Page 13 of My Husband's Wife
‘A lady never tells.’
‘A lady normally tells,’ Nicole replies. ‘I’m loving living vicariously through your love life. Maybe it’s the absence of not much happening in mine at the moment.’
Christie glances my way. She doesn’t know me well enough to let me into her confidence circle. I get that so I smile and wave a dismissive hand. ‘I think Christie is entitled to her secrets,’ I say. I’m not on board with her affair but it’s her business and I don’t know her well enough to judge. She might be in a really unhappy marriage. Whatever – it’s not my business.
‘You’re right, Eva. You’re a better person than I am.’ Nicole winks at Christie.
‘Of course she is, hon.’ Christie laughs. Christie is the louder one out of all of us. Even her clothes are louder. She wears red jeans and a sparkly black jumper, and how she walks in those heels, I have no idea. Maybe I should ask them about Madison AveNew. One of them might have been there for a treatment or haircut. I show them the card. ‘Have either of you ever been here? I need to find a good hairdresser.’
Nicole grabs her glasses from her bag and takes the card from me. After reading it, she passes it to Christie. ‘I’ve never been there. I use a mobile hairdresser.’
Christie sips her drink. ‘Madison did my nails until New Year. I can’t say I knew her well but she did a great job. She was heavily pregnant if I recall and she couldn’t bear the smell of the nail varnish. Poor woman looked green throughout the duration. I haven’t been there since then. My sister has started doing nails so she does mine now. Maybe I can give you my sister’s card. I know she could do with the business.’
‘Okay, thanks,’ I say. How do I bring Madison and Theo up in another way without sounding weird? ‘Madison and her husband-to-be came to the hotel I work at to talk about their wedding.’ I shouldn’t really be discussing their personal business but I can’t help myself. I need to know more about them. ‘He seems like a nice guy.’
‘Oh him. He did come by to bring her lunch when I was there, but he never said much. She talked about him a lot, as you do when you’re trying to pass the time. She mentioned their wedding plans. She said they’d been to a wedding fair and there was a silly amount of wedding magazines on the table in the waiting area.’
‘That’s so sweet. They’re such a lovely couple and their baby is gorgeous. When they came to see me, the little one was starting to cry so he left the meeting. Madison and I saw him gently singing to the baby.’
Christie let out a long breath and grimaced.
‘That was a look and a half,’ Nicole said, a slight nervous quiver to her voice, before smiling. ‘Why so serious?’ she asked in a comedy voice. ‘Do you think there’s more? If so, spill.’
Christie playfully tilted her head to one side before continuing. ‘Something felt off about them. I tell you what, open her Facebook page. It’s her Madison does Madison AveNew – Beauty Specialists, page.’
I type in those words and wait for her page to load. The salon looks amazing, all candy colours like a fifties American diner. If my only interest in them was having beauty treatments, I’d be booking in a shot. There is photo after photo of nails and hair, before and afters, and I realise how amazing Madison is. Then I swallow. If her husband is Hugo, then Hugo is about to commit bigamy, and where does that leave me? Will I be in trouble? I take a couple of breaths. No, I have his death certificate. Then another voice fills my mind. They will think you’re in on it. An insurance scam. The police will come for you and you’ll lose Caiden and your house and Zach, then Hugo will tell everyone your awful secret. Everyone will hate you then. You’ll lose everything. All I want to do is hit my head to knock that taunting voice out of me but instead, I reach for the back of my head and tug at a hair. Stay in control, Eva, I tell myself.
‘Scroll back to December. I was there the day they were arguing about her posting a photo,’ Christie says.
I ignore my thrumming heart and do what she says. That’s when I see Theo reflected in a mirror. The photo is focussed on a woman’s wedding hair, but he dominates the top right-hand corner. Him, with his wrong-coloured eyes wearing the glasses he doesn’t need.
‘What’s off about this?’ I tell myself to play it cool. If I come out with my hairbrained thoughts, I’ll be committed before the day is out. When a person has a history like mine, they’re automatically always under suspicion of a relapse so speaking up without evidence wouldn’t end well.
Christie continues, ‘The way he spoke to her when he saw that photo got me thinking all sorts. I was having my nails done when he came in and pulled her aside. He was angry that she’d posted it because he was in it. She just kept saying, “No one’s looking at you, it’s about the hair.” Anyway, she shrugged it off and refused to take it down, finishing their conversation by going on at him to get help. He stormed out of the salon, slamming the door so hard the windows shook in their frames and everyone stared. She smiled and all she said was “men” followed by a shrug. She didn’t seem too worried but I thought it was off. There’s something not right with him but I can’t think what.’
I can. I know exactly what was wrong. Pictures of him online would have blown his secret life apart. Now I need to work out what I’m going to do next.
Ten
Caiden and Zach playfight on the floor after watching wrestling. Normally I smile and cheer Caiden on, but this evening all I can think about is Hugo. I scroll through my phone and click back onto Madison AveNew, and I frown at that photo. I’ve tried to enlarge Theo’s face in the corner but when I pinch to zoom, the resolution is poor and it becomes a blur. I tried to search for him on social media. I can’t find a Theo Hudson on any platform that looks remotely like him, but that was to be expected.
My phone rings. I pick it up and see Mum’s name on the screen. Mum has always sensed when something is wrong, which is why I can’t speak to her.
Zach holds his hands in the air as Caiden lets him out of a headlock. ‘I surrender. You win. Caiden is the wrestling king.’
Caiden runs around the dining table, then he circles the kitchen island twice, arms in the air, shouting ‘loser’ at Zach.
My flustered husband gets up and falls heavily onto the couch opposite me, where he takes a moment to get his breath back. I check my phone and it lights up. Mum has left a message. I place it face down on the coffee table and stare out into the darkness, and all I see is the light from a bobbing boat on the horizon.
‘Who was that?’ Zach points to my phone.
‘Mum.’
‘She’s been trying to call all week. Don’t you think you should give her a bell? She rang me earlier when you were out with your friends, wondering why you hadn’t called. You know what she’s like. She worries.’
‘She worries too much.’
‘So just call her and she’ll stop ringing every five minutes.’
