The Perfect Stepmother

by King, Karen

  Three of the ladies volunteered so Jez took a few photos, snapping one of Maria giving someone a facial.

  ‘Now how about one of the staff, with the boss in front?’ he suggested.

  ‘I’d prefer not to do staged photos like that. I’d rather you keep to the photos of us giving the clients treatments, if that’s okay. Then the readers can get an idea of what we offer here,’ Maria said.

  Grace nodded. ‘You’re right. I want the article to focus on the salon itself, and especially the free treatments you offer cancer patients.’

  Maria was relieved to hear that. She was proud of her salon and the work they did, and if the article attracted more paying clients, then that would be more funds to help more cancer sufferers.

  ‘Do you think any of your clients with cancer would agree to be interviewed by us? I really would like to highlight this free treatment you offer. I know it’s very short notice but Jez and I could go around this afternoon.’

  ‘I’m sure a couple of them would. I’ll give the likeliest candidates a ring now and find out,’ Amanda offered. ‘If that’s okay, Maria?’

  Maria nodded. ‘Please don’t pressure anyone though. It’s perfectly fine if they’d prefer not to do it.’

  Amanda returned ten minutes later with the names of two ladies who were happy to be interviewed.

  ‘Thank you, we’ll go around to see them now,’ Grace said, taking the piece of paper off Amanda and putting it in her pocket.

  ‘When will it be in the paper?’ asked Olivia.

  ‘This Thursday if we can,’ Grace said. ‘Thank you, everyone. Now we must dash. See you soon, Maria.’

  The girls were excited all day, chatting about the article. Maria was relieved with how well it had all gone and was actually looking forward to seeing the article. Perhaps she was silly to shy away from publicity. Olivia had been telling her for ages that they should publicise the salon more rather than rely on word-of-mouth recommendations.

  I really need to stop worrying. The past has gone, she told herself. It was twenty-two years ago. No one will even remember it now.

  Except her. And Alicia’s family. None of them would ever forget it.

  20

  Maria

  The article was in the newspaper on Thursday morning. Maria turned to it and started to read it anxiously. A colour photo of Daisy’s Beauty Salon was spread across the top of the page with the headline, ‘The Beauty Therapist with a Heart of Gold’. The article then went on to praise Maria for all the free treatments she offered cancer patients. It ended with a paragraph saying that Maria had recently married the husband of one of her customers who had died, and now cared for their young daughter. This was followed by some mention of the charity events that Maria was taking part in. There were photos of the staff doing facials, manicures and eyebrow and lash dying, with a big central picture of Maria smiling at Mrs Bronton as she gave her a manicure. Maria bit her lip as she studied the photo. You could see her face clearly. Too clearly. She’d had no idea Jez had taken this. What if someone recognised her?

  ‘It’s a fantastic article, isn’t it?’ Candice said. ‘I bet this will bring in a lot of business.’

  The women were buzzing with excitement – the article had given them all a big boost, Maria could see that. She had to stop panicking about that photo. She had changed so much over the past twenty-two years that she was sure no one would recognise her. She was older, her long, fair hair replaced by a dark bob. Even if someone thought she looked familiar, they would never believe it was her, that she could possibly rise from the ashes of her earlier life to own a salon like this.

  ‘I’ll go and make us all a drink,’ she said. She went into the kitchen and put the kettle on, then sat down at the table, tapping her wrist with two fingers to calm herself down. She made herself a chamomile tea, coffee for the others, and sat down to drink it slowly, the warm liquid soothing her. When the other women came in to drink their cups of coffee, still chatting excitedly, she was able to smile at them and join in.

  Clients came into the salon, beaming, talking about the article, proud to be associated with Daisy’s. Maria’s fear gradually left her as they enveloped her in their praise and congratulations. Sue would be so pleased for her. She wished her friend was here today, standing beside her. She could see her face, those wild dark curls, soulful brown eyes. She knew that Sue would put her arm around Maria’s shoulder and tell her that she was proud of her for turning her life around.

