The Single Wife : 'Liane Moriarty meets Elin Hilderbrand in an addictive summer read'

by Ella Grey

  “So …” Michael continued, his tone more placating, “if you’re not going out and Leah’s staying on, I might head off to the local for one or two?”

  “Sure, go ahead,” Kate said with an absent nod, as Dylan’s cries began to subside. “It’s just … couldn’t possibly leave him like this you know?” She turned to Leah. “I’d just be worrying and worrying about him all night, and I wouldn’t be able to enjoy it. You don’t mind, do you?”

  Michael didn’t seem to mind leaving him, Leah thought uncharitably. Surely if the baby was that hard going, Kate needed a break too?

  “Of course I don’t mind,” she said, trying to inject some enthusiasm into her tone. This wasn’t exactly how she’d envisaged her only night off in weeks but still … “Look, why don’t you and the baby just lie down for a quiet moment and I’ll get out of your way.”

  She’d have to ring the restaurant and cancel, she thought, and she felt lousy about that because she’d had to beg for a table in the first place. If only Kate had rung earlier to let her know the situation, then she could have slung on a pair of tracksuit bottoms and brought a bottle of wine or something.

  Although she thought guiltily, it was hardly fair to expect Kate to worry about putting Leah out. Well, if nothing else, she thought, removing her trench coat and hanging it over the banister in the hallway, she could give a hand with tidying-up.

  Obviously Kate’s priority would now be the baby rather than cleaning the windows, but surely Michael could muck in that little bit more?

  Clearly the new arrival caused more disruption than they’d imagined. She couldn’t imagine it herself. In her and Josh’s teeny apartment they could barely stretch to having visitors, let alone giving it all over to the chaos that evidently went hand in hand with a newborn.

  Removing her shoes, which were already becoming uncomfortable not to mention completely out of place in this domestic situation, Leah went back into the living-room to find Kate lying full stretch on the couch.

  Seeing Leah about to speak, she put a finger over her lips in a silencing gesture, and indicated gently to Dylan’s crib at the other end of the room.

  She had finally succeeded in calming him then, Leah thought, freezing in mid-movement. At least she and Kate might get to do a bit of catching up then. Maybe her friend had a bottle of wine stashed somewhere and they could crack that open and have a good old giggle and relax a little. It was almost nine o’clock – Dylan would sleep for the rest of night now, surely?

  Kate swung her legs onto the ground and carefully – painstakingly – tiptoed to where Leah stood motionless in the doorway.

  “You should go,” she whispered faintly, while keeping one eye on the baby’s crib. “He’ll be fine now – I think I have him down until his next feed.”

  Leah was startled. “Go? I thought I’d stay on for a while, share a bottle of wine or something …”

  Kate motioned her to the other side of the door and out into the hallway.

  “A bottle of wine?” she repeated, an edge to her voice. “What kind of a mother would I be to go off getting pissed with my baby son in the next room? What if he wakes up again and I’m too out of it to see to him properly?”

  “I never said anything about getting pissed, Kate.” Leah was taken aback at her tone. “I just thought it would be nice for you and me to relax a little, seeing as we’re not going out – have a bit of a girlie night in, I suppose.” She shrugged, unsure what to say.

  “For heaven’s sake Leah, there’s more to life than going out and having silly conversations about nonsense,” Kate whispered, but to Leah it sounded more like an impatient hiss.

  Stung, she looked away.

  “I’m sorry,” Kate sighed, running a hand through her hair. “I’m just … not up to it tonight.”

  “I wasn’t suggesting anything like that.” Leah tried not to betray her upset. “I just thought that with the way things are at the moment, your kicking back and relaxing a little bit might help.”

  “What? What do you mean ‘the way things are at the moment’, Leah?” Kate snapped again. “Do you think that just because Dylan was crying tonight that I’m not coping? That I’m not a good mother, is that it?”

