Page 29 of My Husband's Wife
He’s not here. You are alone and safe. I keep repeating those words in my head. I don’t know how reassured I feel because Theo threatened to kill the person who called him. While glancing through the slats of the blind, I can see their house is now in darkness.
Using the torch on my phone, I scan the room and see a large filing cabinet in the corner. I should be getting out of here but I need to find evidence to show my mum. If I can get her onside, I can deal with this and any repercussions.
I jump as my phone rings. It’s Nicole again. ‘Hello,’ I say in a stage whisper.
‘He’s not who you think he is,’ she says in a slurred voice.
‘Nicole, are you okay?’
‘Did you not just hear what I said?’ she shouts.
I take in her drunken words and I think back to what she told me about knowing Zach from the pub. ‘What are you talking about?’ Though I’m not sure I want the answer, I have to ask. I quickly peer through the slat again. The house is still in darkness.
‘He’s a liar. You can’t trust him. You can’t trust me. Don’t trust anyone.’
‘What’s going on?’ She goes silent. I’m biting my nails here and all she can do is say nothing when I say, ‘Nicole, tell me.’ Her sobs come through my phone. ‘It can’t be that bad.’
‘I don’t know how to tell you. I can’t. I just can’t. I will lose you and I don’t want to. We’re friends.’
‘Nicole, you won’t lose me and we are friends.’ I know we haven’t known each other for long but if she’s done the unthinkable and slept with Zach while I was in Malvern, I will damn well blame him.
‘I’ve got to go.’
‘No, don’t.’
‘I’m going to be sick.’ She hangs up.
I don’t know about Nicole, but I feel sick. She could only be calling to tell me she’d slept with Zach, and she obviously backed him up when it came to the little story about her rummaging for some scissors, the only stupid thing he could come up with on the spot. They shared a look. Zach wasn’t expecting her to be in our house. I invited her in. She knew how he’d react. Why the hostility on Zach’s part? Had he hoped he could sleep with her and she’d just fade away as soon as I moved down here? I turn my phone onto airplane mode and place it in my pocket. It’s just gone midnight and I have to get home. Nicole and Zach can wait.
Before I work out how to escape this mess, I gently open one of the drawers. All I see are suspended files with company and business names on the tabs. I peer through a few and there’s just the usual kinds of things like invoices and quotes and a breakdown of works completed or problems diagnosed. I open the next drawer and it’s full of similar paperwork. Then the third drawer – nothing. As I push it closed, it doesn’t make the same noise as the other two. I pull it out again and reach around the back. There is an envelope caught inside the filing drawers, so I tug at it until it comes out.
I open it and tip the contents out onto the rug beneath me, and I sit. There is a ragged old photo of two tiny babies in a plastic cot, wearing white romper suits that are much too big for them. Both are sleeping, their little fists balled inside scratch mitts, and one thing strikes me: their slightly long noses. I place the photo in my pocket and hurry to the bathroom. It’s time to leave. I found what I came for. Why would he have a photo of our babies if he wasn’t Hugo? I run to the water closet, grab the metal toilet brush and slam it as hard as I can through the window, knocking the flimsy frame out in one piece. It must have already been loose. Squeezing through the gap, I put my hands out, breaking my fall as I land on a bed of mulched leaves.
Before getting my bearings, I hear the dog yapping from behind the back door. I run around the front of the building, and the upstairs light flashes on. Knowing I need to get away, I dart across the lawn, half limping until I reach the side of the main house. Flapping my arms in a panic, I catch my jacket on one of the spiny evergreens. I yank it as hard as I can to free myself from its clutches and it tears. Someone must have opened the back door because their chunky Lhasa Apso is tailing me. Without looking back, I dart through the gate, ignoring my throbbing feet. The dog is nearly upon me. The lights to the front of the house flash on. I need to get to my car – now. The dog barks at my calves, wagging its tail like we’re playing a game. After pressing the central locking button, I open the driver’s door and grab the cake that Millie gave me earlier and I fling it in the verge. It’s a sponge, not a fruitcake so I know the dog will be fine. It runs towards the cake, leaving me to make my escape. I catch sight of something through the trees as the moon appears from behind a cloud. There’s a small wooden structure in the distance. Shivering, I know I need to get away.
I hear the front door opening. Theo calls out for Buster who I presume is the dog. I select reverse gear, pull out and hop the car all the way to the main road with the lights off. As soon as I’m far enough away, I pull over in a layby and jump out of the car, feeling that I’m either about to pass out or vomit.
Neither happens. Without warning, tears fill my eyes as the photo of the babies burns an image in my brain. While Caiden was crying night after night when I brought him home from hospital, I kept hearing two babies, not one. The baby we lost at birth and Caiden. I lost sight of reality as I imagined that my twins were fine. Denial, delusional – yes. The moon’s light casts a milky white glow onto me as I weep for my other baby. I can’t believe he created such an elaborate way of abandoning me.
And he kept a photo of the baby we lost: Emily. Why is he doing this to me?
Twenty-Three
It’s lunchtime and despite trying to call Nicole all morning, she hasn’t answered. She’s meant to pick Aaron up today but I don’t know when. I want to speak to her about that phone call.
‘Sweetheart, stop picking your head.’ Mum gently takes my hand and applies a bit of pressure until I move it away from the clump of scabs that have crusted at the nape of my neck. Embarrassed, I pull some hair across the back to disguise the patch, realising it’s thinning out a bit too much. I’ll need to attach the emergency hairpiece I own next time I leave the house.
‘What’s happening? Please talk to me, Eva.’
‘Nothing,’ I snap, and instantly feel guilty. Mum is the one who has been there for me throughout everything. ‘It was just a busy one last night.’
‘I saw.’
I frown.
‘Your clothes in the utility, next to the wash. Looked like you’d been wrestling in a pigsty. You’ve ruined your jacket, sweetheart. I did take a look, see if I could sew it up but there’s a big chunk missing.’ She pauses. ‘I woke up at one in the morning when I heard you pulling up. I thought you were going to be home about eleven.’
I blow out a breath, wondering if now is the right time to show Mum that photo. No, I can’t do that now. If I do, I will start crying again. It’s too raw. I’ll talk about it when I’ve had chance to process it. It’s not like it’s going anywhere. I swallow, wondering if Madison or Theo suspect I was there, and I also wonder if he’s found the pushed-out window and called the police. My fingerprints will be all over his office. ‘It got a bit rowdy which is why I had to stay later.’
