‘Morgan.’
‘I hate it here,’ she yells as she stands in the doorway.
My hands shake even more now. First the letters, now our daughter is in trouble at school. ‘We’ll talk about this later.’ Cora wriggles and cries. I can’t put her down as she’ll probably step on a nail. ‘Take your sister up, please. I’ll be up in a minute.’
She folds her arms. ‘I’m not your babysitter. All you do is keep dumping Cora on me. We’re stuck in hell and we don’t even have Wi-Fi yet, and you’re going off at me.’
‘Morgan, you don’t get to call the shots right now. You’re grounded, and I don’t dump Cora on you. I need to have a word with your dad in private about your behaviour, so just do as you’re told, please.’ My throat hurts from shouting.
Ethan turns the radio down. At last, I can hear the sound of my own voice.
Morgan takes her crying sister from me. I walk over to my husband and wait until we hear Morgan stomping up the stairs.
‘Apparently she pushed a boy over a chair and he hurt his arm. She said that a group of boys said something horrible about Harry earlier and then they started picking on her in the lunch queue. She was sticking up for him.’
I thought about the letter and what it said about Harry. Our daughter was being a good friend, that was all, and I shouted at her. I feel bad now but I’m still going to have to have this out with her later. I cringe as I think of the way I flipped a moment ago. Morgan is right, I am relying on her too much to help us with Cora, so organising childcare is a must.
Ethan opens his arms and I sink into his chest.
How true was that note? My mind wanders to places I’d rather it not go. I picture Ethan in Quinn’s garden, her leading him into her house. Did they gaze into each other’s eyes before she led him to her bedroom? I need some thinking space. ‘I best go up and talk to Morgan.’
‘Okay, love. Don’t give her too much of a hard time. I spoke to the head. The head knows that the boys bully Harry but the teacher who saw Morgan pushing one of them had to respond. They want her back tomorrow as long as she apologises. It’s nothing to worry about.’ He pauses. ‘There is some good news.’
I raise my brows.
‘There is a nursery about three miles away from here. The head gave me the details. I emailed them and they have a place. I was hoping it would be okay for us to take Cora for a look.’
I smile. Ethan leans in for a kiss. His soft lips brush mine and it’s ridiculous that I doubted him; after all, the letter to Tessa mentioned that her husband would rather get with me than her. The perpetrator is trying to turn us all against each other. Besides, I have bigger things to worry about, like the woods and Jasmine’s ghost that haunts me at every turn.
‘You look so sexy in those dungarees,’ Ethan says as he pulls me close and kisses me again.
See, my husband loves and wants me, I want to say to the nasty sender of the letters. However much I’d like to stay down here with him and see where this goes, I know I have problems upstairs to handle. Morgan will be livid and Cora will no doubt be testing her to her limits. ‘Maybe we can pick this up again later.’
‘Looking forward to it.’
He turns to collect all the rubble up. As I reach the doorway, I move the skip receipt but I can’t see the letter. I reach behind the tool box but it hasn’t fallen into that. Ethan glances back and smiles, and I try to hide my panic. The letter has gone.
Nineteen
Morgan
I hate that I get no peace at all here. Someone bursts through the apartment door. I sit up in bed and fold my arms. Mum is already walking into my room. Paw Patrol blares and Cora chuckles in the lounge, just outside my door where I could keep an eye on her.
‘Morgan, I’m sorry for going off at you like that. Dad explained what happened and I get it. You were sticking up for Harry. Only earlier today, Quinn was telling me that she was worried about him being bullied at school, but I can’t have things getting physical.’
‘That boy, James, he had me trapped, Mum. They blamed us for those letters and they were pushing me around. I was scared and I needed to get away from them. He then fell badly over a chair but he was bullying me. I wasn’t bullying him like Mr Blakely seemed to think.’
She nudges my door open wide so she can keep an eye on Cora, who we can both see is rocking in her tiny chair and clapping at something on the TV. Mum is already sitting on my bed. I can barely hear myself think because Cora’s TV programmes are always so loud and chaotic.
‘Come here, Squidge.’
Mum hugs me and it feels like it did before Cora was born, when she actually had time for me. Anxiety bubbles away inside, burning in my stomach and teasing my senses in every way that is bad. Mum’s hug is helping so I hug her back. She lets out a hiccup. She did these loud occasional hiccups when she was pregnant. Now I’m convinced. Between that, the hideous marmalade and my parents’ whisperings, it’s time to confront her.
‘Mum, are you pregnant?’
She pulls away with a startled look and nods slowly. ‘Yes.’
My shoulders drop. Cora is a lot for all of us, especially me.
