‘And then, if she doesn’t, we can go to the police station together and tell them what’s happened.’
‘Thanks, Toby.’
He gives me a smile. ‘Of course. I’m sure we’re worrying over nothing though.’
I hope he’s right.
‘Are you feeling any better about things now?’
‘Kind of.’
He puts the last piece of sandwich in his mouth and washes it down with the rest of his tea. ‘I better get back…’
‘Yeah, sure. Sorry I dragged you all the way home.’
‘What? Don’t be sorry. I got to share lunch with my beautiful wife instead of staring at Nick and Dad’s ugly faces.’ He grins.
‘Actually, Toby, I think I am going to speak to the police.’
His smile fades. ‘Are you sure?’
‘I’ll be worrying otherwise.’
‘If you wait till this evening, I can come with you.’
‘No, it’s okay. I’ll be fine going on my own. I’ll just tell them what’s happened and ask if there’s anything they can do. If they can, they can, and if they can’t… well then I’ll have to think of another way to find her.’
‘I’ll get Mum to come with you.’
‘You don’t have to do that. She doesn’t need to be dragged into my family drama.’
‘She won’t mind. And anyway, we’re all family now. I’ll call her on the way back to work. Bit of moral support for you.’
‘Thank you.’
‘I’d do anything for you, Zo. You know that.’
He puts his arms around me, and I thank God for the day I met Toby Johnson. I can’t wait until we have our own little family. I know you can’t control these things, but I’m going to try my hardest to make sure that we all look out for one another, that we communicate, that our kids are as close as Toby and Nick. I want what they have in their family. That deep unshakeable bond that means they would do anything for one another. Dina and Dad and I – we’re broken. We’ve forgotten how to be family. And it hurts every day.
Twenty-One
NOW
It’s finally here. Our anniversary weekend! And it’s kicking off with the party I’ve been planning for so many weeks. After yesterday’s environmental-health scare, and all my worrying and stressing about how the party is going to go and who’s going to show, I’ve come to the simple realisation that this party is just one night out of my life. Whoever’s here or isn’t here, it doesn’t matter. However the evening turns out, I should just try to enjoy it. It’s supposed to be a celebration. I’m here with my husband and I intend for us to enjoy ourselves.
I’m feeling pretty good in my new dark-green satin cocktail dress with matching killer heels and a glitzy diamante wrist cuff. I’ve left my hair loose and straight – Becky tidied up the ends for me at work earlier today – and I bought the perfect pair of diamante drop earrings to complete my outfit. Our favourite tunes are playing over the speakers while the swing band sets up on the stage, and I sit at a table chatting to Becky and her boyfriend Sam. The ceiling is festooned with twinkling lights, streamers and balloons. Waiting staff weave between guests, carrying trays of finger food and glasses of champagne.
Toby’s speech earlier was so emotional and heartfelt that he had more than half the room in tears, including me. I think it wasn’t until that moment, where he thanked me for being the best wife a man could wish for, that I actually started appreciating tonight and what it means. Ten years of marriage to the love of my life, a beautiful family, and – if I’m doubly lucky – a lot more of the same to come.
I’m relieved the evening seems to be going well so far, despite not yet having plucked up the courage to talk to Madeline or Kim. Although this is my party, so they’d better not be rude or offhand. Toby’s currently chatting to Nick and Madeline at another table. I know I should go over and talk to them, but I’m burying my head in the sand for now. I’ll have a couple more drinks before saying hello. I already hugged Celia and Malcolm, who are now at a table with a group of family friends.
I’d have thought more people would have sought me out to say hello. I’ve already seen several of the school parents – Georgina, Ellen and Liz for starters – go over to speak to Toby, but they haven’t greeted me yet. And perhaps I’m being paranoid, but I can’t seem to even catch their eye. I tell myself to stop worrying. I think I’ve spent so many days stressing about everything, that I’m now unable to simply relax. I remind myself of Toby’s speech. Of what this evening is about. And I resolve to put my worries aside. To stop thinking about everyone else.
‘Toby told me you were staying over for the whole weekend.’ Becky lifts a glass of champagne from a passing waiter.
‘Yes, two nights of luxury and a spa treatment tomorrow afternoon.’
