by A. E. Radley
She joined the lunchtime queue, for once happy to be stuck in a line. She knew that talking to Abi would either mean talking about the kids, Abi’s boring husband, or her own painful divorce. Wasting as much time as possible was therefore a great option.
After a few minutes left to her own devices, she felt someone approach her.
“Did you really have nothing to do with that?”
Kate stood beside her, pinning her with a suspicious glare.
“Are you asking me if I sent my sister’s au pair back to Italy and then suggested she hire a complete stranger to look after her children?”
“Well, did you?”
“No!” Selina turned away and looked at the pastry case. “I had nothing to do with it. My sister does this kind of ridiculous thing all the time. I assure you, it’s her own foolish plan. I’d certainly not hire you.”
“That’s good, because I’d not work for you.”
“Small mercies. Having one incompetent work for me is enough.”
“How did that go, by the way?” Kate asked.
Selina could see her knowing grin reflected in the pastry case.
“I mean, I’ve noticed she’s in here more and that she doesn’t have that murderous look in her eye,” Kate continued.
“Things are… improved,” Selina allowed.
“Did you talk to her?” Kate pressed.
“I might have asked a question or two.”
“So, a little kindness goes a long way?”
Selina turned to regard Kate. “You’re insufferable,” she said, without any feeling.
“I’m also going to be living at your sister’s house for the next two weeks.” Kate smirked before walking away.
The queue started to move, and Selina found herself eye to eye with Julian. He looked at her sheepishly.
“What can I get you?” he asked, a sheen of sweat across his forehead.
“A supplier with a backbone. And a black coffee.”
A Fresh Start
Kate folded the last pair of tiny trousers and placed them on the pile of ironed clothes. It seemed ridiculous to iron clothes for someone as young as Peter, but it was something Abigail wanted and so Kate was happy to do it.
It was her third day in the expensive house in the posh end of Parbrook, and she already felt like one of the family. She couldn’t believe how quickly she had managed to settle in nor how nice Abigail and Michael were.
Michael worked long hours, so she rarely saw him. Abigail worked part time at an office and also spent time volunteering for the local church. Kate was still getting to know her, but on first glance she seemed like a typical middle-class mum. She was ruled by what the other mums said was in or out of fashion and spent a ridiculous amount of time setting up pictures for social media. A casual shot of the average day at home took around an hour to prepare.
Appearance was important for Abigail. She wanted to come across as the perfect mum with well-turned-out kids, a nanny, a nice home, a job, and a role with the church. Which was why Kate was fairly sure that Abigail had no idea that Kate used to be homeless. Or that Kate would be homeless if she wasn’t living in the guest bedroom of the house.
Kate didn’t feel comfortable keeping the information from Abigail. She deserved to know who was looking after her kids, but there hadn’t been a good time to discuss it. And Abigail spoke a hundred miles an hour, often changing the subject three times in one sentence.
Kate had managed to put away some money from her job at Edge, once she had passed a certain number of days and Julian was legally obligated to pay her a small salary. It was more money than she’d had in months, but it still wasn’t enough to do anything practical. She needed much more to put a deposit down on her own place and to start to pay her own way again. She’d had plenty of time to calculate what she needed to pay a deposit as well as rent and bills, and buy the bare essentials. A year ago, that figure would have been large but manageable. Now it seemed impossible.
The money Abigail would pay her would help her reach that goal, though. It would help her finally be financially independent again.
It had always seemed like a dream, something completely removed from reality, but she was slowly moving toward her goal. Her salary as a live-in nanny wasn’t much. Having a roof over her head and all her food and bills paid for was great, but the small salary meant it would take many, many months to save anything usable.
So, Kate meant to stay with Abi and her family for as long as she could. The safety of a job and a roof over her head were a blessing. She just hoped that when she finally did tell Abi about her former status, she wouldn’t be back on the streets in a flash.
She kept telling herself that she wasn’t really keeping her homelessness a secret in order to bide her time and save money, but she knew that if she’d really wanted to tell Abigail, she would have been able to by now.
“Nicole has a new car,” Abigail announced, walking into the utility room with her phone in her hand. “She kept that one quiet. She must have ordered it weeks ago; it has a custom paint job. That’s so cheeky. I bet she wanted to get one over on Jackie because she recently had the outside of the house repainted. Wait, I have a picture. You tell me what you think of this.”
Abigail swiped and stabbed at the screen. She turned the phone and held it out for Kate to see. The house looked fine to Kate, but Abigail pulled a face of disgust.
“Ostentatious,” Kate said, guessing that was Abigail’s issue.
“Precisely!” She turned her phone around and shook her head. “Completely out of keeping with the area. Trying to draw attention to the double extension, which she didn’t get planning permission for. She’s lucky that Julie didn’t say anything. Well, she wouldn’t because we’d all know it was Julie.”
“Julie’s like that?” Kate asked while putting more laundry on.
“Oh, yes! She reports everything everyone does. I bet the council and the police have their own file for her. She can’t keep her nose out of people’s business. Here’s the picture of Nicole’s new car.” She spun the phone around again to show a shiny sports car on a driveway.