  “Of course not. Of course that’s not what I meant. I wouldn’t dream of suggesting anything like that.” She looked up and seeing Kate’s hard expression, realised that whatever she said tonight would probably be the wrong thing.

  All of a sudden, she felt terribly guilty. Poor Kate was obviously worn-out and hassled, and most likely all she wanted was an early night while she had the chance.

  Leah had been silly in suggesting anything else, and she shouldn’t really blame her for getting frustrated. She would be frustrated too if she had been stuck all day and night with a screaming baby who couldn’t settle, and then the first second she has to relax, her friend wants her attention.

  No, Kate was right. She should leave her alone, and let her get some much-needed sleep.

  “You’re right,” she said, resting a hand on her friend’s arm and getting a weak smile in return. “You’re tired, and I’m sure the last thing you need is visitors tonight. I’ll go and leave you to it, and perhaps we can arrange another night, when you feel up to it.”

  She winced, regretting her choice of words as soon as they were out, and Kate’s expression instantly hardened.

  “I’m not ill, you know,” she said touchily. “I just happened to have a bad day with him today – he’s usually fine.”

  “I know that.” At this stage, Leah couldn’t wait to leave. She picked up her coat from the banister. “Get some rest tonight and I’ll give you a ring during the week, OK?”

  Despite herself, Leah felt hurt. Of course she could appreciate her friend was tired and weary, but was it necessary to be so short with her? Her only intention tonight had been to help Kate relax, get her out of the house and back to the real world, albeit temporarily.

  She was sure that her friend would appreciate that, that she would be grateful for a chance to escape the chaos for a bit.

  But, obviously, Leah thought, as she got in the car and pulled out of Kate’s driveway, she had got it badly wrong.

  “What do you think? Was I being selfish?” Leah asked Josh after he’d returned from yet another late shift.

  “I wouldn’t see it like that,” he answered, taking a beer from the fridge. “Kate made the arrangement with you in the first place – it’s not as though you just arrived on her doorstep, dressed up to the nines and demanding to be entertained.”

  Leah bit her lip, recalling Kate’s impatience at her suggestion that they stay in with a bottle of wine.

  “It was the way she looked at me though – as if I was this shallow idiot.”

  “I wouldn’t make too much of it, Lee – it’s probably just a phase she’s going through. How old is the kid now – three, four weeks? She’s bound to be finding it hard going.”

  “I know, but I just thought she’d appreciate … oh, I don’t know …” She followed him through to the living-room, and then slunk down on the sofa beside him.

  “And Michael snaked off to the local, huh?” he said, putting an arm around her. “Looks like fatherhood’s getting too much for him already.”

  Leah had her own opinion on Michael snaking off and leaving Kate holding the baby, but she didn’t say anything. She was still reeling from Kate’s insinuation that she was shallow. Was she shallow? OK, so she knew nothing about motherhood and never would, but surely it couldn’t be good for either Kate or her baby if she couldn’t take time out for herself. Of course, if Dylan was ill, that would be a different story but the child wasn’t sick, was he?

  If anything, he was just being a baby. Although she wasn’t around at the time, she remembered poor Olivia worrying incessantly about Ellie, and despite her friend’s insistence that she was never going to be one of those mothers who picked up her baby at the first whimper, she wasn’t exactly blasé about crying either.

 
That’s what she’d do, Leah decided, she’d talk to Olivia. Maybe that would shed some light upon Kate’s behaviour, and why she seemed rather obsessive about her role. Unfortunately, Leah couldn’t understand what her friend was going through now and, she thought sadly, never would.

  In the meantime, she thought, cuddling into Josh on the sofa, if Kate wasn’t interested in catching up, then she and her boyfriend could certainly do a bit of catching up of their own.

  36

  Ben and Robin stood in their apartment, and looked at one another in awe. Robin picked up and flicked through the glossy pages of one of the proof copies she had just received from the publisher.

