Page 107 of The First Mistake

‘I can’t even begin to get my head around this,’ cries Alice. ‘How could you? How could you do this to me,again?’

‘I’m not having an affair with him, Alice,’ says Beth, pulling herself up, suddenly seeming more in control. ‘You’ve got this all wrong.’

‘Have I?’ snaps Alice. ‘What other possible explanation can there be?’

The two women stare at each other through the pouring rain.

‘Get in the car,’ says Beth eventually. ‘We need to talk.’

‘I knew it!’ cries Alice, chastising herself as she gets into the passenger seat of Beth’s car. ‘I knew something wasn’t right yesterday – as soon as Nathan saw you. It was so obvious, but I didn’t want to believe it –refusedto believe it. Anyone but you, Beth. Why? Why would you do this to me? First Tom and now Nathan.’

Beth turns to look at Alice. ‘I’mnotsleeping with Nathan.’

Alice takes her phone and pulls up the number of the mystery text sent to her husband. Beth’s face freezes as a ringtone emanates from her handbag on the back seat. Alice shakes her head and reaches for the door handle.

‘Wait!’ Beth calls out as she stretches across to pull the door to.

‘I’ve heard all I need to hear,’ says Alice.

‘You haven’t heard the half of it,’ hisses Beth.

Alice, sensing a shift in atmosphere, falls resignedly back onto the seat. ‘Are you in love with him?’ she asks.

‘I was once, yes,’ admits Beth. ‘But that was a long time ago.’

Alice turns, her eyes wide. ‘How long has this been going on?’ she asks incredulously.

‘Years,’ says Beth. ‘Long before I metyou.’

Alice feels like her brain might explode, unable to compute what she’s being told. She can’t even form the words if she wanted to.

‘You look surprised,’ says Beth coldly.

‘This ... this has been going on all this time and you knew Nathan was my husband all along?’

‘Yes,’ says Beth. ‘But in my defence, this started way before you two got together. I met Nathan before you did.’

‘What?’ gasps Alice. ‘How is that even possible?’

‘Because he’s notyourNathan,’ says Beth calmly. ‘He’smyThomas.’

43

‘What the hell are you talking about?’ Alice shouts, her indignation spilling out.

‘Well it turns out that things aren’t quite what they seem,’ says Beth, her tone acerbic. ‘I met and fell in love with a man I knew as Thomas Evans some ten years ago.’

Despite having thought she’d built a barrier, to immunize herself against the hurt that knowledge caused, Alice still feels a pain slice across her chest. She wants to close her ears off to what Beth is saying, but yet she wants to know –hasto know.

‘We were really happy,’ Beth goes on. ‘I was completely in love with him and thought we’d be together forever. But then I saw him with you ...’

‘Yousawus together?’ says Alice, in barely more than a whisper. ‘So you knew who I was. You’ve known all this time that I was Tom’swife.’

‘Well, you see, that’s where it starts to get interesting.’

Alice numbly shakes her head, no longer listening to what Beth’s saying. ‘You’ve knownallthis time that I was Tom’s wife. You’ve sat and let me talk about him, held me when I’ve cried about him, all the while knowing that you had an affair with him. Had achildwith him.’ Her shoulders convulse as a sob catches in her throat. ‘Why would youdothat?’

‘It wasn’t like that,’ says Beth, her voice softer. ‘The man I knew as Thomas Evans left me for you.’

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