Kate looked and nodded. “Nice car.”
“It is. Michael says we can’t get one because of the kids. Apparently, it’s not practical, but I go out plenty of times without the kids. It would be nice to do it in a car that I like.” Abigail turned the phone off and tossed it onto the pile of ironing. “Selina had the same model before the car she has now. I asked her to let me know if she was selling it, but she didn’t. Typical. Probably wouldn’t have given me a deal on it anyway.”
“Doesn’t sound like something she’d do.”
“No. She’s nice enough. To me. When I make her. But she’s, well, she’s Selina.”
Kate knew exactly what Abigail meant, even from the few short meetings she’d had with the woman. She was simply… Selina.
“Do you see her often?”
Abigail laughed. “No. I have to force her to come over or meet me somewhere. It’s great since the boys have been around. I can threaten to bring them to her office. She’ll do anything to avoid that. She’s not great with kids. Any kids. Not just mine. You’d think she’d make an effort with her own flesh and blood, but no.”
“Has she always been like this?” Kate asked.
“Yes. The moment she was old enough to leave home she did. She got a part-time job and paid her way through higher education. Started working as soon as she could and basically committed her life to her job.”
Kate opened her mouth to reply but paused. She could hear the sound of Peter waking up from his afternoon nap. She pressed the button on the washing machine and started to make her way to the stairs.
“That’s my cue,” she said as she passed Abigail.
“You’re an angel. I have so much to be getting on with!”
As Kate climbed the stairs, she heard Abigail on the phone, asking someone if they’d seen the picture of the new car. She smiled and shook her head. This new jo
b was certainly an interesting one.
It was nice to be considered part of a family again, even if she was paid to be there. She wondered if she’d just stay until she had enough money to move on, or if she’d stay on until the boys were too old to need her.
She smiled at the thought of being somewhere for so long.
It was nice to have options again.
The Unfamiliar Aunt
Kate was sitting on the floor of the nursery, playing with the boys. The expansive five-bedroom house was pure luxury, and Kate wondered if the kids would ever realise how lucky they were to have a bedroom each and a shared playroom in between. Probably not, as they’d no doubt end up socialising with children from similar backgrounds.
Abigail came into the room with a confused look on her face and her phone held loosely in her hand.
“Everything okay?” Kate asked.
“My sister is coming over,” she replied, looking like she didn’t quite believe it herself.
“Oh.” Kate didn’t know what to make of the news. She’d gathered that Selina never visited unless she was practically forced to. She wondered if it had something to do with her. Maybe Selina had decided that her sister needed to know the truth about Kate.
Her palms felt clammy. She rubbed them on her jeans.
She knew she should have been honest with Abigail sooner, admitted that she’d been homeless when she first met Selina, but all her good intentions had vanished as she became more settled into the Brownlow family.
It had been three weeks. Both Kate and Abigail had agreed that everything was working out beautifully, and Kate had agreed to stay on permanently as the boys’ au pair. The weekly pay meant that Kate actually had money. Not a lot, but enough to buy some new clothes and other personal bits and pieces. Which she desperately needed because Abigail was starting to notice that Kate only had three outfits.
Kate got to her feet. “Did she say why she was coming over?”
“Aunt Selina’s coming over?” Phillip asked.
“She is.” Abigail tried to look enthusiastic but couldn’t quite manage to lose her confused expression. “Something about paperwork. She said she’d be here within the hour.”
Maybe nothing to do with me then, Kate mused. She looked down at the boys. “I think we should get changed into some nicer clothes. Won’t that be fun?”
Phillip shrugged. Peter ignored her and continued to play with his toys.
“Good idea,” Abigail said. “I’ll go and get changed, too. And see if I have that tea she likes.”
She vanished in a cloud of near-panic.
“Why do I have to get changed?” Phillip asked.
“Because you got a little grubby when we went to the park this morning, and we don’t want your aunt to think you’re grubby.” Kate opened the chest of drawers and started digging for the smart shirt and vest combination his mother dressed him in for photos the previous week. Both the children had so many clothes that there was an overspill into the nursery. Considering their clothes were tiny, Kate guessed the boys had more clothes than she had ever had throughout the course of her life.
“Why?” Peter asked.
“Why” was his favourite word. His current state of mind was to question everything. Repeatedly.
Luckily, Kate was patient and enjoyed talking to him and answering all of his bizarre questions.
“Because we want to look our best. So, people think, ‘Wow, they were really nice-looking.’” Kate handed the clothing to Phillip.
He pulled a face. “But I don’t like Aunt Selina.”
Kate crouched down and looked him in the eye. “You don’t know Aunt Selina. Not liking someone is different to not knowing much about them.”
Phillip scrunched up his face while he considered her point. After a few seconds, he nodded and turned away to get changed.
It hurt Kate to think that Selina and her nephews may never have a connection. That neither would really get the chance to know the other.
