The girls glanced at each other in sudden alarm. ‘Oh, you don’t want to bother him,’ Sophia said with a dismissive wave of her hand. ‘He’s too busy doing important stuff.’
‘Yes, he is,’ Sara said, a note of weariness in her voice.
The girls started packing up their books. ‘We’ll go upstairs,’ Amelia said. ‘Let you two have a gossip.’
Hailey pretended to be appalled. ‘Gossip? We don’t gossip.’
The girls gave her a knowing look, and Sara saw Amelia whisper something in Hailey’s ear as she walked past. ‘Thanks, Auntie Hailey,’ Sophia said. ‘And for the chat—’
Amelia cut her off with a sharp dig in the ribs before pulling her into the hall. Sara listened to them thundering up the stairs, heard the bedroom door bang.
She turned to Hailey, puzzled. ‘What chat would that be?’
Hailey gave a quick shake of the head, picked up her mug of tea and went over to sit at the table. She’s stalling, Sara thought, aware that her sister was avoiding eye contact.
‘Oh, it was just about some kids at school playing up in class. You know, coping with a bit of bad behaviour, that sort of thing.’
Sara wasn’t sure she believed her and made a mental note to talk to Sophia later, see if she could get to the truth. If there was anything bothering her girls, she’d sort it out herself. Her jaw clenched. She didn’t need Hailey butting in and taking over, however experienced she was with difficult kids.
Calm down, she told herself, taking a deep breath. You’re overreacting. A bit wound-up. She blew on her tea and took a sip before going over to join her sister. It was good the girls felt comfortable talking to Hailey about things that mattered, she decided as she pulled out a chair. It doesn’t mean they think any less of me, does it? She was here, I wasn’t.
Hailey had always been part of the family’s lives and Sara counted herself lucky to have her support – an older sister to guide her through the tribulations of parenting. She was glad that Hailey’s relationship with her nieces was so close because if anything happened to Sara, she knew her children would be in good hands. Not that Matt wasn’t a good father; it was just he didn’t see what needed to be done around the house, didn’t understand how much organising she did to make things run smoothly, and if she wasn’t there, Sara knew the household would descend into chaos in the space of a few days.
I’m not planning on going anywhere, she thought, nerves swirling in her belly as the events of the day flooded back into her mind. The discovery and cover-up of her crime. The transfer of debt from money to the currency of favours.
James had been true to his word and done the bank transfer straight away, showing her the internet bank account so she could be sure the money was back where it should be.
‘Nothing to worry about,’ he’d said with a reassuring smile that had made her palms greasy, because now she was committed to his deal. Committed to attending more than one event with him. Committed to lying to Matt at least twice.
He hadn’t elaborated any further on how many events constituted interest on nine thousand pounds, and she hadn’t wanted to ask, because then she might have to agree to a specific number. A large number, one that would stoke her anxiety to even higher levels. Better to wait and see how it goes, she decided. There was still a chance that eagle-eyed Julia would spot the two transfers and then it would be game over for both of them. Straight to prison. She shuddered at the thought, but at least if that happened, she’d have Hailey to step in to look after the children. One less thing to worry about – her contingency plan already in place.
Would the kids even miss me? she wondered. Or Matt? She remembered the mug of tea she’d made for her husband, still sitting on the worktop and put her own mug down, pushed her chair back. ‘I’ll just take Matt his tea,’ she said to Hailey as she stood. ‘Then he’ll know I’m home and I’ve not forgotten him.’
She opened the back door and walked the few steps to the garage, knocked on the door and waited. No answer, but she could hear voices and wasn’t sure if he was on the phone, doing a video chat, or if there was someone in there with him. She knocked again. ‘I made you a cup of tea,’ she called, her ear to the door. The voices didn’t stop. One of them sounded like a woman.
She listened, heard a tinkling laugh. Definitely a woman. Her scalp prickled and she knocked again, harder this time, a proper rapetty-rap-rap-rap! The voices went quiet and she tensed, remembering how annoyed he’d been the last time she’d interrupted with a drink a couple of days ago.
‘I’m running a bloody business,’ he’d snapped. ‘Trying to be professional. And it doesn’t look great if there’s someone in the background shouting through the door. I’ve got video meetings going on.’ She’d thought she was being supportive, but the force of his stare had made her feel two inches tall. ‘You’re making me look like an amateur.’
She’d winced, completely understanding his point. Her cheeks felt like they were on fire and she’d hung her head, not wanting him to see the tears welling up. He’d relented then, put a hand on her shoulder and given it a rub. ‘Sorry, love. I didn’t mean to have a go at you. I know you’re trying to help, but the best thing is to just leave me to it. This is a sensitive business I’m dealing with and it’s taken me a while to persuade the client that I have the correct safeguards in place to ensure their data will be secure. You shouting that you’ve got a cup of tea for me sort of undermines everything I’m trying to do here.’
She’d pressed her lips together, clenching her teeth as her emotions built to a crescendo. She took little breaths through her nose, counting backwards in her head, a technique she had for fighting off tears. It was a trick her mother had taught her after one of her boyfriends had given Sara a whack for having a meltdown about something.
Matt’s voice had droned on, a background noise, while she counted. ‘I’ve got Josh coming to put a sink in next week, then I can make my own brews. In the meantime, I’ll sort myself out. Okay?’
When she noticed that he’d stopped talking she’d nodded, still too choked-up to speak. It was so hard to do the right thing at the moment. If she left him to his own devices, he was all cheery and chirpy, but as soon as she tried to help in any way, she was either fussing or interfering. He definitely didn’t want her involved in his business, and that hurt, given her qualifications.
She understood that he was a control freak about his work and consoled herself that it was just his nature, nothing to do with her. He wanted to get it right. Wanted to secure this first contract, then their money worries would be a thing of the past and he could be the breadwinner again, the figurehead of his family. She wanted to do her utmost to make sure he succeeded, in the hope that family life might return to a semblance of normality. So on the whole she did as he asked and left him to it, even if it did go against the nurturing side of her nature.
Now, with his mug of tea in her hand, she remembered the conversation and did a U-turn back to the kitchen, hoping he hadn’t heard her, ready to deny she’d even been there. Who was the woman he was talking to, though? She tipped his tea down the sink and rinsed the cup, so he wouldn’t know of her mistake.