House of Secrets

by Lynda Stacey

  ‘You like him, don’t you?’

  Kate stalled. ‘What … like who?’

  ‘You like Ben, Kate, why else would you mention him repeatedly? Is he handsome, sexy, do you want to—’

  ‘Eve … enough.’ She laughed. ‘I don’t want to anything. I’m with Rob.’

  Eve groaned. ‘Kate, you know I love you and I’m sorry to be so blunt, but I really wish you’d rethink the Rob situation. I mean, come on, what do you ever do together, you know, as a couple? In fact, do you actually get anything at all out of that relationship? Hey?’ Eve paused and Kate could hear her fussing Max, giving her a few moments to think about what Eve had said. ‘I know what Rob gets out of it,’ Eve continued, ‘he gets free board and lodging, an all-inclusive deal. That is, if and when he decides to come home.’ The words struck a nerve. It was true. Rob did use the house as a hotel. Kate once again looked up at the clock and tried to ignore the truth in her sister’s words.

  ‘When Zoe came earlier, did she have time to walk Max?’ Kate asked in an attempt to change the subject.

  ‘Yes, of course she did and she’ll be back later. Now, tell me more about you and Ben sharing this office.’

  ‘There is no me and Ben.’ Kate took another bite of the sandwich. ‘Is Max okay? Did I hear him bark?’

  ‘Yeah. He’s okay. He’s just run down the garden to terrorise next door’s cat. Now, come on spill the beans. I can tell you like him, and to be honest, who’d blame you? Rob isn’t very nice to you, Kate. And I’d hardly call him husband material, would you?’

  ‘Wow, Eve, back off. What did Rob suddenly do wrong to you?’

  ‘He’s done nothing to me, but I love you, Kate, and I hate the way he treats you. Let’s face it. Rob loves himself far more than he’ll ever love anyone else. Ask him to leave, move on.’

  Kate shook her head. To Eve, life was literally that simple. Before the accident she’d spent most of her evenings as one big opportunity to find another man. She used to have three different boyfriends at any one time. They’d come and go like buses, normally at Eve’s request. If they were nice to her, they’d stay around for a week or two, but if not she wouldn’t think twice before ending the relationship, and moving on. Kate smiled as she remembered the day that Eve had picked the house phone up to a guy saying, ‘Hi, Eve, it’s me …’ which, of course, had sent Eve into a frenzy trying to guess who it was. After that, she’d always got her mum, James or Kate to answer the phone and find out who was calling.

  ‘Eve, Rob loves me.’ Kate tried to say it as convincingly as she could, but she still couldn’t understand his sudden change in mood, the sleeping on the settee or the days and nights he spent away from home.

  ‘Yeah, sure. Now … come on, humour a woman unable to get out much and dish the gossip. Just how tidy is this Ben?’

  Kate laughed but didn’t respond. She just thought about Ben. Everything about Ben was just a little more than tidy and it occurred to her that she wasn’t just talking about his desk. ‘He’s tidy,’ she finally said, before picking up her water and sipping from the bottle.

  Kate nodded. She liked tidy.

  ‘I knew it,’ Eve said triumphantly. ‘Lucky you, a new job and a tidy new man.’ Kate could hear the despondency that had now crept into her voice. ‘Kate, I’ve missed you today. I’d really love to see you.’ Kate could tell she was brooding. ‘Didn’t we, Max? We missed Kate, didn’t we?’ The sound of Max whimpering broke Kate’s heart. She’d bought him for Eve the year before. A black Labrador of a year old, who’d been unruly at first. But, Kate had friends in the right places and she’d happily paid one of her former colleagues, a police handler, to have Max expertly trained. And now, he could retrieve, go find the remote control, the telephone or even collect the newspaper from the specially designed post box.

  ‘I know you do, hun, but I had to take a job. Firstly, I didn’t want to starve and second, I really couldn’t bear watching daytime television any longer.’ Kate looked back across at Parker & Son, her mind drifting to Ben and what he’d be doing inside.

