Page 24 of The Wife
Wow, she couldn’t be any less excited if she tried. I should never have messaged her. I knew it might be a mistake, but I stupidly thought that me being pregnant might make her realise how important family is. No such luck. I’m getting the feeling that she doesn’t ever want to come back home. The only way I’ll ever get to see her again is to fly over to Thailand and turn up unannounced on her doorstep.
I should give her up as a lost cause. But she’s my little sister. I sip my water and try not to let this stress me out. Dina has always been dismissive, hurtful even. This is nothing new, so why do I let her upset me? I put my phone away and try to ignore the prickling tears behind my eyes. Today should be a happy day. I’m not going to let my sister spoil it. Although the rocks in my chest let me know it’s already too late for that.
Eleven
NOW
After my trip to the police station with Celia, I spend the rest of the day cleaning the house, running errands and speaking to my insurance company about the accident. I’m now going to lose my no-claims bonus and the insurance premium will probably go up, but there’s nothing I can do about it – the accident was my fault. Aside from the car, my head is buzzing with everything else. I keep replaying the moment I saw Dina today – that is, if it actually was her. Perhaps I’ve got it wrong. Sergeant Graham never called me, so they obviously had no luck spotting my sister. Maybe their record checks will yield some information in the next few days.
Normally, if any unusual situation occurs in my life, the first person I would tell would be Toby. I’d have rung him at work, and he’d have made me feel better about it. Today, I didn’t tell him any of it – not about the crash, not about seeing Dina, and not about going to the police station. I guess I’m still suspicious and angry with him since his lie. I don’t feel the same trust I did only a few days ago.
The children don’t go to after-school club on Mondays, so I’m picking them up at regular school-finishing time today, which is lovely as we get to spend extra time together. Often they’ll want to invite friends over to play, but I’m thinking that today when we get home, we can make some decorations for the tree. As I walk the short distance from the house to school, I’m thankful the rain has finally eased to a less aggressive steady drizzle. However, the pavement is icy in patches, and I feel like a baby giraffe as I pick my way carefully along, steadying myself against walls and lamp posts.
I’m dreading running into Madeline or Kim in the playground. Their daughters usually go to after-school club on Mondays, so hopefully I won’t see either of them. But if I do, I’m not sure whether I should try to initiate conversation and risk being ignored, or simply keep my head down and pretend I haven’t seen them. The way I’m feeling right now, I’d prefer the latter option, but I still need to speak to Madeline about the party preparations. She’s supposed to be collecting the cake from the bakery, and the balloons and decorations from the party store on Friday, but I’m not sure if she’s still on board with it all. I messaged her again to ask if she’d rather I did it, but she didn’t reply. And unless she gives me the receipts, I won’t be able to pick them up. All I need is a yes or no from her. Surely that’s not too much to ask.
Jamie comes out of his classroom first, happy to see me and chattering about his day. But when Alice comes out, her face is pulled down into a scowl, which is strange.
‘Hello, everything okay?’ I ask, pulling her into a hug and kissing the top of her head. ‘Let’s walk quickly, get home where it’s nice and cosy.’ I take each of their hands and we start walking. I keep my head bowed, avoiding eye contact with the other parents. But I needn’t have worried – the weather is so dreadful that everyone just wants to leave and get back to their warm, dry homes.
‘Mum, today was really bad.’ I look down at my daughter and see that she’s trying not to cry.
‘Alice, what happened?’
‘I don’t want to talk about it now because I might get upset and people will see and then everyone will call me a cry baby.’
It looks like my daughter’s day was on a par with mine. ‘Okay, let’s get home. We’ll stride quickly. Careful though; it’s icy.’
Once we’re inside and the children are settled in the kitchen with a drink and a snack, I ask my daughter to explain why she’s so upset.
‘Don’t worry, Alice,’ Jamie says, trying to sound grown-up, ‘I’ll look after you.’
‘You’re a very good brother.’ I kiss his round cheek and wish Toby was here to see how cute our son is being. But then I remember that I’m not exactly happy with my husband at the moment.
‘Hope didn’t invite me to her birthday party.’ Alice kicks repeatedly at the table leg until I reach down and place a hand on her knee to stop her. I have a horrible feeling that this exclusion is something to do with the reason Madeline and Kim are ignoring me.
‘They’re going to seePeter Panat the theatre, and everyone was talking about it today and planning what outfits they’re going to wear. And I felt really left out because I’m not going. So I just had to sit there while they talked about it, and it was horrible.’ My daughter’s face is red, and she looks like she’s about to burst into tears at any moment.
‘Oh, Alice.’ I give her a hug as my anger rises. It’s one thing for my friends and family to take issue with me, but to penalise my daughter is downright cruel. ‘Who else has been invited? Is it everyone from your class?’
‘No. There’s eight girls going, including Hope. But it’s our whole group of friends!’
Jamie gets out of his seat and gives his big sister a cuddle. He’s being such a sweetie.
‘Did you say anything about it to Hope?’ I ask.
‘I did ask her if I could go, but her mum said that she was only allowed eight people because otherwise it would be too expensive. But I’m one of her best friends. And even Cassidy and Ella are going and I’m much better friends with Hope than they are!’
‘Tell you what,’ I say, getting to my feet, ‘why don’t I book us tickets to seePeter Pan? And then at least you’ll be able to talk to them about it afterwards.’
‘Can I come too?’ Jamie asks, his eyes wide.
‘Course you can!’ I bop him on the nose with my finger and he giggles.
Alice shakes her head. ‘Thanks, Mum, but it’ll look really lame if I go with you instead of them.’
I sigh, privately agreeing with her. I know this isn’t the end of the world – children can be cruel sometimes. But in this case, I really believe that this exclusion is coming from the mother rather than the daughter. I can’t even call Kim up to ask why, as that would make me look like an overprotective parent.
Kim and her husband Thomas have RSVPed to come to our anniversary party, so it’s a bit rich that they’ve chosen to exclude Alice from Hope’s birthday outing. That is, if they even still plan on coming to our party. The way Kim’s been acting lately, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if they don’t show up.
