The Perfect Stepmother

by King, Karen

  ‘Yes, because I got upset thinking about Mum and didn’t want you to know that I’d been. I know you’ve moved on, Dad, but I still think about Mum every day.’ Her voice choked a bit and Gareth immediately put his arms around her shoulder.

  ‘It’s all right, love. We know you didn’t mean any harm, don’t we, Maria?’

  Lily was clever and had her dad right where she wanted him. Maria forced a smile on her face. ‘I’m sure you didn’t, Lily, but it was very confusing for my staff. I’d prefer you to let me know next time you’re popping in.’

  ‘I’ll walk home with you, Lily,’ Gareth said. ‘I won’t be long, Maria.’

  Maria watched as they both walked out. Gareth obviously wanted to question Lily more about her behaviour. Would Lily say anything to cause trouble between them?

  35

  Lily

  ‘I thought that you had accepted Maria now, Lily. I understand you wanting to visit Daisy’s but why didn’t you tell Maria? And why did you question the staff about her?’ Gareth said as they walked along the street.

  So, he hadn’t completely swallowed her story then. How much could she tell him about her suspicions without driving a wedge between them? The last thing she wanted was to be banned from the house – she needed to be able to keep an eye on Emma, to make sure her little sister wasn’t in danger. She was silent for a moment; she’d already told him about the letter and he’d fobbed it off but maybe if she told him how worried she was it would explain her actions a little.

  ‘I’m sorry, Dad, but when I saw Maria’s reaction to that letter on Friday it worried me. She looked really scared so I thought the staff at the salon might be able to tell me more about it.’

  ‘We’ve already discussed this letter. If it was from an unhappy client, then it’s only natural Maria wouldn’t want to discuss it with us.’

  ‘It was hand-delivered, Dad. And Amanda at the salon said that their clients are never given the staff’s home addresses,’ she pointed out.

  ‘Well, maybe this one was an exception.’ They were standing outside her house now. Gareth dug his hands in his pockets as he turned to her. ‘Lily, you need to stop being so suspicious of Maria. I know it was a shock for you when we got married but that was months ago and surely even you can see that she is a wonderful wife to me and a loving stepmother to Emma.’

  Lily nodded. ‘It’s just that I can’t get it out of my mind how convenient this all was for Maria. A handsome husband, nice house, gorgeous stepdaughter when she’d probably thought she would never get married, and can’t have children of her own.’

  ‘What do you mean? I know Maria is forty but that’s not too old to have children. If fact, we only talked about it the other week. I asked Maria if she wanted a child of her own but she said she didn’t and loved being a stepmother to Emma.’

  Another one of Maria’s lies. ‘Well, Emma said that Maria told her she’s extra-special to her because she can’t have her own children.’

  ‘Perhaps Emma got it a little mixed up.’

  She could see he was doubtful. ‘Or perhaps Maria isn’t entirely truthful to you.’

  She saw the anger flash across his face. ‘I don’t wish to talk to you about this any more, Lily. Maria doesn’t have to explain herself to you. I don’t interfere with your relationship, so please stop interfering with mine.’ He looked at her steadily then turned and walked away.

  He was angry with her, and she knew she had to tread carefully if she didn’t want to destroy her relationship with him, but she had to make him see that Maria wasn’t everything she seemed.

  36

  Maria

  Four days before Emma disappeared

  Maria sipped her decaf, her head reeling. She hadn’t slept well. Again. She felt like things were closing in on her, that any moment her past would be exposed. Gareth had started questioning her now. She’d seen by his face when he’d returned from walking Lily home yesterday that Lily had told him something, and guessed it was about the letter so had decided to broach it before he did to make it look like she was going to tell him but was waiting for the right time. So when Emma had finally fallen asleep in bed she’d sat down on the sofa by him. ‘There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you,’ she’d said softly. ‘One of my clients put a letter through the door; she was unhappy about a new skin treatment one of the girls had given her. She had an allergic reaction to it…’

  ‘Lily told me. She said that you were really shaken up.’ He’d turned to face her, his eyes troubled. ‘I guessed it was from an unhappy client and can understand that you would find it upsetting but I wish you’d mentioned it, Maria. I don’t want us to have secrets from each other.’

