Jam, continued

I asked the milk/sugar question. Yes to both; two spoons. I handed her a steaming mug. "Oh, I love the smell of coffee, don't you?" she said.

I smiled and nodded.

She looked around the kitchen. "This is a lovely house. Have you been in it long?"

"Oh, thank you. Yes, quite a while, I suppose. Just over three years. We haven't..."

"Oh my goodnes, that DOES make me feel ancient! You're calling three years a long time? I won't tell you how long Simon and I have lived over the road!"

"Why, how long have you lived there?"

She shook her head and looked away, as though embarrassed. "Twenty-three years last October!"

My mouth opened in surprise. "Oh my God! I don't know anyone who's lived in the same place that long! You must be really happy there, though."

She sighed and took a sip of her drink. "Yes, I suppose we are. But it's not just that. We couldn't possibly bear to move anywhere else, not even if we wanted to. We did talk about it once, but..." she began laughing again, "that was about fifteen years ago!"

"Oh, right!"

"No, we do like it here, really. I mustn't sound ungrateful. I think travelling and seeing the world and living in all sorts of different places must be wonderful - and there have been times when I've wondered what my life would've been like if I'd been less of a home body - but I think there's also a lot to be said for staying in one place for a good long while and really getting to know it."

"Absolutely."

"Travelling doesn't have to mean covering great distances, does it? At least not geographically."

I wasn't sure where this conversation was going. I found myself wondering why I'd invited this woman in, why I'd offered to make her a coffee, why she felt it was all right to come round to my house. "No," I said, dragging the word out.

"Have you done much travelling?" she asked.

"Me?" And why should I tell you if I have or I haven't, I thought. "Umm... no, not really. Just the usual. You know, skiing trips to France, beach holidays in Portugal."

"Portugal sounds lovely. The skiing's not my cup of tea, though. I prefer to leave that sort of thing to people less allergic to physical activity than I am."

Again, I couldn't help laughing briefly. "It's not as difficult as people make out, you know."

"Oh, no, no, I'm sure it isn't. But... well, each to their own."

There were a few moments of silence.

"Do you have any special plans for today?" she asked.

"Umm... no, not really. I just need to take care of a few things here and there. You know, a bit of cleaning. All that kind of thing."

"But the place is spotless. I wish my house were as clean as this."

"I seem to remember it being very clean when I saw it."

"That's because you only saw the porch!" She laughed again. "I make the most public areas as tidy as possible... but it's probably accurate to say that the cleanliness of each part of my house is inversely proportional to how frequently it's seen by friends and guests... and neighbours."

I had another sip of my chocolate. It was quite cold and tasteless by now. "Well, I'm sure that applies to everybody, doesn't it?"

"Yes, yes, I suppose so."

From where I was sitting, I managed to look into her mug without her realising. I saw she'd almost finished her drink. "Well, you really needn't have brought us the jam," I said, "but I know Martin will appreciate it very much. And I'm sure he'll enjoy trying it."

She looked alarmed for a fraction of a second. She placed her mug back on the table and stood up. "No, you really mustn't keep thanking me. It's a pleasure." She began walking towards the door. "And I'm really sorry to have barged in on you."

I smiled and followed her into the hall.

When I opened the front door, she turned to me and whispered. "You know... the reason why yo came to see me and my husband the other night? Do you... do you still hear the noises?"

I looked into her eyes, and although I saw nothing that should have given me cause for suspicion, I decided all I wanted at that moment was for her to leave my house. So I lied. "No. We haven't heard them for ages. In fact, we're pretty certain we must have imagined them. It was probably a fox or something, like you said."

She nodded and looked right into my eyes for a few moments. "Oh, right." She turned away and stepped outside. "Well, thanks very much for the coffee. You know you're more than welcome to pop in again for a drink and chat."

"Thank you." I began shutting the door. "And thanks again for the jam. Bye now."

"Bye bye."

And I shut the door, perhaps more firmly than I should have.