‘Lucky cow. Think of me on my feet all day at work tomorrow.’
‘Aren’t you both off to the Caribbean over Christmas?’
‘Well, yeah, but that’s almost a week away. I’m not sure I can hold on until then.’
Sam rolls his eyes. ‘I think you’ll be okay, Becks.’
‘It’s all right for you, you’ve got a desk job.’
‘Yeah, but who has to massage your feet when you get home?’
‘You love it.’
‘Ew.’ I wrinkle my nose. ‘Too much information.’ I know what she means about the workload though – the salon’s crazy at the moment. At least Jennifer’s recovered from the magazine debacle. She’s here tonight and seems to be enjoying herself. She hasn’t mentioned anything about Cassie this evening, thank goodness for small mercies.
‘Uh oh.’ Becky lowers her gaze and then gives me a nervous glance.
‘What?’ I fiddle with one of my earrings.
Becky purses her lips and glances at Sam.
‘What?’ I demand.
‘You’ll never guess who’s just walked in. Don’t turn around,’ she adds quickly.
My stomach swoops. ‘Please, God, not Cassie.’ Bang goes my resolution to relax and enjoy this evening.
‘Hmm. I take it you didn’t invite her?’
‘We-ell…’
‘Oh, Zoe! Why on earth would you send that poisonous bitch an invitation?’
‘I didn’t!’
‘So she’s gatecrashing?’
‘Not exactly. It was before the whole article thing… when she was in the salon… she was dropping massive hints about wanting to come and not having seen our schoolfriends for ages. And, well, I couldn’t very well not ask if she wanted to come. You know what I’m like.’
‘Yeah, you’re too much of a pushover.’
‘Becky!’ Sam tells her off.
‘Thanks, Sam. I prefer to think of it as being a nice person.’
‘Well there’s nice and then there’s masochism.’
‘I honestly didn’t think she’d come here, not after what she did. I mean, no normal person would do that, would they?’
‘The girl has absolutely no shame.’ Becky glances past me surreptitiously. ‘Oh shit.’
‘What?’ Sam and I reply in unison.
‘Jennifer’s spotted her.’
It’s no good, I have to see what’s going on. I shift my chair around, making sure I’m still partially shielded by Becky. Peering beyond my friend’s shoulder I spy Cassie at the bar where she’s standing with her boyfriend, head thrown back, laughing dramatically. ‘The absolute cheek of the girl. I still can’t believe she’s here. Actually, scrub that, I can believe it. Part of me even finds it quite hilarious that she’s got the nerve to come to my party after what she did. You don’t think she’ll try to speak to me, do you? I really hope not.’
Becky shakes her head and turns back to gape at her. ‘You’ve got to admit, she looks bloody stunning.’
Gallingly, she does. Wearing an almost indecently see-through white lace knee-length dress that fits in all the right places, she’s also dyed her cropped hair pure white to match. ‘I wonder which salon she went to, to have that done,’
I mutter.
Jennifer is now striding across the dance floor, making a beeline for Cassie.
‘I hope there isn’t going to be a scene.’ Becky’s hand goes up to her mouth, and I’m sure I can detect a gleam in her eye. My friend isn’t vindictive, but she’s never been able to resist a bit of drama.
As I watch in horrified fascination, Jennifer taps Cassie on her shoulder. Cassie turns around, frowns, and then smiles at my boss. But Jennifer’s face is stern, her feet planted apart and her hands clamped on her hips. As she begins to give Cassie a piece of her mind, the immediate area around them slowly clears, and I worry that things might turn violent.
Cassie’s face quickly shifts into her fake-apology expression – head tilted, and eyes wide with concern.
But Jennifer’s eyes still haven’t lost their murderous glare. Her tirade isn’t loud enough to be heard over the music, other than sharp snatches of words like ‘Cow!’ and ‘My salon!’. More people are starting to notice, and my heart is pumping way too hard. They’re both going to end up ruining my night, and I don’t know what to do about it. If I go over there, I’ll draw even more attention to the scene.
