Chapter 9
AMBER
To my surprise, Willow has joined Dominic, Simone and Victoria on the terrace, her pale face animated as she tells Dom about her decision to take a gap year after her A-levels to volunteer in the Borneo rainforest.
‘I’ll be based at a sanctuary where they rehabilitate orangutans. Look.’ She taps away at her phone and hands it to Dom.
‘How are you getting there?’ Simone asks innocently.
‘Well, I’m flying, obviously.’
‘But what about the planet? I thought you said a single long-haul flight was as bad for the ozone as a year’s worth of driving?’
Willow tuts. ‘The difference, stepmother dearest, is that boomers like you are abusing air travel for your own short-term gratification, whereas I’ll be supporting the long-term survival of one of the planet’s most iconic species that’s currently at risk of extinction.’
‘You tell her, petal,’ Felix says, settling a tray with six whisky glasses and a decanter on the low table between the two rattan sofas. Barney swipes a glass and drains it with a grimace, before holding it out for a refill.
Victoria frowns. ‘I think you’ve had enough, don’t you?’
‘Give the poor man a break. He’s on holiday.’ Felix splashes a generous measure into Barney’s glass.
‘You don’t have to lie awake next to him while he’s snoring his head off, pissed as a fart,’ Victoria snaps. She gives her husband a filthy look but he’s too busy staring moodily into his glass to notice.
Dom claps his hands together, keen to halt the bickering before it escalates into a full-blown domestic. ‘Anyone for a game of poker, for old times’ sake?’
Simone sits up, instantly energised. ‘You bet.’
‘I’m in,’ Felix says, his elbows on his knees.
‘Me too.’ Barney fumbles in his back pocket for his wallet and slaps it on the table. Felix’s eyes light up.
‘Playing for cash, are we?’
‘Absolutely not,’ Victoria says firmly. ‘We’ll play with matches, like we did at uni.’
‘Matches?’ Felix scoffs. ‘Where’s the fun in that?’
Victoria is adamant. ‘Matches or nothing.’
Dominic tips the cards out of the pack and begins to shuffle.
Simone disappears into the kitchen, returning moments later with a large box of matches.
She shakes them onto the table and divides them into little piles.
‘Fifteen each. Winner takes all.’ A smile plays on her lips. ‘Loser downs a shot of whisky.’
Felix whoops. Victoria tuts but doesn’t argue. Barney slumps in his seat. Dominic starts dealing. When he reaches me I lay a hand on his arm.
‘Not for me.’
‘What?’
‘I’ve never played poker.’
‘Never played poker?’ Felix says in disbelief.
I shrug. The only card game I’ve ever played is Happy Families with Gran when I was little.
I used to love collecting the sets of woodland badgers, robins and squirrels in cute Victorian outfits.
Mr, Mrs, Master and Miss. It was all so neat and perfect, nothing like my splintered family.
How I yearned to be Miss Rabbit, dancing in her pretty dress, a bunch of flowers at her feet, with a mum and a dad and a brother who loved her.
‘You’ll be fine,’ Dom says. ‘It’s easy. I’ll give you a quick crash course.
It’s not proper poker, just the way we used to play it at uni.
Everyone’s dealt two cards. The aim is to put down the best hand you can, like a pair, three of a kind or, if you’re lucky, a straight. That’s five cards in order.’
‘I thought you said we only got two cards.’
‘You can take cards from the pile in the middle. We play with a maximum of five. If you don’t like what you’ve got, you can always fold and sit the round out.
The player with the best hand wins the pot.
’ Seeing my expression, he says, ‘We’ll play a practice round first. You’ll soon see what I mean. ’
He continues dealing and I pick up my two cards. Two Jacks, one hearts, the other clubs. The Jack of Diamonds grins up at me from the pile on the table.
‘You go first,’ Dom tells me.
I shrug again, feigning nonchalance, and pick up the Jack. ‘Um, stick,’ I say.
Barney squints at his hand, then snatches a card from the pile. ‘Brilliant,’ he mutters, chucking it back onto the table.
Victoria plucks a card from the pile and smiles like the cat that got the cream. ‘Now we’re talking. You next, Willow.’
Willow, Felix and Simone take their cards and then it’s Dominic’s turn. He examines his card, his eyes flicking to Simone as he pulls at his earlobe. ‘Shall we show them our party trick?’
Simone’s eyes widen a fraction. ‘Reckon we still can after all this time?’
He stretches out his knuckles and grins. ‘I’m game if you are.’
‘What party trick?’ Willow demands.
‘The one where I can read Dom’s mind.’ Simone uncurls her long legs and leans forwards, her gaze fixed on my boyfriend like she can see straight into his soul.
‘They used to do it at uni,’ Victoria explains to the rest of us. ‘People would bet money they couldn’t guess which card the other was holding.’
‘But we always did,’ Simone gloats.
‘Yep. Our winnings paid for many a pint in the student union bar,’ Dom agrees. He looks around, his handsome face suddenly boyish. ‘Who’s in?’
‘I bet all my matches it’s bullshit.’ Felix drops his matches in the middle of the table, as does Willow. Barney shakes his head and pours himself another finger of whisky. Simone’s gaze turns to me.
‘Well, Amber? What do you think? Can I read Dom’s mind?’
‘Um.’ I sweep my matches from the edge of the table into the palm of my hand.
‘No, I think you’re bluffing.’ Because they must be, mustn’t they?
Mind-reading is about as legit as clairvoyancy or summoning the recently departed.
Gran used to believe in all that superstitious claptrap.