  ‘I’m sorry. I was so upset that I ripped it up. I know I lied to Lily but I was ashamed to have a complaint personally delivered to my home. It’s never happened before. It’s all fine now. I’ve contacted the client and given her compensation.’ She’d reached out and taken Gareth’s hand. ‘Perhaps I should have told you straight away but you have to remember, Gareth, that I’m used to making my own decisions. I’m not used to confiding in anyone or having to tell someone everything I do.’

  Gareth had stood up and paced around; she could see that there was something else on his mind. Something more serious.

  ‘There is something else that is puzzling me. You told me that you don’t want any children of your own but apparently you told Emma that you can’t have children.’ He’d turned to face her. ‘There’s a big difference between not wanting children and not being able to have them. Which is true?’

  Maria had sat down, her knees feeling weak beneath her. It was all going wrong. Lily was causing a divide between them. She had to be very careful how she handled this. ‘It’s true that I can’t have children. I told you that I didn’t want any, that I was happy with just Emma, because that’s also true. The fact that I can’t have children isn’t a problem for me. And you said that you don’t want any more either.’

  ‘I don’t want any more children but you should have told me something as important as that before we got married, don’t you think?’ he’d retorted.

  ‘I’m sorry, but everything happened so fast,’ she’d whispered. ‘With you having children already, and my age, I didn’t think… Are you angry with me?’

  He had sighed then and shook his head. ‘I’m disappointed more than angry. I want us to be honest with each other, to share things. I don’t want to learn them from Lily.’

  ‘That’s what I want too. I love you, Gareth. I don’t want us to fight.’

  ‘I love you too,’ he’d said and hugged her. But she could sense something had shifted between them. Lily had given him cause to doubt her. Lily was a danger to her happiness and Maria wanted to shut her out of their lives, but she knew that even if she could do that, it wouldn’t be wise. She needed Lily on her side not to make an enemy of her. Sue had often repeated an old saying: ‘Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.’ And she intended to keep Lily very close.

  * * *

  Gareth was working from home today so he could look after Emma, who was still looking peaky although she had thankfully stopped being sick. Maria was hoping that he wouldn’t have to go to an appointment and ask Lily to take over, giving her another opportunity to look around. She could feel the panic welling up inside and tapped two fingers on her wrist to try and calm herself down. Lily had nothing on her. It wasn’t a crime to keep a photo of your parents in your drawer, and it was only natural that she didn’t want it on display when they were both dead. Except her father wasn’t dead, was he? It was Maria who was dead to him, as he had declared very loudly all those years ago. When it had happened. She shut her eyes, blocking out the memory. She had to pull herself together. She had clients waiting for treatment.

  ‘Are you all right, Maria?’

  She could hear the anxiety in Olivia’s voice and opened her eyes, a bright smile already springing to her lips. ‘I’m a little tired. Emma was sent home with a
tummy bug Monday, and still hasn’t completely recovered so is still off school.’

  ‘Poor mite. Do you want me to cover for you so you can get home early?’

  ‘Thank you but she’ll be fine, Gareth is with her.’ She reached for the kettle. ‘I’m doing myself a proper coffee for a change, I need to liven myself up. Do you want one?’

  ‘Yes, please.’ Olivia pulled out a chair. ‘Is everything okay at home? I don’t want to pry but your stepdaughter coming here and… well, you’ve been looking a bit stressed lately.’

  Maria kept her head turned away as she reached for another mug. ‘It’s all fine. Thank you for asking.’ She hated this. She was a private person and now she sensed that the girls were all gossiping about her. All because of Lily.

  She had to put Lily out of her mind and concentrate on her job. She had to be professional. Fixing a smile back on her face, she turned to Olivia. ‘I’ve had a chat with Lily and we’ve sorted things out. Families, eh?’ She passed the mug of coffee to Olivia. ‘Now how’s that teenage daughter of yours?’

