Page 19 of A Secret Escape

“Friendship issues are part of life. They’ll sort it out.”

“I hope you’re right.” Connie sank onto the nearest chair. “Milly didn’t eat breakfast. This is all Richard’s fault. I want to hurt him. I never thought I’d say a thing like that out loud.” Her voice shook. “I didn’t know I could feel this way, but I do.”

“If that woman he ran off with has made him turn vegetarian, he’s probably already being punished, so I wouldn’t worry too much.” Peggy chuckled. “The thought of Richard having to choke down a chickpea burger or a tofu stir-fry cheers me up.”

It didn’t cheer Connie up. “How can he be so unkind to Milly? Telling her that he’s choosing to go for a romantic dinner instead of taking his child to her drama class as planned?”

“He’s a man-child, with no sense of responsibility.”

“But it’s as if he istryingto hurt her. And why? He’s already left her. He doesn’t need to keep making it worse. What has she ever done except be loyal to him? He never used to be like this. I don’t understand what has happened to him. It’s almost as if he wants her to hate him.” She realized that her hands were shaking. “I’m scared of seeing him face-to-face because at the moment I truly want to kill him.”

Peggy stood up and patted her shoulder before clearing the table. “I know, and I understand why you would feel that way, but don’t kill him. You have your whole life ahead of you. If anyone is going to do it, I will.”

“You?” Picturing her mother as a murderer took some of the heat out of Connie’s emotions. “How? You’re going to stab him with your knitting needle? Impale him with your walking pole?”

“Maybe. I’ve always been clumsy, as you know. Or maybe it will be a car accident. My driving isn’t as good as it was, so maybe I might not see him if he happens to be crossing the road.” Peggy loaded the breakfast dishes into the dishwasher. “I haven’t decided, and when I do decide I won’t be sharing it with you, or that will make you an accomplice, and Milly and Zoe need you. I might get away with it. I’ll plead diminished capacity. If they saw me trying to remember where I parked my car in the supermarket they wouldn’t have any trouble believing it. On a bad day I don’t even have to fake confusion. And anyway, what can they do to me? Send me to prison for life? At my age I’ll croak on them before they’ve turned the key in the door.”

Connie gave a hysterical laugh. “I never thought we’d be sitting around plotting a murder.”

“I know. It’s all rather exciting. Is it too late to consider a career change, do you think? Maybe I could recruit my hiking group.” Peggy closed the dishwasher. “We could call ourselves the Wrinkled Assassins. Our calling card could be a set of false teeth.”

But this time Connie was too upset to laugh. She knew she wasn’t handling this situation well, and she also knew she had to do better, for Milly’s sake but also for her own. She reached for her phone.

“I can’t carry on like this.”

Peggy looked alarmed. “You’re not planning to confront Richard, are you? We mustn’t alert him to our animosity. It might be a good idea to make sure we both have strong alibis.”

“I’m not planning murder. I’m trying to work out the best way to handle this situation. I’m searching the internet for tips on how to stop worrying about your adult child.”

“Good luck with that.” Her mother sat down next to her, and this time her expression was serious. “You’ve been a wonderful mother to Milly, particularly over the past eighteen months, but it’s time to put other things in your life. When did you last go to choir practice?”

Connie looked at her. “The week before Richard walked out. I couldn’t commit to rehearsals in case I was needed to look after Zoe.”

“Your book club?”

“I haven’t been reading much, so there wasn’t any point in going. Also I didn’t really want people asking me about Milly.” And although the group had carried on emailing her in the beginning and sending her the book choices, those emails had tailed off.

She squirmed a little as she faced the truth. Her mother was right. In her efforts to support Milly, she had stopped doing things that she used to enjoy.

She’d let friendships dwindle because everyone else’s children seemed to be soaring through life with no problems and she’d found the conversations difficult. And it wasn’t that she wished problems on other people—far from it—but somehow hearing how smoothly everything was going for someone else’s child made her ache even more for her own.

Peggy was watching her.“You need to put something in your life that doesn’t have anything to do with Milly and Zoe. Something that’s just for you.”

Connie looked at her blankly. She was too tired and stressed to even think about herself. “What?”

“I don’t know. Yoga?”

“Yoga? Is that a joke?”

“Bad suggestion. I’d forgotten about Avery, although you could always take her class and launch an attack while she is in downward dog. Very difficult to defend yourself in that position. It really doesn’t matter what you do. Learn to pole dance. Take up skydiving. Anything. I’m not supposed to fix your problems, remember?” Peggy patted her hand. “I’m supposed to support you while you fix them, and that’s what I’m doing.”

Maybe she should take up yoga, Connie thought, then she could show up at one of Avery’s classes and tell her exactly what she thought of her.

Chapter5Milly

Zoe settled into the passenger seat and looked at her expectantly. “How was the date? Was it fun? Did you like him? Tell me everything.”

Milly felt a stab of guilt. “Zoe—”

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