  ‘What would I do without daytime television?’ Eve said softly and Kate once again closed her eyes and thought of how boring and lonely Eve’s daily life really must be.

  ‘Okay, okay, I’ll pop over after work. We can take Max for a walk together, but I can’t stay long. I need to talk to Rob, you’re right, things are not good.’

  Eve’s bungalow was on her way home, which meant that Kate could easily call in after work without going too far out of her way. Besides, she liked spending time with Eve, even though that meant she quite often neglected Rob. But Rob worked away and more often than not he didn’t come home till late. He didn’t really need her. Yet, he’d made it very clear that he didn’t like Kate being at Eve’s beck and call either.

  Kate pushed the last of her sandwich into her mouth, took a gulp of the water, screwed up the paper bag, threw it in the bin and then turned to look up at the church clock.

  ‘Okay, Eve, I’ve got to get back to work now or I could be employed and dismissed all in the same day. I’ll see you later. Love you.’

  Eve put the phone down and began to stroke Max. She was happy. She’d wanted Kate to come over and was really pleased that her plan had worked. She knew that she’d gently manipulated her sister, and almost hated herself for doing so, but sometimes she got so lonely and spending time with Kate always cheered her up. Kate would be here just after five and already Eve was hoping she’d stay until at least six or seven.

  Maybe it was a twin thing, but Kate was the only one who understood her. She was the only person who knew what she had been through. She’d been there during and after the accident. She’d slept beside her at the hospital, refusing to leave, and had held her hand through all the indignity of being poked, prodded and jabbed by the doctors and nurses. The endless invasion of catheters, enemas and drugs had gone on for months. And each invasion had eventually taken away every inch of dignity that she’d previously had. She’d recoiled from all around her, from everyone except for Kate.

  She remembered the weeks after James had died, the way that everyone had mourned him. Of course, at first everyone was sympathetic that she and Kate had been hurt, but they hadn’t died, not like he had, they’d survived, so that was okay.

  But both her life and Kate’s, as they’d known it, had been lost too and Eve knew that her life would never be the same again. She’d lost the ability to walk, yet no one really seemed to care, except Kate, who’d been continuously apologetic for not having been crippled too.

  After a while it had become normal to act withdrawn. She’d enjoyed the attention that Kate had given and had continued to keep up the act long after her release from hospital. Besides, their relationship was better now, they were closer and it was different to how it had been as children.

  She laughed, remembering the identical dresses that their mother would buy. The matching shoes, hair ribbons and toys. As toddlers and teenagers everyone had expected them to be identical. Do identical things and wear identical clothes. But they’d both rebelled and had gone out of their way not to wear or do anything remotely similar. They led very individual lives. They’d had their own friends, their own clothes and their own hobbies.

  Kate had been the geeky one that had studied continuously. She’d read books and spent time with her equally geeky friends. She’d been the perfect student. The one that father had expected would go to law school. The one he’d expected to succeed and, in his eyes, the one, along with her brother, who would take over the family firm.

  Eve hadn’t cared. She’d been the wild child. She’d had no intention of becoming a lawyer. She’d worked hard as a beautician and she’d played hard at being wild, beautiful and free and the last thing she’d ever wanted was to become their father’s pet. Oh no, she’d been more than happy for James to fill that role.

  After the accident their father had become difficult. No one could speak to him and both he and their mother had treated Kate as
though the accident had been her fault. Their son had been killed and both of their daughters scarred or injured for life, but in their eyes perhaps Kate had suffered the least, so she bore the brunt of their pain and sadness. And if she were honest, Eve had been pleased when her mother and father had moved to the other side of York. It had given both her and Kate some peace, without their constant invasion of looks and questions.

  Eve stroked the black Labrador. ‘Kate’s coming later, Max. Are you excited she’s coming?’

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