Rosalyn started and after letting out one last shuddery cry, she fell quiet and looked dazedly about her as though suddenly aware of her surroundings and the lethally sharp glass on the carpet.
‘Come with me,’ Cassie said, and like a docile child now, Rosalyn allowed herself to be led out of her bedroom, along the hallway and back to the kitchen.
Cassie settled her on a stool and sat on the other side of the island, the better to be able to observe Rosalyn. She had no intention of apologising for what she’d said earlier, even if it was what had tipped Rosalyn over the edge, and so she waited for the other woman to speak.
A lengthy silence ensued and perceiving a battle of wills was in play, Cassie waited some more, her gaze never leaving Rosalyn’s face.
Eventually Rosalyn gave in. ‘I’m sorry for all the drama.’
Drama,thought Cassie, was that what it had been? ‘Was it something I said,’ she enquired, somewhat ingenuously, ‘that triggered thedrama?’
Rosalyn nodded and pursed her lips. Well, as pursed as they could be, given how plumped they were with filler.Bad Cassie!Cassie chided herself.Not the time for petty judgeyness!
‘I lost it because I’m afraid it’s true,’ Rosalyn murmured.
‘What’s true?’
Rosalyn now met Cassie’s stare with one as equally direct. ‘Drew was often much too hard on Finlay and punished him in ways he never should have. So there’s every chance that he has caused behavioural problems in our son.’
‘Why didn’t you stop Drew?’
Rosalyn blinked. ‘I was too scared to do that. I know I should have but if I ever disagreed with Drew, it only made things worse. It was stress at work that made him do what he did. He was always worried about money. About providing for us as a family in the way he wanted.’
‘I’m sorry,’ said Cassie, ‘but that’s really not much of an excuse.’
‘Maybe not. But that was how it was. My job was to keep the peace. To keep our lives running as smoothly as possible.’
‘What happened if you didn’t?’
Her hands fiddled with the cuff of her right sleeve. ‘Then he’d be angry and take it out on me,’ she murmured. ‘He would always say sorry afterwards and then everything would be okay for a while.’
‘Until the next time?’ asked Cassie.
Rosalyn nodded.
‘Are you saying he hurt you physically?’
‘Only when he was very angry.’
‘Why the hell did you stay with him?’
Rosalyn looked at her as though Cassie had just asked the stupidest of questions. ‘Because I loved him. Just as you did.’
Cassie was taken aback at that. She had loved Drew, of course she had, but would she have turned herself into a doormat, or worse, a punchbag, just to keep him? It was a sickening thought, and she knew she had no moral high ground on which to stand, not when she had put up with Drew cheating on her. How manytimes had he promised he’d never do it again, that she was the only one he loved?
Why were women so weak when it came to a certain type of man? It was a question she imagined Emily, with all her youthful black and white certainty, would ask.
As though picking up on her thoughts about Emily, Rosalyn said, ‘Drew behaved better when Emily came to visit us. It was like he was presenting his best self when she was around. Only once or twice did the mask slip, but never in front of her. It was why I grew to be so fond of her so quickly. Life was simply better with Emily in our lives. Particularly mine. It still is.’ She fiddled with the cuff on her left sleeve now. Then: ‘I thought with Drew gone, Finlay and I could make a fresh start, but everything’s changed now after what happened to your neighbour’s dog. I’m sick with worry about Finlay, that Drew taught him to be just like him; an abusive monster.’
‘It needn’t,’ said Cassie. ‘You can undo the harm if you seek help for your son.’
‘The thing is; this isn’t the first time something unpleasant has happened. There was an incident at nursery not so long ago.’
‘Such as?’
Rosalyn shook her head. ‘I’d rather not say. Are you going to tell your neighbour what Finlay told you?’
‘I’m not sure it would be of any benefit to Venetia to know something so awful.’
