The kitchen at the end of the hall was small but they figured it out — she took the hob, he took the chopping, which she suspected was a deliberate division of labour based on some assessment he had made of her capabilities and she was not going to argue with because the division was correct.

They made something with chicken and vegetables and rice that took forty minutes and required actual coordination and she found she didn't mind the coordination.

She found she didn't mind a lot of things where he was involved that she would have minded with most people.

They ate at the counter — the two...