Читать книгу The Affair - Amanda Brooke - Страница 13

Vikki was kneeling against the back of the sofa as she looked out of the window with her chin resting on her hands. She was peeking through a gap in the vertical blinds so she had a good view of the empty space on the driveway next to her Corsa. From the corner of her eye, she could see Freya mimicking her, although her little girl had to stand rather than kneel to see out of the window.

‘Where’s Daddy?’ Freya said with a whimper. They had been waiting for at least ten minutes and the toddler had lost patience after the first two.

‘He’ll be home soon,’ Vikki said, and not for the first time. She was getting impatient too.

‘No, tell Daddy to come home now,’ Freya insisted as her cupid’s bow lips began to tremble.

Turning her head towards her daughter, Vikki felt some of the tension that had been building over the last week or so slip away. Becoming a mother at twenty-one had been overwhelming and still was, but she would love and protect Freya until her dying day, just like her own mother had always done with her, and please God, would continue to do.

When Vikki’s lip began to quiver too, Freya asked, ‘Mummy want a cuddle?’

‘Yes, please.’

Vikki held back the tears and began blowing raspberries against Freya’s neck.

‘We do tumbles now, Mummy?’ Freya asked when their giggling subsided.

Vikki narrowed her eyes. ‘Let’s see if you can do this,’ she said and shuffled backwards to give herself enough space. In one flowing move, she was standing on her head, her back brushing against the sofa cushions and her legs pointing to the ceiling. Using one hand to keep her balance, Vikki helped Freya into a vaguely similar position.

Despite being out of practice and out of shape, Vikki held her position with relative ease while the little girl toppled over and tried again. There had been a time when Vikki thought she might have made a half-decent gymnast, but her dad had convinced her that her greatest potential lay in academia. She had achieved success in neither, and as Vikki considered what a disappointment she would be to her dad now, she failed to notice Rob’s old Ford Focus pulling up outside, or hear the clatter of keys being dropped on the radiator shelf by the door.

‘Don’t you think you’re a bit too old for that?’

‘Daddy!’

Freya tumbled off the sofa, tipping Vikki over in the process as she ran into Rob’s open arms. Vikki got to her feet and waited patiently with her arms behind her back until Rob had balanced Freya on his hip and beckoned her towards him.

‘I’ve missed you,’ she said, stepping over so he could wrap his free arm around her. ‘And I’ll have you know there are top gymnasts who are my age and still winning gold medals.’

‘For balancing upside down on the sofa? I dread to think what Freya will be telling her nursery teachers about your antics,’ he said, before giving her a curious look. ‘And what’s with all the makeup?’

‘I’ve got to keep up with the other mums on the school run.’

‘Don’t be silly, you don’t need to compete. You’re leagues above them all.’

Vikki wasn’t convinced. She might be younger than a lot of the other mums, but for the last three years she had felt frumpy. She didn’t know any of the others particularly well, and she desperately wanted to fit in. ‘I wanted to make myself feel good, that’s all,’ she said.

He kissed the top of her head, ‘Especially today of all days,’ he said. ‘How are you doing?’

She could only shrug. ‘How was your day?’

‘Still getting to know my new form,’ he said, scrunching his nose. ‘It’s not easy when most of them are counting down to leaving in the summer. I would have much preferred Year 7s.’

‘It only proves what faith Mrs Anwar has in you,’ she said. She would never get used to calling the head by her first name; Nadia Anwar had been deputy head when Vikki had attended Sedgefield High, and she still felt like a student whenever she was in her company.

‘I suppose,’ Rob said. ‘She’s certainly set me a challenge, although I think I’ve got a couple of allies in class who will keep the rest in check.’

‘I bet you have them wrapped around your little finger.’

When he kissed her again, his daughter demanded attention. ‘Frey-ya too,’ she said and planted a sloppy kiss on her daddy’s lips.

‘Hmmm, blackcurrant-flavoured.’

‘My juice!’ Freya cried and began wriggling until Rob put her down. She raced back to where she had abandoned her sippy cup on the windowsill.

Rob took the opportunity to pull Vikki closer. ‘If you won’t tell me how you’re doing, maybe you could tell me how your mum got on.’