  Would her mother have been proud of her if she was still alive? Her father, who was still alive but dead to her, wouldn’t be. Nothing she did would ever make him proud of her again. She guessed her mother would have felt the same. They had both disowned her long ago.

  What do you expect after what you did?

  Later, she went to the loo and checked her phone. There was a message from Gareth congratulating her on the article, telling her that he’d invited Lily and Seb over for a takeaway and a drink that evening to celebrate. She smiled as she read it, thinking once again how lucky she was to have Gareth and Emma in her life. She texted back:

  That sounds brilliant. See you later. xx

  Amanda grinned at her when she walked back in. ‘You look cheerful. Had a love text from hubby?’ she asked, seeing Maria’s phone in her hand.

  Maria smiled. ‘He’s invited Lily and Seb around tonight to celebrate the article in the paper.’ She put the phone back in her bag. ‘What are you up to tonight?’

  ‘I’m off out with Rosie, we’re going to the new wine bar in town,’ Amanda told her. ‘I’m enjoying the single life.’

  ‘That’s two of you with nice evenings planned. All I get to do is sit in front of the TV by myself,’ Candice remarked. Her husband was working away and her son was at university.

  ‘Enjoy it. I’ll be coping with toddler and teenage tantrums,’ Olivia told her. Olivia had been shocked to discover that she was having another baby three years ago when her other two children were nine and eleven. She had soon got used to the idea though and often entertained them all with her tales from the ‘nightmare house’ as she’d dubbed her home.

  As Maria listened to the banter she thought how lucky she was, both at home and at work. She really should appreciate her life more and stop looking back. As Sue had often said, ‘Don’t let your past ruin your future.’

  * * *

  When Maria walked into the house, Lily and Seb were already there and she was greeted by a loud cheer. Gareth popped open a bottle of champagne and poured it into four waiting glasses. ‘I know you don’t usually drink, Maria, but I thought you might want to make an exception seeing as it’s a special occasion,’ he said, holding out the glass.

  ‘Of course,’ Maria said, accepting it with a smile.

  Gareth gave Emma a glass of apple juice, then he raised his own glass to Maria. ‘Here’s to Daisy’s. May it go from strength to strength.’

  ‘To Daisy’s!’ Lily, Seb and Emma shouted together, raising their glasses.

  Maria looked at everyone’s happy faces, feeling so grateful to be part of this wonderful family. ‘To us,’ she said then she took a sip of the sparkling liquid.

  ‘To us!’ They all raised their glasses a second time.

  ‘I’ve made you a card,’ Emma said, holding out a sparkly piece of paper.

  Maria took it from the little girl, her eyes welling up as they rested on the sparkly red heart on the front with the words ‘To Maria’ across the top, then she turned to the inside where Emma had written, with only a few misspellings and crossings out: ‘You are so kind and pretty and we all love you, love Emma xxx’

  ‘Thank you, darling,’ she said, bending down to kiss the little girl on the cheek.

  It was a lovely evening; she couldn’t remember the last time she had enjoyed herself so much, Maria thought as she got ready for bed that night. Even Lily had been friendly. It was as if she had finally accepted her.

  ‘I know you were really nervous about doing that newspaper int
erview, darling, but I think that Grace has done you proud.’ Gareth wrapped his arms around her as she climbed into bed and snuggled up to him. ‘You always shy away from publicity almost as if you feel you shouldn’t tell people what you do. As if you feel it’s boasting or something.’ He kissed her on the forehead. ‘You should be proud of what you do. We’re all very proud of you.’

  As Maria snuggled into the warmth of his embrace she thought that she had never been happier.

  21

  Maria

  Sixteen days before Emma disappeared

  ‘That was a lovely write-up of you in the paper,’ Tanya, one of her regulars who was in remission from cancer, said the next day when Maria was giving her a pedicure. ‘You’re an angel, you are, Maria. You don’t realise what a difference you make to our lives.’ Her voice wavered as she watched Maria expertly painting the sapphire-blue nail varnish onto her toes. ‘Cancer robs us of our femininity but you give it us back.’

