    I look away from him. ‘We will.’
    ‘I want to have children now .’
    ‘Is this about Rosalinde?’ I can’t help but ask.
    He closes his eyes with frustration, but doesn’t deny it. I take my hand away from his stomach and he sits up on the bed. ‘Why won’t you have children with me?’
    ‘Jesus, Lukas, I’m only twenty-six!’
    ‘Age is your excuse for everything! Twenty-six is a perfectly reasonable age to start a family.’
    ‘Yes, but I want to have a career first.’
    ‘You’re a teacher .’
    ‘What the hell is that supposed to mean?’ I ask coldly as anger builds inside me.
    ‘Nothing,’ he replies quickly. ‘You can always go back to teaching.’
    ‘Do you still love Rosalinde?’ I ask out of the blue.
    He gets down from the bed and gives me a hard stare. ‘Now you’re being ridiculous.’
    ‘When was the last time you saw her?’
    His silence is unnerving.
    ‘Lukas?’ I prompt with worry mounting inside me.
    He goes to his wardrobe and opens it, placing his