Of course, the blame lay squarely at Selina’s door.
Peter picked up a plastic building block and lifted it into the air. He bit the inside of his cheek as he stared hard at his brother’s back. Kate chuckled. Luckily Peter was at the age where hand-eye coordination needed a little while to engage after the brain sent the signal of a potential good idea.
She snatched the block out of his hand before he launched it into his brother. Peter looked at her and giggled.
“Caught you,” she admonished him. “None of that. We have to get you changed as well.”
Peter blew a long, loud raspberry.
“That’s what I say when I have to do something I don’t want to do, too,” Kate agreed.
The family gathered in the living room to await Selina’s arrival. Abigail sat on the edge of the sofa while Peter and Phillip played with a jigsaw puzzle which comprised of large, foam pieces. Kate decided the jigsaw was the safest bet. Both boys could play together, it was unlikely to cause an argument, and it was blissfully silent.
“I don’t know what I’m worried about,” Abigail announced as she fretted with her hands. “I’m sure it’s nothing. Just so unusual. Unless…”
“Unless?” Kate pushed, concern eating at her. Would Selina really be cruel enough to wait for Kate to relax in her new role before sweeping in and spilling all her secrets?
“Unless it’s something about the divorce.” Abigail whispered the word “divorce” as if her two- and four-year-old would be scarred for life by a term they surely wouldn’t understand.
The doorbell rang, and Abigail jumped to her feet.
“Remember to say hello to your aunt,” Kate told the boys. Typically, the children would ignore the arrival of people they didn’t know or like, but she wanted to try to form some kind of connection between them and Selina if she could.
Two heads nodded without looking up.
She heard some mumbled greetings in the hallway, and couldn’t help shake the dizzy feeling that she was about to have everything snatched away from her. Selina could be mean, she knew that based upon their very first encounter, but she didn’t know if Selina was vindictive enough to go out of her way to ruin her life.
Selina entered the living room, almost looking surprised to see Kate.
“You remember Kate.” Abigail walked in behind her sister. “Boys, look who’s here.”
The boys both looked up and mumbled half-hearted hellos.
Kate offered an awkward wave, not really knowing what else to do. Selina looked uncomfortable as she nodded a formal greeting to the boys, who had already returned to playing.
Noting that her arrival hadn’t interested the boys in the slightest, she set her gaze on Kate. “You’re settling in well?”
It seemed like a genuine enquiry, and so Kate nodded.
“I am.”
“Good.” Selina turned awkwardly towards her sister. “Can we talk?”
“Sure, come through to the kitchen. I have that tea you like.” Abigail gestured towards the next room, and they both left.
Kate felt confused. She had no idea why Selina was visiting out of the blue, but it didn’t seem to have anything to do with her. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have asked if she were settling in.
Or would she?
Not knowing was driving Kate insane. She didn’t want to eavesdrop, but she needed to know if Selina was about to place a ticking time bomb in the middle of her happy new life.
The boys were contentedly getting on with their puzzle, so Kate took the opportunity to move to the chair closest to the kitchen. The sound of the kettle muted the sisters’ murmuring conversation.
Kate’s heart started to pound in her chest until that was all she could hear. She hated that she was listening in on a private conversation. She hated that she hadn’t be honest with Abigail from the start. She’d known she should have mentioned her background and explained everything, but the possibility that Abigail wouldn’t understand and wouldn’t want to take a risk on her was too gre
at.
The kettle started to near the end of its cycle and built to a crescendo before going quiet.
“She’s a monster,” she heard Selina say.
Kate felt instantly cold. It was like someone had thrown a bucket of ice water over her. Her hands gripped the arms of the chair.
“You’re over-exaggerating,” Abigail replied neutrally.
“If you knew what I knew—”
“I’d still say you were exaggerating,” Abigail cut her off. “Carrie hurt you, and now you don’t have any perspective on the matter.”
Carrie? Kate frowned. Who on earth is Carrie?
“I have plenty of perspective,” Selina argued.
“If you say so,” Abigail said doubtfully. “Not that I’m not pleased to see you, but may I ask why you are here?”
“I need to talk to you about the divorce.”
It seemed that Abigail had been right; the unexpected visit was something to do with a divorce. Kate couldn’t imagine being married to someone like Selina. Sure, she was attractive, held down a good job, and looked like she had money, but living with her? She shivered at the thought.
Her mind drifted back to her own failed marriage, and took back her shiver when she realised Selina would have been a walk in the park in comparison.
“I thought you didn’t want to talk about the divorce,” Abigail said.
“That was then, now I do,” Selina replied. “Now that Carrie is forcing my hand.”
“I’m not surprised. The longer you ignored her—”
“I know, I know. I just need your help to sign some paperwork to prevent her from getting her hands on my assets. And I’ve realised that going to court won’t benefit me. I thought I’d get a fair trial, but some research has indicated that I won’t.”
“So now you don’t want to go to court?” Abigail confirmed.
“No. The legal system is flawed.”
“Have you even spoken to her since she moved out?” Abigail asked.