  Atchoo the Allergic Alligator was now a beautifully illustrated picture book and completely different to the one they had jokingly put together a couple of months before. The basic story remained the same, though Robin had added a few more dramatic adventures before Atchoo finally learns to take his medicine properly, but she decided it was the illustrations that really made the book so impressive.

  Bubblegum Press planned to release all books in the series one after another so in the meantime, Robin had written another three in a similar vein, but featuring different animals with different medical conditions.

  Hazel the Squirrel – a story about a squirrel with a nut allergy, and a subject obviously very close to Robin’s heart, – Dick the Diabetic Duck and Eleanor the Epileptic Elephant.

  Due to some very well-timed press releases, the Atchoo series was gaining a lot of advance publicity. A few weeks earlier, Bubblegum had fallen over themselves in an attempt to issue a press release shortly after the US health Department published alarmingly high statistics on children’s allergies, and the part our disintegrating environment had to play.

  Pre-publication copies of the books had already been distributed to local and governmental health departments, and also to key children’s hospitals throughout the state. The response so far had been extremely positive, and the publishers were expecting considerable sales once the book was in stores. The major bookstores – Barnes and Noble and Borders – had initially dismissed the series as an aid for local health departments, but once WalMart decided to stock the series as a result of the media exposure, they tentatively began making enquiries too.

  The first book Atchoo the Alligator was due for publication at Christmas, and the others thereafter.

  “Seems I’m going to be busy,” Robin said shaking her head in amazement.

  She had met again with Bubblegum since, and Lucy, the head of PR, had informed her that upon publication they would be doing state, and possibly nationwide TV, radio and newspaper interviews.

  Although the initial campaign would be focused primarily on Atchoo, the release of the other books should sustain interest and hopefully increase the series’ profile and momentum. Could Robin make herself available for a couple of weeks around then?

  So, she had booked her two weeks annual leave from Greene & Co, and instead of spending them on holiday in Florida as she and Ben had planned, she would be touring around New York state, visiting bookstores, radio stations and possibly school and health agencies.

  It wouldn’t be much of a holiday, but Robin didn’t mind – in fact, she couldn’t wait, and she still couldn’t believe that this was actually happening, let alone happening so quickly. At Marla’s insistence, she had found herself an agent, a lovely woman called Jessie who had negotiated her contract and (in Robin’s opinion) her completely unwarranted advance – the first part of which was sitting in her bank account until she and Ben found a house.

  Now, seeing her own words in print for the first time, Robin felt a shiver up her spine. “I think I could get used to this,” she said, flopping back onto the sofa, book in hand.

  “Well, you’ll have to,” Ben laughed. “There are still another three books to come.”

  “No, I mean I could get used to this,” she said, pointing to the text. “To the writing. I love doing it, but yet I never once considered it before now. Imagine me – a children’s writer?”

  “But you’ve got talent, Robin,” he said, sitting down alongside her. “I know you think the illustrations are impressive but they bought the story, they bought your story.” He shook his head. “And it is a bloody good one … charming and silly and playful and adults will love reading this to their kids. You’ve got it, Robin – whether you believe it or not, you’ve got it.”

  “I’d love to believe I do have ‘it’ – whatever that may be – but I don’t see how. I don’t know all that much about kids. Other than Kirsty.”

  “And you’re so good with her, you’re so good with kids in general.” He shook his head. “You know it really is such a shame that …” Ben quickly trailed off when she flashed him a warning look. “OK, OK, let’s not go there now, not at a time like this anyway.” He picked up the book and began flicking through it one more time.

  “‘Let’s not go there’,” Robin teased, mimicking his accent.

  “You brat,” he laughed, tickling her. “Don’t start going all high and mighty with me, just because you’re now a published author!”

  Robin giggled and then Ben sat up and once more studied her name on the front cover. “Wow, you’re a published author!” he repeated, as if really realising it for the first time. “This calls for a celebration, Robin Matthews, and I’m taking you out to dinner!”