  ‘A nightmare! I swear she deliberately sets out to wind me up.’ With Olivia now safely distracted, Maria felt herself relax. Gareth loved her; whatever Lily said to him, he would tell Maria and they would talk it over. Even so, she was glad that she had moved the tin.

  It wasn’t until later that afternoon that another thought brought her up sharp. What if another letter got delivered? The other two letters had been delivered on a Friday but she couldn’t assume they would always come on the same day. What if one came today and Gareth opened it? She couldn’t risk it. She would have to try and leave early. She had a look through her appointment book to see who her clients were for this afternoon. There was one at three thirty and another at four fifteen. She checked Olivia’s and Candice’s appointments, and they were fully booked too. The only way she could get away would be to cancel her two and that wouldn’t be any good for business, especially as these two women were her most lucrative and well-connected clients.

  There might not be another letter, she told herself, taking a deep breath and tapping with two fingers on her inside wrist to calm herself down.

  ‘Are you okay, honey? You’re tapping again, you must be stressed,’ Candice remarked, glancing over at her.

  ‘I’m fine, honestly.’ She flashed her a smile to reassure her. She had to focus on her work this afternoon and push all other thoughts out of her mind.

  * * *

  Just as she was leaving a text pinged in from Gareth:

  I’ve had to go and see a client again but luckily Lily has been able to leave early to sit with Emma. See you soon.

  She sucked in her breath. Damn. That was the last thing she wanted.

  There’s nothing to find, she reminded herself. I’ve moved it all.

  When she finally arrived home she found Lily and Emma sitting at the dining table, which Lily had covered with the plastic tablecloth Maria kept for messy play and painting. They both greeted her with a big smile.

  ‘Hello, this looks fun. Are you feeling better, Emma?’ Maria asked. The little girl certainly did look a lot better now: she had colour back in her cheeks and her eyes were sparkling.

  ‘Much better. I haven’t been sick at all and my tummy has stopped hurting,’ Emma said. ‘Look – we drew around our hands and now we’re making them pretty.’ She showed Maria the flower-decorated hand she had just painted and was now scattering glitter over. ‘I’m going to put it on my bedroom wall. Lily’s drawn around her hand too. Will you draw around your hand, Mummy? I’ll ask Daddy too, then I can have a family of hands on my wall.’

  ‘Yes, of course I will. Give me a few minutes to get changed.’ Maria glanced at Lily. ‘Has she eaten anything today?’

  ‘Yes, she ate all her lunch, according to Dad. And she just had a cheese sandwich. I think she can go to school tomorrow.’

  ‘That’s good. Thank you for looking after her – again – at such short notice.’

  ‘I’ll always look after her, she’s my little sister.’

  Maria wondered if there was an underlying implication in Lily’s words as she went upstairs to change. She quickly checked around the room to see if anything had been moved but it all seemed okay and the mattress hadn’t been disturbed. Relieved, she changed into a summer dress and went back downstairs.

  Lily was now drawing an exquisite family tree on a large sheet of paper, while Emma watched. Hanging from the branches were baubles with names written on them. Ruth’s name was there, she could see, above Maria’s. There were some baubles without names too.

  ‘Lily said I can have a family tree wall. We can put the handprints on it. And we’re going to stick photos on the baubles hanging from the family tree,’ Emma said. ‘Can I put a photo of you on it, Mummy?’

  ‘Of course you can.’ Maria went over to the fridge and took out the jug of chilled water. ‘Do you want a glass, Lily?’ she asked, placing the jug on the worktop and reaching into the cupboard for a glass.

  ‘No thanks, I’ve not long had a coffee,’ she said.

  ‘Can I put a photo of Seb on my family tree too, and Nanny and Grandad?’ Emma asked.

  ‘Of course, I’ll look through the album and sort them out for you,’ Lily told her. ‘Maybe Maria will give you a photo of her mum and dad to put on the wall because they’re sort of your nanny and grandad too.’

  Maria’s hands shook as the glass dropped from her fingers onto the floor with a crash.

