Page 46 of The Best Friend
‘The new Batman movie? I thought that movie was rated 15?’
‘Yes,’ she says, shaking her head, ‘but they love those superhero movies, don’t they. You know what boys are like. It’s probably just a bit of swearing – nothing they don’t already hear at school.’
I have a feeling there’s more in that film than just the odd swear word. I seem to remember the last Batman contained torture scenes. Joe really shouldn’t be watching it; I should march upstairs and turn it off. But if I make a scene, I’ll embarrass Joe in front of his friend. I decide to leave it for a few minutes. Hopefully, Darcy and Tyler will leave soon.
‘I hope you don’t mind me asking,’ Darcy says, sitting next to me,’ but is everything okay between you and Jared? It’s just… he seemed a little—’
‘What? Yes, everything’s fine,’ I say. ‘I just had some stuff to do today, that’s all.’ Suddenly warm, I realise I’m still wearing my coat. I set down the knife, shrug off my coat and let it slide down the back of the chair in a screwed-up heap.
‘Okay, good,’ she replies. ‘I was worried you two might have had an argument. Jared seemed… tense. The last thing I want is for you two to start going through the same crap as me and Mike.’
I give a sympathetic smile and a small laugh to dismiss her worries. ‘It’s probably just stress over the business launch. He wants everything to be perfect.’ I should be polite and offer Darcy a cup of tea, but I need her to go. I don’t want her to be here when Jared gets home, which will probably be any minute. ‘Well,’ I say. ‘Thanks so much again. If you ever need me to get Tyler from school for you—’
‘Oh, yeah, sure. My pleasure.’ She takes the hint and gets to her feet. ‘The pie should be done in about fifteen more minutes. I set the timer so it should beep when it’s done. And Jared’s front door keys are on the hall table.’
‘Thank you,’ I say, faking gratitude. What I really want to do is take the pie out of the oven and sling it into the rubbish bin. My anger is irrational, yet I can’t get rid of it. It’s bubbling up from my gut and if Darcy doesn’t leave in the next few minutes I’m likely to confront her over everything. I’m sure there’s something ‘off’ about her, but I can’t risk voicing my fears yet. Not without sounding like a total lunatic.
I tramp halfway up the stairs to call Tyler down and finally they leave. Once I hear their car pull away, I stand in the hall, my heart pounding like I’ve just run a marathon. Leaning against the front door, I close my eyes, trying to get my breathing back under control.
‘What are you doing, Mummy?’
‘Come here, Joe.’ I open my eyes and hold out my arms. ‘I missed you, baby boy.’
‘I missed you, too,’ he says, allowing me to give him a great big squeeze. ‘Why weren’t you here this morning and after school? I had to play withTyler.’ Joe wrinkles his nose and wriggles out of my embrace, staring up at me. He’s still in his uniform and his hair’s all mussed.
‘I thought you liked Tyler?’
‘No. He’s not nice to me now. He says mean stuff. And he sometimes tries to hurt me.’
‘He hurts you?’ My fists clench.
‘Only pinching and stuff, but it’s annoying.’
‘Pinching?’
‘Yes, and he does this other thing where if I go anywhere near him, he falls over and pretends I’ve pushed him. The teacher told me off, but I didn’t even do anything.’
‘Oh, Joe!’ I have to restrain myself from calling Tyler something I shouldn’t. ‘Do you want me to speak to your teacher about it?’
‘No.’
‘You sure?’
He shakes his head, and I make a mental note to talk to Darcy about her son’s behaviour.
Behind me, I hear footsteps coming up the front path. The doorbell chimes. Joe and I move away from the door so I can open it.
It’s my husband. He’s standing on the doorstep wearing a sheepish expression, but I’m not in a forgiving mood.
Nineteen
‘Hi,’ Jared says, stepping into the hall and closing the front door behind him. ‘I just saw Darcy driving off.’
I turn away from my husband and walk into the kitchen as Joe starts chattering away to him.
‘Hang on, buddy. I just need to talk to Mummy for a minute.’
‘You’re always doing boring talking,’ Joe says.
