The garden was in a shocking state after winter. He couldn’t face doing a thing except looking after Emily. Soon he is digging into the earth, pressing the new shoots in, patting fresh compost over the top so the plants are solid in their new positions. Emily wanders over and sprinkles water around them from a small can, careful not to wet the leaves in case they burn under the scorching sun.
After Maddy was arrested and sectioned she was taken to a psychiatric hospital. He thought he would fall apart. The doctor upped his medication. But there is no pill that can fix them. He’s done too much damage.
From inside the house, the telephone is ringing. Emily scampers off to the kitchen. The back door is open and Max listens to her answer the call. Her voice is breathless with one-word answers, then click. Emily skips towards him, face beaming. ‘Mummy will be home in thirty minutes.’
Max hugs her. It’s felt like she’s lost her mum, she’s told him, as well as her sister and the baby. Every night they chat long into the evenings about everything that’s happened. Emily is keen to get to know Jamie better. If only Alison would let him see the boys. Charlie must be almost five months old and he misses Jamie’s silly laugh and watching him play football.
‘Hello, it’s only me,’ Sarah calls as she lets herself and Sophie in the back gate. The dogs run over to her and she makes a fuss of them. ‘I made lemonade. Thought you might like some.’
‘I’ll fetch the glasses,’ he says and heads for the kitchen.
‘Any news?’ she calls after him.
‘Maddy will be here in half an hour.’
They sit at the table in the shade.
‘Emily’s looking brighter today.’ Sarah pours the drinks.
‘She perked up as soon as she knew Mummy was coming home.’
‘The garden is coming on nicely. Maddy will be so pleased.’
Max nods. He wonders if there will ever be a time when he can talk about everything that’s happened and not choke up. He’s made it clear he doesn’t expect Sarah’s forgiveness, or anyone’s come to that. Perhaps Sarah hates him underneath it all, but he’s grateful they’ve stayed friendly. The girls come running over. Emily drinks her lemonade down in one go. Sophie fishes out an ice cube and stuffs it in her mouth.
‘Any news on when you’ll see Sam, I mean Charlie?’
‘Alison’s moved in with someone she works with, Rob, I think,’ Max says. ‘She’s not answering my calls.’
‘She moved on quick.’
‘We’ve sold the house and split everything.’
‘What will you do with the money?’ Sarah shakes her head. ‘Sorry, it’s none of my business.’
‘No, no, it’s fine, I was going to tell you anyway. I’m going to pay Maddy back every penny she gave me and pay off my debts. If there’s any left, I’ll treat Emily.’ He shrugs and tries to keep the tears in. ‘I’m not fit enough to go back to building.’ He sighs. ‘I want to be around for Emily, for all my kids, if Alison ever lets me.’
‘I’m pleased. I really am. And you know I’m here to help you all.’
He attempts a smile. He’s seen the way she looks at him, shocked that he’s aged so much, but he’s grateful for her offer. It’s hard to be upbeat about anything until Maddy is back with them, where she belongs. If she can ever forgive him. If she’ll let him stay.
A car stops outside the house, engine running. A car door slams. Emily and Sophie run to the gate. Sarah stands behind them; Max stays back. Maddy is full of smiles at seeing Emily. She comes in the gate and hugs and kisses them all. When she spots Max, her smile drops.
Later, when Sarah and Sophie have gone and he is finishing off the gardening, Maddy comes over. He squints at her standing over him, blocking the sun, a halo of sunlight crowning her head. She reaches a hand down to him and he clasps it tight, never wanting to let her go.
A Letter From Ruby
Thank you for reading my second novel, Every Little Secret. I hope you enjoyed coming on this journey with Maddy, Max and Alison. If you enjoyed this book, I would be grateful if you could leave a short review. It really makes a huge difference!
This is a story that I strongly felt needed to be told from all sides. I’d heard about men having two families and it was always treated as a bit of a joke with people wondering what would happen if both ‘wives’ found out about each other. My fascination with the subject grew and over the years I collected many articles and real-life accounts, mainly told from the women’s point of view.
One first person feature stood out to me because it was told from all three sides. The man wasn’t the typical jack-the-lad that I’d first imagined. He’d almost unwittingly become entangled in a relationship triangle with two women who both wanted to have his babies. The consequences were devastating and damaging for all involved.
I wanted to explore how a wife in this situation would react to finding out her husband had a secret family. I imagined that her jealousy and desperate need for answers would lead her to behave completely out of character, being driven to stalk the other woman and worse. I tried to push all my characters to the very edge and hopefully showed that there are no winners.
I love hearing from readers, so do get in touch via Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads or through my website.
Thank you very much for your support.
Ruby x
www.herabooks.com/authors/ruby-speechley
@rubyspeechley
Rubyspeechley.com
Acknowledgments
Firstly, none of this would be possible without the love and support of my dear husband, Richard. He has been there from day one, driving across the country to pick me up from my first Arvon Foundation course twenty years ago, and listening to me wittering on about writing ever since!
This novel was conceived over ten years ago on a writing MA at Sheffield Hallam university, and will be recognised by many friends and fellow writers as The Black Garden. Finally seeing it in print is a wonderful nod to my struggling younger self and the solid belief I always had in this story. It’s taken enormous hard work and endless drafts to finally get it published and there are so many people who have helped me along the way – it’s impossible to name them all.
Thank you to my wonderful agent, Jo Bell, for always being there for advice and support and for helping me navigate through my publishing journey. Thanks to the whole team at Bell Lomax Moreton for cheering me on. Thank you to my incredible publishers, Hera Books – Keshini Naidoo and Lindsey Mooney – two impressive women who work so hard for all their authors. I feel very lucky to have Keshini as my editor. She has helped to make this novel the one I always hoped it would be.
My MA tutor, Lesley Glaister gave me encouragement, feedback and support whilst I was writing the first draft. I’m truly indebted to her. Subsequent sections and drafts were read by many fellow writers and tutors, including Susan Elliot Wright, Jude Brown, Caroline Priestly, Philippa Ronan, Jo Berry, Britta Jensen, Fiona Mitchell, Vanessa Fox O’Loughlin, Louise Tondeur and Martyn Bedford. Later drafts were improved by partial and full manuscript reports from Emma Darwin, Shelley Harris, Amanda Saint at Retreat West and Sara Sarre at The Blue Pencil Agency. As The Black Garden, this novel won Retreat West’s First Chapter competition in 2015, chosen by a literary agent.
Thank you to Graham Bartlett, Police Advisor for your answers to all my questions and for your patience. Thank you for your last-minute advice, Jules Swain, Ambulance Paramedic. I have used artistic license with a couple of details about Uxbridge, for instance the newspaper kiosk outside Uxbridge station closed several years ago. Any errors in this book are entirely my own.
Thanks also to Richard Skinner at the Faber Academy for showcasing chapter one of this novel in the Writing a Novel class of 2016 anthology.
Heartfelt thanks to all my family, friends and supporters online and offline, especially Susan Elliot Wright, Rose McGinty, Lucille Grant, Louise Jensen and Tracey, Mark and Alice Weeks – your support, advice and friendship keeps me smiling.
> Finally, all my love to my dearest children, Charlie, Edward and Sophie. I know how lucky I am to have you all.
Books By Ruby Speechley
Someone Else’s Baby
First published in the United Kingdom in 2020 by Hera
Hera Books
28b Cricketfield Road
London, E5 8NS
United Kingdom
Copyright © Ruby Speechley, 2020
The moral right of Ruby Speechley to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 9781912973255
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places and events are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
Every Little Secret Page 29