I notice that Toby and Nick are on their way over. Hopefully they’ll be able to diffuse the situation before it turns into something physical. I don’t think Cassie would want it to go that far, but I wouldn’t be so sure about Jennifer. She’s crimson-faced and fuming. Suddenly, her arm jerks upwards really fast, and Cassie’s hand flies to her face.
Becky gasps. ‘Did you see that? Jen chucked her drink in Cassie’s face! Go on, Jennifer!’
‘Becky!’ Sam and I both glare at her.
‘Sorry. But you have to admit she deserved it.’
Jennifer turns on her heel and strides away. She sweeps her bag off the back of a chair and exits the room. After a decent interval, Cassie’s boyfriend puts an arm around her and leads her away. Hopefully Cassie has now got the message and is going home.
Toby and Nick never made it over to them. I think they’ve come to the conclusion that they’re no longer needed. I bet they’re relieved. I notice that Nick seems to have lost quite a bit of weight. His suit is hanging off him and his cheeks are hollow. I hope he’s okay. Maybe he had that bug that Madeline was talking about a few weeks ago.
Toby’s gaze lands on me, and he mouths to ask if I’m all right. I nod and we both roll our eyes and shake our heads at the close call.
‘I still think it would’ve been great if Jen had punched her,’ Becky muses.
‘You’re such a troublemaker,’ I retort.
‘I’m not the troublemaker,’ she quips.
‘Well, I for one am glad there isn’t going to be a fist fight at our ten-year wedding anniversary, that I’ve spent weeks organising, thank you very much.’
‘The night’s still young.’ Becky laughs and Sam elbows her in the side to be quiet, although he’s also trying not to laugh.
I cross my arms on the table and sink down over them. ‘It’s not even nine o’clock yet and my nerves are shredded.’
‘Aw, babe. Don’t worry about it. Looks like they’ve both gone now.’ Becky stands and pulls me to my feet. ‘Knock back your drink and let’s dance. I love this song.’
I do as she suggests and the two of us totter onto the dance floor where we’re instantly joined by a raucous posse of my other friends, some from the salon, others from my schooldays, as well as a group of school mums. Everyone’s really made the effort to dress up, and we pull out all our cheesiest dance moves.
Toby comes up behind me, slipping his arms around my waist. I turn around and my stomach flips at how handsome he looks in his suit. ‘Having fun?’ he murmurs in my ear.
‘I am now that Fight Club’s been averted. Did you see the look on Jennifer’s face?’
‘I did. Nick and I were terrified. Thought we’d have to intervene. We didn’t fancy our chances against either of them.’
I give him a playful push. ‘Don’t even joke about it.’
The smile slides off his face. ‘Okay, stay calm, but I think Cassie and Whatshisface might be coming over.’
My stomach gives a flutter of dread. ‘What?! I thought they’d gone home.’
‘Apparently not. Want me to head them off and ask them to leave?’
‘I love that you’re offering, but no. I don’t want any more confrontations. Let’s just get this over with.’
Twenty-Two
NOW
I turn around just as Cassie comes within shouting distance. To my surprise, I find that I’m suddenly past caring about Cassie Barrington and all her drama.
‘Hi, Zoe,’ she cries with far too much enthusiasm. ‘Just wanted to wish you and Toby a really happy anniversary. You look stunning, by the way.’
‘Thanks,’ I reply coolly, resisting being my usual polite self and returning the compliment. I’m sure she knows just how beautiful she looks without me boosting her ego.
‘Yeah, thanks for the invite,’ her American boyfriend drawls. ‘It’s been an interesting evening.’
‘Indeed.’ I give them both a thin-lipped smile that doesn’t extend to my eyes.
‘Still no Dina, I see,’ she says with false concern. ‘Looks like you were mistaken and she’s not back in town after all.’
For a moment, I’m stunned into further silence by her breath-taking insensitivity. I manage to stutter out a strangled, ‘Looks that way.’ I try to swallow down my emotions, to stop the biting retorts that fly to my lips like a swarm of wasps. I manage to stay silent, refusing to be drawn into whatever bitchy game she’s playing.
‘Cassie…’ Toby’s voice is icy. ‘If you can’t say anything nice, please just go home. You’ve already caused enough drama here for one day.’
‘What? I didn’t say anything wrong. I was just asking after my friend’s sister. And that thing earlier was hardly my fault. Zoe’s psycho boss was responsible for that.’
