Mara's bag was too heavy for one person.
She had said it would be one bag, and it was. She had simply put everything she could fit inside it. On Monday evening, when Tess came to help carry it, the zip bulged and the handle had folded under itself. By now Mara and Ben should have come home from the small ceremony.
“You need another bag,” Tess said.
“I don't want another trip.”
“Two bags would still be one trip.”
Mara looked down at the zip. “I know.”
Tess knelt and lifted the handle clear. There were clothes inside, a book with a bent cover, a little box she didn't recognise. She didn't ask where everything else would go. Mara had arranged somewhere to stay for a while. Today was only this.
Ben was in the kitchen, still in his work clothes. When Tess went in, he was washing an empty food container.
“Hi,” he said.
“Hi.”
The room looked nearly normal. No table plans, no place cards. A plate was drying beside the sink. One of Mara's aprons hung from its hook.
Tess almost asked what they were eating tonight. The question stopped before it reached her mouth.
Mara came in and opened the fridge.
“Can I take some of the jam?” she asked.
Ben turned off the tap. “Take it.”
“You like it too.”
“There's another one somewhere.”
“No. This is the last.”
It was the cherry jam they both bought when they found it cheaply. Tess had eaten it here on toast. Ben liked the smooth part; Mara dug out the whole cherries and left him the rest.
Mara held up the jar. “You've got mostly—”
She stopped.
Ben looked at the jar, then at her. He had been about to answer. Tess could see his mouth change as he decided not to.
Mara set it on the counter.
“I'll put half in that,” she said, pointing at the container.
“It doesn't matter.”
“I know. I'll do it anyway.”
She took a spoon from the drawer. Ben dried the container and held it steady while she scraped the jam into it. A cherry slipped over the edge. He caught it with one finger and pushed it back.
Mara laughed once, very softly.
Ben didn't. His face had gone tight.
She screwed the jar lid on. He pressed the lid onto the container and wiped the rim with the cloth.
Tess stood beside the table with nothing to do.
On the shelf above the counter the blue eggcup was empty. Mara hadn't put it away. Tess looked at it, then at the apron.
“I'll carry the heavy end,” she said.
Mara nodded. She took the jar and put it in a cloth bag by the door.
They got the large bag upright together. Ben came into the hall and watched while they tested the handles.
“I can take it down,” he said.
Mara shook her head.
“We've got it.”
He stepped back. Tess wasn't sure whether that had hurt him or helped him. Perhaps Mara didn't know either.
At the door Ben handed Mara a small envelope. The ring made a round bump beneath the paper.
She looked at it, then at his face.
“You don't have to look now,” he said.
Mara put it in the cloth bag beside the jam. Tess knew what was in it without seeing. She didn't say anything.
Ben held the door open while they moved the big bag through. Mara stopped on the landing.
“I'll message when we're there.”
He nodded. “All right.”
Neither of them said goodbye immediately. Tess held the bag handle, waiting, feeling the weight pull against her fingers.
Then Mara said it, quietly.
Ben answered and closed the door.
They took the stairs slowly. Once the bag hit a step and Tess lost her grip. Mara caught the side before it slid.
“Put it down,” Tess said.
They did. On the narrow landing they stood facing each other, breathing hard.
Mara looked at Tess's red fingers.
“I'm sorry.”
Tess looked down at the bag.
“Not just this,” Mara said. “You and Ben went to the river. I could have stopped you before you left.”
Tess lifted her eyes.
“I knew it was in the tin,” Mara said. “I let you go anyway. You taking it didn't make that all right.”
Tess rubbed the red groove across her fingers. She couldn't think of an answer she wanted to give.
“It needs two bags,” she said.
Mara nodded.
They carried it the rest of the way. Outside, the waiting car's boot was open. Tess helped lift it in, then handed Mara the cloth bag.
“Thank you for coming,” Mara said.
Tess nodded. She could leave now. She had done what she'd said she would do.
Mara stayed beside the boot.
“I miss you,” she said.
Tess looked at her. Mara's face was bare of makeup, her hair pinned badly at the back. Tess had fixed it for her dozens of times. Today she kept her hands at her sides.
“I miss you too,” she said.
Mara's eyes filled. For a moment Tess wanted to put her arms around her and let that be enough.
Instead she stepped forward and kissed her cheek, briefly. Mara held herself still, as if moving might ask for more.
Tess drew back.
“Get there,” she said. “Before you have to move it all again.”
Mara gave a small, uneven smile.
Tess shut the boot. She watched Mara get in, then turned toward her bus stop before the car pulled away.