Page 44 of The Best Friend
‘Yeah. Apparently, Mike’s being a d-i-c-k.’
‘Does that spell dick?’ Joe says. ‘Isn’t that a rude word?’
‘Daddy can’t spell,’ I say, rolling my eyes at Jared. ‘He meant to sayduck.’
‘Why is Mike a duck?’
‘I won’t be gone long,’ Jared says. ‘Just an hour or so.’
My blood pressure is rising and I suddenly want to scream. Why do all our conversations these days revolve around Mike and Darcy Lane? And why have Darcy’s needs suddenly become more important to my husband than mine? ‘Fine,’ I say. ‘Do what you want, Jared.’
I march past him and into the kitchen.
‘Hey!’ Jared calls out to me, but I ignore him. I hear him speak to Joe: ‘Your mum’s right – it’s too late for play fighting tonight. Hop upstairs into bed and I’ll come and read you a story in a minute.’
‘Oh, but—’
‘Now, buddy. No arguing.’
I hear the mournful stomp of Joe’s feet up the stairs, each step a clang of disappointment – my fault, of course.
‘Lou.’ Jared follows me into the kitchen. ‘Why are you so cross? Did I do something?’
I shake my head, not trusting myself to speak. I don’t want to cry. I don’t want to shout. And I don’t want an argument. But how else is all this going to get resolved? I have my back to him, my hands gripping the counter top, my shoulders hunched. He comes up behind me and places a hand on my shoulder.
‘Lou, talk to me. What’s going on?’
‘I…’ I snap my mouth shut. I can’t tell him about my fears. He’ll think I’m being irrational. I already told Beth, and she seemed to think I was blowing things out of proportion.
‘Louisa?’
‘I just… I just wanted us to spend a bit of time together this evening.’ I turn to face him, folding my arms tight across my chest. ‘I wanted you all to myself. If you go running, you won’t be back till after nine and—’
‘Okay,’ he replies. ‘How about if I promise to be home by eight thirty?’
I stare at him. This husband of mine who is bargaining with me so he can go out running with another woman.
‘Tell you what,’ I say. ‘Why don’t you stay out all night? I’d hate to think I was keeping you away from Darcy for longer than necessary.’
‘Lou!’ His brow furrows, his jaw clenches.
‘What?’ I say. ‘You’d obviously prefer to be out running with her, than in here with me. So I’m saying, go. You should be happy now, right? Why aren’t you smiling?’
‘You know that’s not true. I would much rather stay here with you, but I already told Darcy I would go, and she’s so down at the moment.’
‘She didn’t look down at the launch today. She looked…radiantis a word that springs to mind. You and she were having a wonderfully hilarious conversation together.’
‘Don’t be ridiculous.’ Jared scowls. ‘It was a business launch. She’s hardly going to cry in a roomful of strangers.’
‘No, she’ll save that for your shoulder.’ I hate the words that are spitting from my mouth, yet I can’t stop them.
‘For God’s sake! It was your suggestion I go out with her in the first place.’ He runs a hand over the top of his head.
‘Yes, but not every frigging night,’ I hiss, suddenly mindful that our voices are becoming too loud, and Joe’s still awake upstairs.
‘It’s not every night. And you know Darcy’s going through hell with Mike. But if you want me to stay home then, of course, I—’
‘Don’t do me any favours, Jared.’