  37

  Lily

  Two days before Emma disappeared

  It had been a hectic week at work. Yesterday they’d had a new delivery of notebooks and stationery so Lily had had to incorporate them into a window display and counter display, then Bev, the shop owner, had asked Lily and Jenni to come in early on Friday so they could get the stocktaking done before the shop opened to clients.

  ‘Right, girls, you had an early start today so I’m letting you go an hour early,’ Bev said on Friday afternoon when the shop was fairly quiet. ‘And I want you both to have a drink on me.’ She took two ten-pound notes out of her purse and handed them one each. ‘That should be enough for you to have a cup of coffee and a cake each – I’d say have a cocktail, but I know you’re both driving.’

  ‘Coffee and cake sounds good to me,’ Jenni said. ‘It will give us a chance to have a catch-up too, won’t it, Lily?’

  Lily smiled. ‘It will. Thank you, Bev. That’s really kind of you.’

  Bev waved her hand dismissively. ‘You’ve worked hard and I like to show my appreciation. Now be off with you both before more clients come in and I change my mind.’

  ‘We’re gone!’ Jenni grinned.

  They both went out the back for their bags and were off. ‘Shall we go to the Munch Bar? I haven’t tried it yet,’ Jenni suggested as they walked out of the shop. The Munch Bar had only opened a month or so ago and already had a reputation for serving delicious cakes and a variety of coffees and frappés.

  ‘Sure,’ Lily agreed. ‘I could do with a mocha and a seriously chocolatey cake right now.’

  They were met with a wide variety of cakes, which Jenni and Lily positively drooled over. Finally they made their choices, and along with a mocha for Lily and a caramel frappé for Jenni, they made their way over to a table by the window.

  ‘How are the wedding plans coming on?’ Lily asked as they sat down. Jenni and her partner Tyler were getting married next spring and Jenni wanted a quiet, simple affair, but both mothers wanted it to be the wedding of the decade and were battling with each other over venues, dresses and so on. Jenni was getting very frustrated with it all and was threatening to call the whole thing off and elope. Apparently Tyler was in agreement with her.

  ‘Don’t ask,’ Jenni said, rolling her eyes dramatically. ‘I think your dad and stepmum had the right idea: a small wedding with just close family.’

  Lily frowned at the mention of her stepmother and Jenni raised an eyebrow. ‘What’s up? Are you still not getting o
n with her?’

  ‘It’s not that I don’t get on with her. It’s just that there’s something about her. I mean she never mentions her past, her family, friends. Anything at all. It’s as if she didn’t have a life before ten years ago when she started the salon.’ She hadn’t meant to say all that to Jenni, but now she had she was glad. It was good to be able to put her doubts into words to someone more open-minded than her dad or Seb.

  ‘It is a bit odd, but you know not everyone is close to their family. Maybe they just don’t get on. I could cheerfully go for years without seeing Tyler’s mum. Although I think he’s beginning to feel like that about my mum too right now.’ She scooped up a chunk of gateau on her fork before asking, ‘Has Maria got any brothers or sisters?’

  ‘I asked her once and she said no, and that her parents were dead. You’d think she’d have aunts and uncles though, or friends? The way she replied it was as if I shouldn’t have asked her and she didn’t want to talk about it, so I apologised and didn’t ask any more.’

  ‘Maybe she moved out of the area, away from them all. Families are scattered now.’

  She had a point. ‘Would you keep a photo of your mum and dad face down in the bottom of your underwear drawer?’ Lily asked.

  Jenni looked surprised. ‘Maybe if I’d fallen out with them both. Why?’

  Lily picked up her phone, selected the gallery and slid along to the photo. She held it out to show Jenni. ‘This was face down in the bottom of Maria’s underwear drawer. As if she was hiding it. I think it’s her parents.’

  Jenni squinted her eyes as she studied the photo. ‘I think you’re probably right. Maria looks like this woman – see the eyes and the mouth – although Maria’s hair is dark not blonde.’ She took another forkful of her cake and ate it silently as if thinking something over. Then she asked, ‘What were you doing in Maria’s underwear drawer, and why did you take a photo of this?’