Close Call Read Free

near her new front door and made sure the handbrake was firmly on before she undid her seat belt. Then she slid from the car, gathered the various plastic bags containing her purchases, and turned towards the entrance to her house.
    Only when she was almost there did she call a cheerful ‘Good evening!’ to acknowledge the attention of her new neighbours.
    It was Ron Lennox who responded. ‘Have you got a minute, Mrs Holt?’ he said. It sounded a stiff form of greeting, but he was not sure what the correct address was for a newly divorced woman. And Lisa made him a little nervous in any case, as an older man; Ron found his mind leaping back over half a century, to the days when his father had taught him to raise his cap automatically to any adult female. Indeed, his hand moved a little towards his thinly-covered pate, then, as if it were disconcerted to find no hat there, dropped foolishly back to his side.
    Lisa came back down the drive and stood at her own gate, only a few yards from the rest of them. They all stood close together but carefully just inside their own boundaries, as if these demarcation lines were a protection against an intimacy which might be embarrassing, either to them or to the people they addressed.
    It is an odd relationship, that of neighbours; you are not automatically friends, but you certainly cannot remain strangers. Lisa Holt was more determined than any of them to preserve the barriers, until she decided just how far she wanted to venture out beyond them. She forced a smile, tried not to sound too brusque and dismissive as she said, ‘You look almost like some sort of committee waiting for me. What was it that you wanted?’
    Phil Smart looked appreciatively at her dark-blue trousers and her red kitten-heeled shoes and decided this was a moment for gallantry. ‘Only your excellent presence, Lisa. A presence which would of course grace any occasion, formal or informal.’
    â€˜We were just discussing some sort of gathering to mark our arrivals here,’ said his wife hastily. ‘We thought something quite informal. And we might even manage something outdoors, at this time of year. Rosemary has just put up the idea of a street party.’ Carol’s nervousness made her speak a little too quickly, so that the information came tumbling out like a collapsing house of cards.
    â€˜It was only a suggestion,’ said Rosemary Lennox. ‘I just thought that with all the trials of moving in, none of us wants to be making formal meals yet.’ Or inviting any of these relative strangers into our houses for dinner parties, she thought. Let’s keep it all outdoors and informal, so that we can all of us back away from anything closer if we choose to; there’s at least one person whom I shan’t be inviting round for dinner.
    â€˜A gathering like that sounds a good idea to me. It could be quite a lot of fun, if we get the right weather!’ said Lisa Holt. There was a collective but silent sigh of relief, and the other women wondered why it seemed that it was Lisa who was being asked to give final approval to their suggestions.
    â€˜Robin has already offered to get us booze at a discount,’ said Phil Smart. ‘And his lovely wife has already offered to rustle up one of her splendid cheesecakes for us.’
    Carol Smart threw her husband a look which was neither loving nor domestic, and Rosemary Lennox said hastily, ‘We could discuss that nearer the time. I’m sure we could all provide some simple food. It’s just a matter of co-ordinating what we do, so that we don’t duplicate each other’s efforts.’
    â€˜In about a fortnight, we thought,’ said Robin Durkin. No one had suggested a time, so he thought he’d nip in and secure a Saturday which was convenient for him. He was often busy on Saturdays, with activities which he couldn’t discuss with anyone here. ‘And of course, we wouldn’t