  Robin sat up and grinned. “Great, where will we go?” she asked, feeling both excited and nervous about the thoughts of eating out somewhere.

  “Chinatown?” Ben suggested with a twinkle in his eye, and Robin threw a cushion at him. “No, seriously, remember that place we went for our anniversary – it was safe enough, wasn’t it?”

  “Safe but bland and way over-priced,” Robin said, remembering.

  “Well, as long as the champagne tastes good, I couldn’t care less,” he said, and Robin wanted to hug him. Poor Ben, it really wasn’t fair on him that he had to pick and choose where they ate, and at times like this, it really hit home how lucky she was.

  “Champagne sounds great,” she said, getting into the spirit of things. What did it matter about the food? They were celebrating!

  “Why don’t you go and get ready, and I’ll sort a table,” he said, shooing her into the bedroom.

  As Robin picked out a suitable outfit for the swanky but safe restaurant, she thought again about her little book, and wondered what they’d all make of it at home. She’d told her mother about the publication deal, but her mum, while pleased for her, didn’t really understand, and seemed to think that Robin was printing out and publishing these books herself.

  She was just glad that Peggy hadn’t asked when she was coming home for a visit. Her mother was good like that, and seemed to accept that Robin’s life was in New York now. It was as though her mother was finally able to have a life of her own, now that she no longer had to worry about Robin.

  She had always felt guilty about her parents’ break-up, and although her mother had never blamed her, it was fairly obvious that Robin’s allergy had been the problem.

  Peggy and her dad were on speaking terms these days, but Tom was with someone else now, and there was little likelihood of them getting back together. Anyway, Robin suspected that her mother didn’t care. After years of stressing and looking after a sickly child, she was now free to do as she pleased without worry.

  Robin hadn’t yet said anything about the book to Leah either. She wondered what she and the others – particularly Olivia – would think. Would they be pleased for her? They would definitely be surprised anyway, and she could almost imagine Amanda Clarke going apoplectic over the fact that Robin becoming a published author.

  She really should tell Leah though. It was nice of her to send Robin and Ben an invite to her big launch night, but there was really never any question of them going.

  Leah understood of course, but at times like that, Robin wondered how long they would be able to keep up their friendship ‘for old times’ sake�
��.

  She had moved on, moved away from it all, and while she occasionally missed having a solid, dependable friend like Olivia, or someone to go out and have a good giggle with like Leah, she knew that it was inevitable that they would lose touch.

  Friendships, just like relationships, couldn’t really survive long-distance. Robin was certain of that.

  37

  At the weekend, Olivia met Leah in the city for some shopping.

  After weeks of ignoring her appearance, Leah had decided that her image needed serious sprucing up, and to Olivia’s amazement had taken a rare day off. Olivia for once was off duty too, since Ellie was visiting her grandparents in Galway.

  Peter’s parents tried to involve themselves in their granddaughter’s life as much as possible. But occasionally, his mother could be a bit interfering, and yesterday morning was one of those times.

  “Who’s this Matt, she keeps chattering about?” Teresa enquired.

  “Matt?” Olivia repeated warily to her mother-in-law.

  “Yes. It’s all Matt this and Matt that, and Adam this and Adam that. I gather that Adam is a young friend of hers, but who is Matt?”

  “Adam’s father.” Despite herself, Olivia reddened. It had been years, but still she felt guilty. She knew that Teresa would no doubt view it as a betrayal.

  “And does Ellie see much of this Matt?” Teresa sniffed disapprovingly. “Do you see much of this Matt?”

  Olivia had a good mind to tell Teresa to butt out and mind her own business, that she would see as much of Matt as she liked, but yet she hadn’t the heart to.

  “He’s a neighbour - a very nice man and a good friend, that’s all.”

  Teresa sighed. “Look, far be it from me to stick my nose in your business, but just be careful, won’t you? You have to consider Ellie’s welfare, and it wouldn’t be good for her to have these come-a-day go-a-day men in her life.”