“Sorry, it’ll be a bit cramped for the three of you,” Leesa says, eyeing up the double bed. “I could see if Aoife would swap with you guys, but then you’d have to live with her dark purple walls…”
Oh. Shit.Now I have to tell her Jon isn’t coming.
“It’s just Bella and me for now. Jon is OK staying in our house; he’s only there at night after work, so…” I trail into a shrug that’s supposed to explain everything.
Leesa frowns. “Oh. Won’t he miss Bella? And if you’re worried about whoever tried to get in coming back, he’d be as well off here. Do you think it’s the same person who broke the window?”
“Yes.” That part is true. It has to be the same person.
“Which is also the person who sent the death threat, I guess? Can I read it again?”
She points at my phone, but I know it off by heart.
“ ‘You got away lightly last night. You deserve to die for that message and what it’s done.’ ”
“Nice. So, it’s either Warren losing face, Nika losing friends, Cody losing his work placement, or Celeste…losing her mind.” Leesa smiles, delighted with her play on words. “OK, on a serious note, if Jon wants to stay here, we’ll make room. He’s your husband, he’s family.”
My husband who doesn’t know I’ve moved out. God, I’d better tell him.
“I’ll think about it, and thanks a mill for everything, but you probably need to log on to work.”
She glances at her watch and hurries from the room as I hit Jon’s number on my phone.
“Hey.”
There’s that wariness.I feel sick.
“Hi. I wanted to let you know that I’m staying in Leesa’s for a bit. Something happened this morning at the house and—” I stop. I’m about to tell him the whole thing—but what if we separate? What if he wants custody? Imagine his case. My wife let our daughter get sunburnt. My wife put her out in the garden and forgot. It doesn’t sound great. And right now, apart from everything else, I don’t trust him.
“What happened?”
“I think someone tried to break in. Everything’s fine, Bella’s fine, but I don’t feel safe.”
“OK. I’ll pack some things and come over after work.”
“There isn’t room here for three of us, really. And I think once Bella’s safely out of our house, that’s the main thing. I think you’ll be fine.” Much as I hate him right now, much as I don’t trust him, the conversation makes me sad.
“Oh.”
Silence then, and there’s so much in that silence. An entire marriage. Eventually, I whisper “bye” and disconnect.
Now, there’s one more call I have to make.
79
Maeve
Thursday
Maeve is still in bed when her mum sticks her head around the door to tell her that Susan and Bella have moved in. Just like that.
Maeve likes Susan and the baby, but this is a lot on top of everything that’s going on. And—the realization dawns now—it’s going to pull her mother away from her. Her mother, who’s been trying to talk to her for days now, is going to be distracted by Susan. And even though Maeve hasn’t responded to any of her mother’s attempts to talk, she still wants her to try. One of these days, she’s going to let her sit on the bed and she’s going to collapse in her arms and feel the hug and speak the words, but now it’s too late because Susan is here. She knows she’s not being rational, but that doesn’t change a thing. Now her mother has left the room again, rebuffed by an only half-intentioned scowl, and Maeve is lying on her back, staring at the ceiling, wondering if she’ll ever get out of bed again.
Susan’s voice wafts in from the spare room next door. She’s on the phone to Jon, telling him she’s going to be staying here. Which is weird, because Maeve is almost certain she just heard Susan tell Leesa that she and Jon had agreed the plan together.
Maeve sits up in bed. What is going on with Susan and Jon?
Susan’s making another call now. Maeve doesn’t mean to eavesdrop, but her mother has left the door ajar and Susan’s speaking as though she doesn’t know there’s anyone else upstairs. She probably doesn’t.