She even used to pay a local clairvoyant money we could ill afford for readings every couple of months.
Psychic Sue didn’t tell her anything she hadn’t already gleaned from the photos on our mantelpiece or the titbits of information Gran had let slip.
Psychic Sue told Gran she had a nurturing aura and that she’d faced obstacles in her past that had tested her to breaking point.
But everyone on our estate knew I lived with her because my mum was an alkie.
Psychic Sue didn’t divulge anything useful, like that week’s winning lottery numbers or the first horse to cross the line in the Grand National.
Nor did she warn Gran she’d die in her sleep on the eve of her seventieth birthday.
‘OK, let’s do this.’ Simone holds out her hands and Dominic takes them.
They both close their eyes. It’s just showmanship, I know it is, so why is the roof of my mouth suddenly dry?
I take a sip of Coke and wait for the charade to be over.
Finally, Simone releases Dominic’s hands and they fall to his lap.
‘Queen of Spades,’ she says.
‘You sure?’ Dominic asks.
‘One hundred per cent.’
He nods, then turns his card over for us all to see. My heart beats a little faster. It’s the Queen of Spades.
Willow inhales loudly. ‘How did you do that?’
Laughing delightedly, Simone scoops up the pile of matches in the middle of the table. ‘I told you. I can read Dom’s mind.’
At this precise moment, I can too. He has the swagger of a cockerel, his chest all puffed up. He high-fives Simone. ‘You’ve still got it, babe,’ he jokes.
Simone smiles right into his eyes, then turns to the rest of us. ‘Now we’ve proved we’re on a higher astral plane than the rest of you mere mortals, shall we crack on with the game?’
Felix puts down a pair of sevens with a shake of his head. Victoria has the eight, nine and ten of clubs. Willow has two pairs. Dominic, the Queen and King of Hearts. Barney slaps his hand down in disgust. ‘Pair of fours.’
‘And I have three tens,’ Simone says, laying hers down with precision, that knowing smile never far from her face. ‘Amber?’
I’d almost forgotten the three Jacks in my hand. I lay them down and Dominic whistles.
‘I don’t believe it.’ Felix shakes his head. ‘Way to go, Amber.’
‘Are you sure you’ve never played before?’ Victoria asks. ‘Because you have the perfect poker face.’
‘Perhaps someone’s being economical with the truth.’ This from Barney, who is cradling his whisky glass as tenderly as if it were a baby bird he’d scooped up off the pavement.
‘I promise you I haven’t. It’s just beginner’s luck. I bet I don’t do nearly so well next time.’
We play again, this time for real. Simone takes over the dealing, flicking out cards with the speed and skill of a glamorous croupier in a Bond movie.
Felix perches on the edge of his seat, a predator scenting blood.
Victoria affects an air of indifference, but her eyes are sharp and calculating.
Willow scrolls through her phone, only half an eye on the game.
Barney is on a losing streak.
‘Fuck’s sake, have you shuffled these cards at all?’ he gripes, as he gazes moodily at his latest hand.
‘Don’t blame the dealer.’ Felix lays a four-card flush on the table and rakes in the matchsticks cheerfully. ‘A bad workman never blames his tools. Have you ever considered the possibility that you’re just a bit shit?’
Barney’s face darkens and the air on the terrace seems to shift from convivial to hostile in the blink of an eye.
‘Don’t worry. Your luck’s bound to change soon,’ Dominic soothes, ever the peacemaker.
‘You think?’
The bitterness in Barney’s voice is jarring, but the others seem to take it in their stride and carry on playing.
Maybe he’s one of those angry drunks who morph from Jekyll into Hyde after a few too many whiskies.
And he’s certainly hitting the bottle tonight.
His eyes are glassy and there’s a slight tremor in his right hand when he lifts his glass to his lips.
‘Tell me, Felix, how does it feel?’
‘How does what feel, mate?’ Felix says with equanimity.
‘Don’t fucking patronise me, you wanker.
’ Barney’s expression turns sly and I’m instantly on my guard.
I’ve seen enough drunks at close quarters to know when they’re about to pull out the pin on a verbal hand grenade.
‘How does it feel, seeing your wife and her ex mooning over each other like Romeo and fucking Juliet, right in front of your nose?’
It takes a second for his words to sink in.
At first, I’m confused. I didn’t know Barney and Simone had a fling at university.
I couldn’t imagine them together if they were the last people on earth.
Him, short and angry. Her, elegant and self-contained.
And then I notice Dominic’s face. It has drained of all colour and he is blinking rapidly.
‘Barney!’ Victoria hisses.
Barney turns to her, the picture of innocence. ‘Whasthematter? Didn’t Amber know Simone and her boyfriend were the original star-crossed lovers?’
His words hang in the warm night air. Somewhere far below the villa, waves wash onto rocks with a monotony that would be calming if everything I thought I knew hadn’t just been upended.
I can feel the heat of everyone’s gaze on me as they wait for a reaction. I place my glass of Coke carefully on the table next to the whisky decanter.
‘Of course I knew. It’s common knowledge, isn’t it?’ I smile a tight smile. ‘D’you know what, I think I might head to bed. I’m absolutely shattered. Thank you for dinner, Simone. It was delicious.’
I’m halfway to the kitchen when I hear the scrape of a chair and Dominic calls after me.
‘Amber, wait!’
But I need time to process Barney’s revelation, so pretend I haven’t heard him. Shoulders stiff, I force myself to keep walking, one foot in front of the other, until I’m out of sight, one thought spiralling in my head.
Why didn’t he tell me?