The Uninvited

applying for. She told me she wanted aman in her life who could be a role modelfor her son, who respected her lifestyleand her work, who was compatible withher sexually and whom she could grow tolove.‘Is that how it works?’ I asked. It wasnot what I had gleaned from popularculture and empirical observation, or fromanything Professor Whybray told me whenhis wife Helena was dying. When Iexpressed my doubts, she suggested a trialrun of three months. I didn’t ask how manyother men she had considered or why shewanted me. But she did. The trial periodworked: Kaitlin liked the way Freddy andI fitted together mentally. I did too. I felt atease around him from the start. And he feltthe same. He liked watching me make