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‘Just a seltzer for me, thanks.’

She smiled and walked to the bar. She ordered a gin and tonic for herself and a beer for Ryan, although in her view he had already had plenty. Susie, the daughter of one of their neighbours, began to prepare the drinks.

She felt a hand on her elbow and turned to her left. She was surprised to see it was Trent. His hair was pulled back in a ponytail and he was wearing a tight, black T-shirt that showed off his muscular arms and chest.

‘Hi,’ he said. ‘How are you?’

‘Good. I didn’t expect to see you here.’

‘I saw it was happening and decided it would be a good way to meet people.’

He was standing a little too close to her; she had the uncomfortable feeling he was hitting on her.

Which was ridiculous. He was married, and knew she was.

‘Is your wife here?’ she said. ‘I’d like to meet her.’

He shook his head.

‘She’s home with our daughter. We couldn’t find a babysitter. We don’t have contacts in the town yet.’

‘I guess not.’

‘Maybe your daughter could do it?’

Mary hated the assumption that it was Sally and not Otis who was a potential babysitter.

‘Or my son,’ she said. ‘In fact, if you knew my daughter you’d think twice about hiring her to look after your child.’

‘You’re doing her out of a job,’ Trent said.

Good, Mary thought. Because I also don’t like the idea of her being around you.

‘Have you had a good summer?’ Trent said.

It was an awkward, forced question. One usually asked of a friend, and not a new acquaintance.

‘Oh, you know,’ she said. ‘The usual. A few trips. Some hiking.’

Susie put the drinks on the bar. ‘There you go, Mary. Your drink. And Ryan’s, too. Abbie took Rona her seltzer.’

Mary grabbed the glasses. ‘Thanks, Suze.’ She nodded at Trent. ‘I’ll take this to Ryan. See you around.’

‘Yes,’ he said. ‘You will.’

She turned to him. ‘What do you mean?’

He stepped back. ‘Nothing. We’re neighbours, that’s all.’ He shrugged. ‘We’ll see each other. It’ll be hard not to.’

Carl Langton

Mary left Trent, sure he was staring at her, but unwilling to turn and look at him, unwilling to give him the satisfaction of knowing she was wondering what he was doing, and walked over to Ryan. As she did there was the sound of someone tapping on a glass. The room fell silent and the library president stepped forward.

‘Thank you,’ she said. ‘Thank you to everyone for coming, and for your donations, and for your work in raising the capital that has built this magnificent annexe. It will serve the people of Barrow for decades to come, and I can’t express the gratitude of the board – or my own personal gratitude – strongly enough. I won’t keep you long, I can see many of you are taking the opportunity to explore the annexe and catch up with friends and community members, but there is one person I would like to especially thank.’ She paused, and looked out over the assembled guests. ‘He’s here. Well, he didn’t want a lot of fuss made, but he did agree to let me mention what he did for the campaign to raise the funds for this annexe.’

She gave a broad grin.

‘We had a major donor,’ she said. ‘Who contributed a very considerable sum.’ There was a murmur in the room. ‘He was born and raised here in Barrow, and recently moved back.’ She clasped her hands together. ‘Please,’ she said. ‘A special thank you to Carl Langton.’