The Family Next Door(44)

“How are you coping this time?” Isabelle asked.

“Okay, I guess. I mean, when I look at the girls I feel love. Mostly love. Love, mixed with exhaustion and a little irritation.”

“A little” may have been understating it. In fact, an hour ago, when Polly remained awake despite forty minutes of patting, Essie had just about cried. Go to fucking sleep! she’d shrieked in her mind. At the same time she’d had a lot of uncharitable thoughts about her mother. Shut up about back patting. It doesn’t work! Unless I missed the step when you slip her a mild sedative before patting.

She must have left her mum a dozen voice messages today. She’d called Ben several times as well, demanding to know the exact time he would be home. When he’d made a joke about being thirty seconds late, she didn’t laugh.

“It’s hard work being a mum,” Isabelle said. “Everyone struggles from time to time.”

Essie yawned. “I guess so.”

“Look, why don’t you have a sleep? I’m happy to stay here with the girls. I don’t have any plans this afternoon.”

Essie reached out and grabbed both of Isabelle’s hands. The idea of having a nap was impossibly appealing, but doing it while Isabelle remained in the house was, for some reason, nicer still.

“Don’t say that if you don’t mean it. It’s very dangerous playing games with a desperate, overtired mother.” Essie hoped she sounded funny and charming rather than psychotic.

Isabelle withdrew her hand and laid it over her heart. “I mean it. I’m happy to hang out here for a few hours. You look like you need the rest.”

“This is the part when I’m supposed to refuse, right? Tell you I have everything under control and offer you a cup of tea? Well, I’m not going to. Do you understand that?”

“I do,” Isabelle said solemnly. She looked like she was about to crack a smile but before she had the chance Essie lunged forward, gathering her into a hug. “I think I may actually love you,” Essie said, then she raced off to her bedroom and slammed the door.

*

When Essie opened her eyes, Ben was leaning over her.

“Oh, hello,” she said sleepily. She rubbed her eyes. Ben looked … strange. His mouth was pulled tight and his eyeballs were flying back and forth.

“Essie, where are the girls?” he demanded.

She blinked a couple of times, then sat up quickly. Where were the girls? She tried to think. Her brain wasn’t awake yet.

“Oh,” she said, remembering, “they’re with Isabelle.” She lay back against the pillows. “What are you doing home?”

“I got your messages about Polly not sleeping. I thought I’d duck home to see if I could settle her for you.”

Essie smiled. “How sweet.”

Ben didn’t smile back. Lines bracketed his mouth and he kept rubbing his left temple and wincing as though it was causing him pain. That was why he looked strange, she realized. He was worried. Ben was never worried.

“Why are the girls at Isabelle’s?” he asked.

“They’re not. Isabelle is watching them for me here.”

“There’s no one here, Essie.”

She faltered for a second. “Are you sure?”

“I checked every room. I didn’t think you were here either, until I came in here.”

“Well…” Essie’s brain was still fudgy from her sleep. “Maybe Isabelle did take them to her house? Maybe they were being noisy and she didn’t want them to wake me?”

In three huge paces Ben was gone, presumably to check Isabelle’s place. Essie decided to double-check the house. Ben wasn’t the most observant person in the world—it was entirely possible that they were playing hide-and-seek in the lounge and he hadn’t noticed. Still, it was hard not to absorb some of his panic.

Walking from room to room, Essie listened and looked, on alert for a giggle or a whisper, or a little foot poking out from behind a curtain. But after doing a quick lap of the house, she found that the house was indeed empty. She had to admit, it was odd.

The door crashed open and Essie looked at Ben’s giant form in the doorway.

“There’s no one at Isabelle’s.” Ben’s jaw was tight.

Essie shoved her panic aside in an attempt to think logically. This wasn’t a worrying situation, she reminded herself. She hadn’t misplaced the children, she’d left them with a perfectly capable adult. “There’ll be a good explanation, Ben. Maybe they’ve gone to the park? Was there a note anywhere?”

“Not on the kitchen counter. Not on the hall table. And the pram is still on the porch.”

“Well, I’m … sure they’ll turn up.”

“Jesus, Essie! What were you thinking, leaving them with a stranger? If you weren’t coping, you tell me. Or Barb.”

“I tried to get in touch with both of you but you weren’t available. Besides, Isabelle isn’t a stranger. She’s a neighbor and friend. And it’s not like I had a heap of other people offering to help me. You weren’t answering your phone, and Mum was at the movies!”

But Essie could see Ben wasn’t listening to her. “I’m calling the police,” he said.

“The police? For goodness’ sake!”