Page 99 of The First Mistake

Alice nods numbly.

‘Well, go on then. Call it. See what happens.’

Just as Nathan had predicted, the line rings out.

‘What more do I have to do?’ he asks, his frustration evident. ‘I do everything I can to be the man you want, the man you need, but I still get it thrown back in my face. The only thing you make me feel I’m doing right is being a father. Nothing else is ever good enough for you.’

Alice wipes away the tears from her cheeks. Is she asking for too much? Expecting a fairy tale that doesn’t exist?

‘Look, I understand how it must look right now,’ Nathan goes on, ‘and if I’d known you’d seen the text then I would have explained sooner. I don’t know what’s going on or who’s messing with me, but I promise you I’m not having an affair. You and the girls are my world.’

Alice allows Nathan to pull her into him because, despite everything, she needs to be held.

‘You need to find out who’s doing this,’ she says into his chest.

‘Don’t worry, I will,’ he says. ‘Now let’s go back into the bank and do what we came here to do.’

39

‘Okay, okay, no running,’ Alice calls out from the kitchen, as ten overexcited nine-year-olds race in from the garden and up the stairs. ‘Livvy, not upstairs please. There’s more people at the door.’

If she wasn’t out of breath from blowing up the balloons, and didn’t have twenty party bags still to fill, she’d go to the door herself. But as per usual, she’d thought she still had plenty of time, only realizing there was less than half an hour to go when Olivia danced into her bedroom in her Elsa dress.

‘Shit,’ she says out loud. ‘Nathan, can you get the lemonade in from the garage and find somewhere to hang the piñata?’

‘I’m on it.’

‘Grandma’s here!’ squeals Olivia from the hall.

Alice instantly feels calmer now that backup has arrived. ‘In the kitchen, Mum,’ she calls out.

Screaming kids whizz back past her, followed by Linda, who raises her eyebrows as if to say,Are you mad?

‘I know, I know,’ Alice says. ‘It just seemed like a good idea at the time.’

‘Right, where do you want me to start?’ asks Linda, in her typical no-nonsense way.

‘Mummy, can we do the piñata?’ Olivia calls out from the conservatory.

‘No, not just yet Livvy, you’ve still got one or two friends who aren’t here. Mum, can you just put the sausage rolls in the oven?’ Alice asks Linda, feeling her fringe sticking to her forehead. ‘And a few bowls of crisps out on the table? It’ll give them something to nibble on.’

‘Hi Linda,’ says Nathan as he comes in from the adjoining room, leaning in to kiss her on the cheek. ‘You okay?’

Alice watches her mum smile and make all the right noises, but it seems forced. As if she’s dealing with a bothersome cold caller who she’d like to tell to sod off, but feels obliged to continue listening to, at least until they’d got to the end of their script.Does she feel ‘obliged’ when speaking to Nathan?Alice wonders.Has it always been that way?

‘I’m good,’ she says. ‘What’s going on with you?’ But she’s already turned her back on him to put a baking tray into the oven.

‘We’re completing on Japan tomorrow,’ he says, going up behind Alice and wrapping his arms around her. ‘You should be very proud of your daughter. She’s going to be an international property tycoon.’

Linda laughs, but Alice is sure there’s a bitterness to it. ‘I’m always proud of my daughter, Nathan. So it’s all going ahead then?’ She directs the question at Alice.

‘Mmm, four o’clock tomorrow. I can’t decide if I feel sick with fear or excitement.’

‘It’s a big commitment,’ says Linda. ‘It’s a lot on your shoulders.’

‘I’ll be right there beside her,’ says Nathan.

Alice shrugs him off and a tense silence hangs in the air, only broken when Olivia bursts in from the conservatory, crying.

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