Chapter 22
I can’t sleep a wink after that. I’m losing my mind. I need my head examined. I was dreaming, that’s all. I’ve become paranoid on top of everything else.
Of course she’s not Max’s lover. Just because she said, ‘That doesn’t sound like Max,’ doesn’t mean she knows him.
She said it herself. It’s the way I’ve been talking about him.
But then she’s asked so many questions: How long ago were we married?
Why did we move to Brookford? Why did we even marry in the first place?
She was particularly interested in the affair, stressing that it wasn’t his fault, and then telling me that I had to let him go, that I had to let both of them go, because it wasn’t fair on Max.
I’m going mad. I don’t know what’s happening anymore.
But I know this much. She has to leave. Because, let’s face it, I don’t know this woman at all.
Holly is in her bedroom getting ready for school when I open her door. ‘Do you want some eggs?’ I ask.
‘No thanks – just some muesli. I’ll get it myself.’
‘All right.’
Downstairs, I find Teri standing at the kitchen worktop fiddling with the knobs on the coffee machine.
She turns around at my approach, smiling sweetly. ‘Oh, hi! How are you feeling, Kate?’
She looks fresh as a daisy. Whereas judging by my reflection in the microwave door, I look like I’ve aged a hundred years.
‘Did you sleep better after all that last night? You poor thing. That must have been one hell of a nightmare.’
I’m so tired I can barely speak. ‘Yes, fine, and you?’ She hands me a coffee.
‘I slept like a baby. Black, one sugar, right?’
I stare at the mug in her hand, vaguely wondering if she might have poisoned it.
I’m losing my mind.
‘You seem better this morning,’ I say, looking down at her ankle.
‘Yes, I am actually.’ She follows my gaze. ‘Still a bit sore, a bit sensitive, but much, much better.’ She turns back to the machine and makes another coffee.
‘Great,’ I say, cradling the mug in both hands. ‘So…I guess you can go home.’
She turns around, still smiling. ‘Wow, you really want me to go home, don’t you?’
What is it with this woman? Why does she seem so surprised every time I raise the topic?
Then it occurs to me that she hasn’t paid for a single thing the whole time she’s been here.
Of course, she hasn’t been out, not once, that I know of anyway, but she hasn’t offered to contribute to anything.
Not even the wine she seems to enjoy so much.
Meanwhile, she helps herself to my things; and she’s done it for a while, I realise now, remembering the red top in her bedroom.
I bought a new hairbrush the other day, and I couldn’t find it, until I saw it in the guest bathroom, except it was no longer new.
It had her hair all over it. At the time I thought I must have left it there, but now I know.
She just helps herself to my things when I’m not here.
And then I pick up her towels from the bathroom floor, which I let pass. She does cook, so there is that.
‘Well, it’s not that I want you to go home,’ I lie. ‘Only that there’s no reason for you to stay if your foot’s so much better. You’re probably itching to get back to your own space.’
Something flashes in her eyes. It makes a sudden shiver travel down my spine.
‘Of course,’ she says breezily, her face back to normal. ‘You’re absolutely right. There’s no reason for me to stay here any longer. And let’s face it, you wouldn’t want Max to find me here when he gets back.’
A shudder travels through me.
‘Morning!’
Holly walks in, hair still damp from the shower. She opens the fridge door and pulls out the bottle of milk.
‘Good morning, sweetie,’ Teri says. ‘How did you sleep?’
‘Okay.’
‘Kate had a terrible nightmare. Did she tell you? She didn’t wake you, did she?’
Holly looks at me. ‘Are you okay?’
‘Yes, absolutely fine. Just a nightmare, like Teri said.’
‘By the way, I’m going home today,’ Teri says, touching Holly’s hair.
I wish she wouldn’t do that, all this touching and calling her sweet names.
‘That’s a shame,’ Holly says.
Teri laughs and messes up her hair. ‘You’re the sweetest, you know that?’ She puts her arm around Holly’s neck and pulls her close, giving her a hug.
I am fully gritting my teeth.
‘How is your ankle?’ Holly asks, pulling a bowl from the top cupboard.
‘Much better, thank you. A bit tender, but all good. And as I was about to say to Kate, at some point, once my house is set up, you guys, and Max of course…’ She turns to me. ‘Sorry, it is Max, isn’t it?’
It’s her. I know it. I’m sure of it. Now she’s messing with my head. I tilt my head at her. ‘Yes, that’s right, Max.’
‘Right, so you two and Max can come over for dinner. And you can come over any time,’ she says to Holly. ‘Especially if you need help with your schoolwork.’
‘Thanks, Teri. Yesterday was awesome.’
‘I’m glad.’ She does that thing again, messing Holly’s hair. If I did that to her, she’d swat my hand away. Teri puts her cup in the sink. ‘I’m just going to get my things from the bedroom and I’ll be out of your hair.’
‘And I’m going to get ready for work,’ I say, putting both our cups in the dishwasher.
‘Actually, Kate, could I ask you a massive favour?’ Teri says.
My stomach drops. I force a smile. ‘If I can help. What is it?’
‘Could you drive me to Tesco? There isn’t a scrap of food in my house, and with my ankle, I don’t feel confident driving just yet.’
‘I would, but…’ I glance at the clock on the wall. ‘I’ve got to go to work.’
‘I didn’t mean right now, but would you have time later today? Like lunchtime maybe?’
‘Lunchtime? I’ve only got forty-five minutes break, so—’
‘That would be plenty. It won’t take long, I promise. I just don’t want to spend all day at home without eating.’
‘You could stay here if you like,’ Holly says. ‘Go home tomorrow.’ She turns to me, eyebrows raised, as if to say, ‘What difference would it make?’
Big, big difference actually.
Teri opens her mouth to speak, her face clearly delighted by the suggestion. I jump in.
‘No, no need. That should be fine. I could pick you up at twelve fifteen?’
‘Great!’ she says. ‘Thank you so much, Kate. I’ll get my things. I’ll just be a sec.’
In my bedroom, I pull the shoebox out from under my bed and shove it in my holdall. I know Teri won’t be here anymore, but I’m not taking any chances.