  Maria gave a final brushstroke to Tanya’s nail and looked up with a smile, pleased to hear that she had made Tanya’s life a little easier. ‘Thank you, Tanya, that’s so kind of you to say.’ She’d been so worried about the article but the response she’d had so far had been amazing. She’d been humbled by the people who had phoned and messaged to say they had seen the article and how proud they were of her. Had she finally atoned for her past? How she hoped that she could now put it all behind her and get on with her life. She knew that the guilt would never leave her – how could it? But could she finally stop looking over her shoulder, thinking that someone would find out who she was, what she had done, and destroy the new life she had built for herself?

  There was a buzz about the salon; all the staff were on a high, especially Amanda, who had apparently met the ‘most fantastic guy’ the night before. ‘Ours eyes met across the crowded bar and he walked over and introduced himself,’ she said dreamily ‘His name’s Al and he’s really, really gorgeous.’

  ‘Here we go again,’ Sophie said, winking at Maria.

  All the clients were full of praise about the article, and the phone was ringing constantly. Maria had a spring in her step as she set off to visit her two ‘home customers’ after lunch. She’d spend an hour or so with each of them and then get home early and spend some time with Emma before Lily came by on her way home from work. She loved Fridays, when she got to treat her special clients, then had the whole weekend to spend time with Gareth and Emma, her precious family.

  Life was good.

  * * *

  After picking up Emma from Hazel’s, they went to the park, where Maria pushed the little girl on the swing for a while.

  ‘Higher!’ Emma called, giggling. ‘Higher, Mummy.’

  Mummy! Maria stood still in shock and delight. It was the first time that Emma had called her ‘Mummy’. She and Gareth had said that they would leave it to the little girl to decide what to call her, and up until now it had always been Maria. Maria’s heart soared at the knowledge that Emma had accepted her as her mother. She never thought she would be a ‘Mummy’. She felt tears prick her eyes.

  ‘Hold tight, I don’t want you to fall off,’ she said as she rested her hand on the swing and pushed it a little higher.

  * * *

  ‘Is it okay to call you Mummy? You are my mummy if you’re married to my daddy, aren’t you?’ Emma asked, gazing up at her as she clutched her hand on the way home.

  ‘Of course it is. I’m very happy to be your mummy,’ Maria told her, bending down and giving her a hug.

  They stopped off at the shop for an ice cream and walked slowly home together, still holding hands. Lily will be here soon, Maria thought, wondering how her eldest stepdaughter would feel about Emma calling her ‘Mummy’. Gareth would be delighted, she knew that. But she still felt that Lily hadn’t quite accepted her, that she was waiting for her to slip up. Being a stepmother wasn’t easy, but Emma she could handle – it was the older daughter who caused her the most worry. She sighed. She had to be patient; her relationship with Lily was improving and she hoped that Lily would accept her eventually.

  She unlocked the door and pushed it open to find two letters on the mat. She let Emma through then stooped to pick them up, closing the door behind her. One was a brown envelope, a bill. She flicked to the other one: a white envelope with the name MARIA written on it in bright red capitals. And no stamp.

  Puzzled, she opened the envelope and took out a sheet of paper, her hand trembling as she read the single-line message written in red capitals:

  YOU CAN CHANGE YOUR NAME BUT NOT WHAT YOU DID.

  ‘Lily’s here!’ Emma shouted, jolting Maria out of her daze to realise that the doorbell was ringing. How long had she been standing here, staring at the letter? She thrust it in her bag and went to open the door.

  ‘Sorry to keep you waiting,’ she said, trying to gather herself together.

  ‘It’s okay.’ Lily stepped inside, smiling at the ice cream smudged on her little sister’s face. ‘I think you’ve been eating ice cream.’

  Emma nodded. ‘Mummy bought it me. And we went to the park.’

  Maria saw the startled look in Lily’s eyes and the muscles stiffen in her face when Emma said ‘Mummy’. Then she composed herself. ‘That’s lovely. Now I’ve got you a little present too. How about we go and sit on the swingy-seat and you tell me what you’ve been doing this week?’

