The Family Next Door(27)

Essie thought about the fact that she’d lied to him about attending the neighborhood watch meeting. Why had she done that? The silly thing was, if she’d just told Ben she’d gone to Isabelle’s instead of the neighborhood watch meeting, he wouldn’t have cared. He’d probably have given her a high-five. (“My rule-following wife finally rebels,” he’d have said. “Good for you.”)

The problem was, now that she’d lied, she couldn’t very well tell him. He’d think it was strange. It was strange. That was the thing with lies—they grew like weeds until, eventually, they strangled you.

“Essie!”

Essie heard a car door slam and saw Ange walking toward her. Her heart sank. Behind her, Will, Ollie, and Lucas tumbled out of the car and headed toward their house. Essie threw them all a wave and headed determinedly toward Fran’s.

“What happened to you last night?” Ange called after her. From the click of her heels, she’d picked up the pace. “Your mother didn’t make it either. We had two empty seats!”

“Didn’t make it where?” Ben said.

Essie looked around helplessly. Of course, this was the one time Ben paid attention to her conversation with Ange.

“Oh, uh … Mum had a cold. She was in bed.”

“Oh,” Ange said. She stopped. “Well, that’s a shame. Tell her I’m around if she needs anything.”

“I will. Thanks.” Essie kept walking.

“And what’s your excuse?”

“Your excuse for what?” Ben said. He picked up Mia and deposited her on his shoulders. She started running her toy train through his hair. “Choo choo. Choo choo.”

“Her excuse for why she wasn’t at the neighborhood watch meeting last night,” Ange said.

Essie wasn’t sure if Ange was trying to punish her or just being obtuse. She seemed particularly forceful this morning, even for Ange. Perhaps the evening had gone late. She looked a little tired, like she hadn’t slept well.

Ben was looking at her with an expression that was so Ben she almost smiled. He wasn’t suspicious. Not angry. More … curious. Essie cursed silently. How had she got herself into this situation?

In her peripheral vision, Essie noticed her mum walking up the drive, mail in hand. It gave her an idea.

“I was with Mum. She was a bit feverish and I wanted to keep an eye on her. Sorry we didn’t make it to the meeting.”

At the word “Mum,” Ben immediately disengaged, bored. “Right, then. I’ll keep going.”

He kissed Essie, gave Mia a fancy dismount from his shoulders, and jogged away.

“Bye,” Essie called, wishing she could jog away with him.

“You could have called,” Ange said.

“I’m sorry,” Essie said. “I should have.”

Ange nodded. “All right. Well, you’ll come to the next meeting, won’t you?”

Ange noticed Lucas coming out of the house and she spun around.

“Yes. Of course I will. I’ll…”

But she was gone.

Essie walked up the driveway. Fran was already loading a second car seat into the back for Mia. (Of course, Fran had a second car seat for these types of situations.)

“Was Ange giving you a bollocking for not coming to the meeting?” Fran called, her head still inside the car.

“She was, actually. She seemed a little high-strung this morning.”

“Ah well. That’s Ange.”

Essie was about to say something more when Rosie appeared by the car, dressed in a tutu. A present wrapped in pink and white paper was tucked under her skinny arm. Essie’s heart sank. It meant they had three, maybe four seconds before Mia melted down, begging to go home and change into her tutu.

“Mia—” she started.

But it turned out Essie had underestimated Mia. It only took her a split-second before she dropped the present and bolted. Fran watched the whole thing, baffled.

“She’s getting her tutu,” Essie said. “Mia, wait!”

But she wasn’t stopping. She continued straight across the street, toward home. Essie scanned the cul-de-sac for cars, but thankfully it was empty. Fran raised her eyebrows at Essie—Do you need help?—but she shook her head. “I’ll get her,” she said, and turned in time to see Isabelle scoop Mia into her arms.

“Got ya!” Isabelle said, tickling her. Mia squealed in delight. Mia usually didn’t take well to strangers showing her affection. Normally she was a shy type. Maybe, like Essie, she’d seen something special in Isabelle.

Essie jogged over to them. “Thank you. She’s quick!”

Isabelle put her down. “Perhaps,” she said. “But I’m quicker.”

*

“I’ve done something strange,” Essie said when her mum opened her front door.

Her mum widened the door, letting Essie in. “Would you like a cup of tea?”

One of the most astonishing things about Essie’s mother was her patience. If she were to say those words to anyone else the obvious response would be to scream: “What is it? Tell me now!”

Her mum made tea.

“Sure,” Essie said. “Tea would be great.”

Already Essie felt more relaxed. It was just something about being in her mother’s home. She lay a blanket on the carpet and put Polly in the middle. Mia had changed into her tutu and headed off to the party with Fran and Rosie.