The house they eventually bought needed a lot of work and when they moved in, she’d had to focus on the refurbishment. It had been just what she needed, finally something that she was good at again. She told herself it would be easier if Rachel stayed on to help because the house would be full of builders and paint fumes and she would be able to take the girls out while Kate managed the project. Now the refurb was done and dusted save for the garden, both children were at school, project career launch was still on ice and she still hadn’t let Rachel go yet. Old habits die hard. But she’d done what she set out to do – the house was absolutely stunning, everyone said so; it looked like something from a magazine centrefold. And the children’s bedrooms, with their co-ordinated colour schemes, rocking horses and dolls houses, were like something plucked from a little girl’s dream.
With a jolt back to reality, she became aware that Rachel had stopped talking and was looking at her with concern. ‘Are you all right, Kate?’ she asked. ‘You look a little peaky.’
‘I’m fine,’ she answered automatically. Erin glanced over at her as the lie slipped out, but she didn’t feel ready to share her situation with others just yet. She wondered if Erin was doing as she had done just seconds before, wondering whether Rachel was the other woman and coming to her own, similar conclusions.
Sensing the tension in the kitchen Rachel quickly excused herself, chattering about having to put on laundry and tidy bedrooms, and made her escape. She probably thinks we were having a row, Kate thought. If only it was that simple.
She looked at the clock again. It was approaching lunchtime and she still hadn’t had anything to eat. In a few hours the children would be finishing school and she would have to brush all this aside temporarily and act like everything was fine again. The sound of her phone ringing broke through the silence. She looked down at the screen and her heart sank when she saw the name of the girls’ school, which never signalled good news. She picked up the phone.
‘Mrs Garland? This is Eileen calling from the school office at Greenway Primary School. I’m afraid Lily’s had an accident.’
‘What kind of accident?’ Kate asked, expecting to hear of projectile vomit, a bloody nose or twisted ankle. This was the last thing she needed right now.
‘Lily fell awkwardly during PE and has been unable to put any weight on her leg at all. She’s in a lot of pain and we think it might be broken. We’ve called an ambulance and they’re taking her to the Whittington Hospital. Her teacher is with her.’
Jesus. Kate’s heart was racing as she stood up and started frantically gathering her keys and purse, while Erin looked at her quizzically. ‘I’ll be there as soon as I can.’
4
Pete
He had noticed Claire immediately. She was sitting at the reception desk, working with an easy confidence which suggested she’d been there all her life when he guessed it was her first day because he’d never seen her before. He was feeling ratty after a crap start to the day, the kids declaring full-on war with each other over a favourite breakfast bowl, which resulted in said bowl being smashed and Kate losing her shit and snapping at everyone.
Months later, Claire had asked him when it was that he realised he was attracted to her. ‘The second I saw you,’ he replied.
What was not to like? She was undeniably beautiful. But like the many attractive women he had come across in his life up until now, his thoughts hadn’t gone beyond this initial, almost subconscious acknowledgement. He gave her a welcoming smile, introduced himself, made the necessary polite conversation and went on his way. By the time he got to his office on the fourteenth floor, he’d forgotten all about her.
In the weeks that followed, their interactions consisted only of a brief hello when he came into work and the odd phone conversation when she called up to tell him someone had arrived for a meeting. By the time he left to go home, she was usually gone. To him, she was no different to any of the other pretty receptionists who had come and gone before her, with their glossy hair and pencil skirts.
But then one day he came into work early so that he could prepare for a big client meeting. He’d hardly spoken to Kate the evening before, she’d been busy looking for new kitchen tiles on Pinterest, and this morning she’d busied herself with the kids and barely said two words to him. That was nothing unusual in their household but for some reason he was brooding over it today. Maybe because the country was in the grip of a late summer heatwave and all he wanted to do was loosen his tie, sit in a beer garden and drink ice-cold lager but instead he was dealing with three grumpy females who acted like they didn’t even notice he was there, yet got shitty with him when he wasn’t.
As he walked