‘The operation went well,’ Vikki said, surprised that her voice could sound so matter of fact. Everything had happened in a blur and Vikki almost wished Rob and her mum had kept their secret that bit longer. She would happily trade blissful ignorance for sleepless nights and restless days, and today had been the worst so far. ‘I’ll find out more later, but the nurse I spoke to said something about the surgeon taking more surrounding tissue than they were planning.’

‘That might be a good thing, less chance of leaving anything nasty behind.’

‘But longer for Mum to recover from the operation,’ Vikki said. ‘She’s going to struggle on her own for a while.’

‘Is there any chance Lesley could help out more?’

Lesley was a friend of her mum’s who helped out with the holiday cottages during the busy season. She would do all she could, but it wouldn’t be enough. Besides, it wasn’t the suggestion Vikki had wanted Rob to make.

‘I doubt it, she has so many other jobs to juggle.’ Vikki clung tighter to Rob, as if it would squeeze the correct response from him.

When she bit her lip, he must have guessed what she was after. ‘If you’re asking if you should stay with her when she gets out, then say it, Vikki.’

‘No, I don’t want to leave you. Unless you could come with us …’

‘The three of us in one bedroom and your mum in the room next door? What do you think?’

‘If I did go, it wouldn’t be for long, maybe just a week,’ she said.

Rob didn’t look completely convinced. ‘But are you sure you could cope with looking after your mum, and Freya too?’

‘I … don’t know. But I’d hate to look back and regret not helping her more.’

The only time Vikki and Rob had spent apart since they were married had been following her dad’s death. She had gone to stay with her mum for a couple of weeks under the guise of offering support, but it had been Vikki who had needed her mum as much as anything, and Rob had probably been relieved that someone else had to cope with her bawling her eyes out every two minutes. Vikki wasn’t so sure she would cope any better now, and from the look on Rob’s face, he was thinking the same.

Rob’s body sagged a little when he sighed. ‘Yes, of course you should stay with her.’

His answer should have made Vikki feel relieved, but she burst into tears. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said, burying her face in Rob’s shoulder. ‘I’m a rubbish wife and a rubbish daughter.’

‘Of course you’re not. You’re doing amazingly well,’ he whispered. When her sobs subsided, he lifted her chin so she was looking directly at him. ‘I won’t say I’m not going to miss you, but stay as long as you need. Don’t worry about me.’

‘Are you sure?’ she asked, and with one small hiccup, swallowed the last of her tears.

‘Yes, Vikki, whatever you want. You’re the boss as always. I’m yours to command.’

She gave him a tentative smile. ‘In that case, do you think you could do something else for me?’

‘Hmm,’ he said, raising his eyebrows. ‘What are you after now, Victoria?’

‘I’ve had a go at writing something and I need you to check it for me.’

Rob laughed. ‘That wasn’t exactly the suggestion I was expecting,’ he said. ‘What is it?’

‘An objection to Sarah Tavistock’s planning application,’ she said, and then, seeing Rob’s expression, added, ‘Will you look at it? Please, Rob.’

‘But why bother? Elaine doesn’t think it’s worth it, especially now you know all the details.’

Vikki’s original assumption had been that the land in question was in the green belt and should be protected. She had been dismayed to discover that it was classed as a brownfield site and had been in industrial use up until fifty years ago. It had been an old pottery and when the buildings had been demolished, the land had been soiled over rather than cleared, which explained why it had been left fallow for so long. The new plans included the removal of all the industrial waste, which would actually improve the land.

‘I still want to try. It’s what Dad would expect one of us to do, and obviously Mum’s not up to it. So will you?’ Vikki asked again.

‘OK, OK, if it keeps you out of trouble.’

When Vikki hugged Rob tightly his hands moved gently over her hips and bottom.

‘So there was something else you were after,’ he said in a hushed tone.

Sex couldn’t be further from Vikki’s mind, but she responded by pushing herself against him. ‘I love you,’ she told him.

‘And I love you,’ he replied, before pulling away with a groan. Freya had been watching them quietly. ‘But I’m afraid some of your particular gratifications are going to have to wait until bedtime, or this one’s bedtime at least.’

Despite the shadows hanging over her, Vikki felt a small sense of victory as she watched Rob scoop Freya up into his arms.