  She was lucky that Lily hadn’t arrived any earlier – she might have picked up the letter. What if another one arrived over the weekend? Or when she was at work and Gareth opened it?

  * * *

  Maria thought about the note all week, dreading every knock on the door, every phone call, every letter, thinking that someone was about to expose her. As the days slowly went by she began to hope that maybe it was a one-off, someone playing a horrible trick, wanting to unsettle her.

  Deep down though, she knew that someone had found out about her past. What she didn’t know was what they intended to do with that knowledge.

  22

  Lily

  Nine days before Emma disappeared

  ‘Hello, Lily.’ Maria opened the door with her usual smile on her face. ‘We’ve been making fans to keep us cool.’ She stepped aside to let Lily in. ‘Do come in. Would you like a glass of iced tea?’

  ‘Yes, please.’ Lily wiped her feet carefully on the doormat and followed Maria down the hall to the kitchen, where Emma was seated at the large oak table – now covered in a waterproof tablecloth – her long golden hair tied up in bunches, tongue sticking out, as she painted a rectangle of paper. Four patterned paper fans lay on the table in front of her.

  ‘Hello, darling, you look busy. Those fans are pretty.’ Lily knelt down by her little sister and gave her a peck on the cheek.

  ‘Me and Mummy are making one for everyone cos it’s so hot,’ Emma told her. She reached out and picked up a red fan dotted with white hearts and covered with sparkly glitter. ‘This is for you.’ It still jarred Lily to hear Emma call Maria ‘Mummy’ but she could see that both Maria and her father were delighted about it. I should be pleased that Emma is happy and loves Maria so much, she thought.

  ‘For me? Oh, thank you, that’s so pretty.’

  ‘It will keep you cool when you’re working in the shop,’ Emma told her. ‘I’ve made one for my teacher too.’ She pointed to a pale blue fan with pink hearts, again sprinkled with glitter. ‘Blue is her favourite colour.’

  ‘They are all wonderful,’ Lily said, looking at the array of fans on the table. ‘Which one is yours?’ She was guessing it was the purple one – purple was Emma’s favourite colour. Just as she thought, Emma picked up the purple and pink heart fan. ‘This one.’ She grinned. ‘I’m making Daddy a black one so that it doesn’t look too girly.’

  Lily grinned at the thought of their father fanning himself with Emma’s home-made fan as he talked to his clients.

  ‘This one is for Seb.’ Emma picked up a yellow fan covered with smiley faces.


  ‘Thank you, he’ll love it,’ Lily told her. Seb would too. She knew he would take it with him when he went on one of his plumbing jobs, fanning himself with it to cool down and winning over the lady of the house at the same time. Not that Seb did it for that; he was oblivious to his ‘loveable-boy-next-door’ charms. Which was another reason Lily adored him so much, even if she did find him annoying at times.

  Lily popped both fans into her handbag. ‘Want to come and sit out in the garden and chat with me?’ She still always tried to make sure she had a few minutes alone with Emma whenever she visited, to give her a chance to confide in her if anything was troubling her.

  ‘I’ll bring the drinks out to you, and how about some strawberries and ice cream too?’ Maria suggested, putting a glass of iced tea and a beaker of flavoured water on a tray.

  ‘Thanks, that sounds delicious.’ Lily held her hand out to Emma. ‘Come on, let’s sit on the swingy-seat.’

  ‘Hang on, I need the loo.’ Emma scrambled from the table and sped off into the hall.

  ‘It’s nice of you to drop in again, Lily. I hope you and Seb are keeping well?’ Maria asked as she spooned strawberries into two dishes.

  ‘Oh, yes, we’re both fine. We’re looking forward to having Emma over for a sleepover tomorrow.’ Maria was finally letting go of Emma a little and she and Gareth were going out again. ‘You all must come over for a barbecue soon. It’s been a while since we’ve had a family day.’

  ‘Thank you, that sounds lovely. Maybe next Sunday? I’m helping out at the hospice’s summer fayre tomorrow afternoon, to raise funds to help refurnish the family suite and really want to just unwind this Sunday. Perhaps you and Seb could come along to the fayre though?’