‘Fine, but right now, your insensitivity is upsetting my wife.’ Toby fixes Cassie with a stony glare.
‘Like I said, I was only asking about her sister.’ Cassie looks mortally offended, as if she truly didn’t realise that her words would cause hurt. But she forgets how well I know her. ‘If Zoe’s that sensitive then that’s—’
Toby holds up a hand. ‘Let me just stop you there. This isn’t a debate; this is our anniversary party and we’d both like you to leave.’
Her skin pales ever so slightly, and then she gives a light shrug. ‘That’s fine. We weren’t planning on staying. It’s not really our thing. Nice to see you guys though.’ She turns and leaves with Whatshisface trailing in her wake.
The party comes back into focus again and I let out a breath before leaning in to hug my husband. ‘Did I ever tell you how glad I am that I married you?’
His arms stay around me. ‘Yes, but you can keep on telling me; I don’t mind. This is our night, Zoe. Cassie Barrington can piss off.’
But something is still niggling me regarding what Cassie said about Dina. I slip out from Toby’s embrace. ‘I’ll be back in a minute, okay?’
‘You’re not going after her?’
‘No, just nipping to the loo. I’ll be back in a minute.’
‘Make sure you are. We haven’t had that dance yet.’
I blow my husband a kiss, leave the dancefloor, and head towards the exit. I catch sight of Cassie in the lobby talking to… Lyle – that’s it. She has a face like thunder as he tries to appease her.
She spots me and scowls before rearranging her face into another mask of faked nonchalance. ‘Come to apologise for your husband’s rude comments?’
I don’t waste time with niceties. ‘Cassie, if you’ve got something to say about my sister, why don’t you just spit it out.’
She puts a hand on her boyfriend’s arm. ‘Lyle, would you mind waiting outside for me?’
‘No way. It’s freezing out there!’
‘I won’t be long,’ she wheedles.
‘I’ll wait in the
lounge.’ He swaggers off, muttering under his breath.
‘So?’ I glare at my ex-best friend.
‘Fine,’ she huffs. ‘If you must know, your dear darling sister was blackmailing me.’
I drop my defensive stance. Dina was blackmailing Cassie? This is not what I was expecting. Not at all. ‘What are you talking about?’
‘If you’d let me finish… quite soon after I became famous, she got in touch with me. I thought it was weird because although you and I were friends, I never really had a lot to do with your sister. Dina kept herself to herself. Don’t think I’d ever done much more than nod in her direction.’
‘How do you mean, she got in touch? She’d left the country by then.’
‘Yeah, well, she called me. No idea how she got my mobile number. Probably through some moron friend from school.’ Cassie takes a pack of cigarettes from her coat pocket and pulls one out. ‘God, I’m dying for a ciggie, but it’s far too cold to stand out there.’
‘So? What did she want?’
‘What most people want of course – money.’ Cassie curls her lip.
‘And what was she holding over your head?’
‘Oh, it was something and nothing. The little cow was clutching at straws.’
‘So you never paid her?’
Cassie puts the unlit cigarette in her mouth for a moment.
‘Oh, I’m sorry, miss,’ the woman on reception calls over. ‘You can’t smoke in here.’
‘It’s not lit!’ Cassie waves the cigarette and rolls her eyes at the woman before turning back to me with a sigh. ‘I did pay her.’
‘You did? So why—?’
‘Because I had this gig as a TV presenter on a kids’ show and Dina was threatening to tell the papers that I used to deal drugs.’
I snap my mouth closed at Cassie’s revelation, stunned at Dina’s audacity. Yet at the same time, not surprised at all.
‘It was all a bunch of crap.’ Cassie pouts. ‘I bought a bit of weed at college and sold it to some of my friends. No biggie. I think I even got you to try a spliff once, remember? Anyway, Dina said she’d bought some off me one time – I don’t even remember if that’s true. But she must have realised it could hurt my career. She bled a few thousand out of me over the next couple of years. I couldn’t think how to get rid of her, so I had no choice; I had to keep paying her off. Until one day she just stopped asking.’
The Wife: An unputdownable psychological thriller with a breathtaking twist Page 15