Page 59 of Perfect Wives
‘Unless we kill her ex tomorrow,’ Georgie finishes in a trembling voice. ‘While she has a watertight alibi, I assume.’
The phone slides from Tasha’s fingers and hits the rug with a dull thud. ‘So…’ she stutters, ‘if we don’t do this, she’ll come back and hurt our families? Kill them?’
‘This was her plan all along,’ Georgie says, her voice hollow now, like the strength has been sucked out of her. ‘That night in the pub, we were letting off steam. It was a joke. But she egged us on, didn’t she? Kept pushing us to say more. She killed Jonny just so we’d kill her ex.’
I nod. ‘We can’t even think about going to the police anymore,’ I say. ‘We can’t risk her hurting our families,’ I choke, unable to say Henry’s name.
‘I can’t……’ Tasha’s voice is broken by a sob.
That one is always unravelling.
‘What choice do we have, Tasha?’ I ask, clenching my jaw, fighting a flare of frustration. We need to start thinking clearly. There’s too much at stake for any of us to fall apart.
‘This isn’t about murder,’ Georgie whispers, looking determined once more. ‘It’s about survival. It’s about protecting our families.’
I sit still – heart thudding, nausea rolling – wondering if this one choice, this one irreversible act is about to destroy my life. Or if I did that already by lying to Alistair and trying to give him the perfect family we both deserve.
THIRTY-ONE
GEORGIE
Later, after leaving Beth’s house with the sleeping pills and key to Jonny’s house shoved in my bag, I collect Oscar from Marc, and Oscar and I spend an hour running around the living room playing dinosaurs and hunters, then TV and dinner and bath time and three stories.
When Oscar is asleep, I change into my new underwear set and cook dinner for me and Nate. It’s the cute lilac lacy set I picked up last week. It pinches a little at the waist, and the underwire digs in under my breasts, but I look good. Especially since it’sallI’m wearing as I chop the vegetables for a stir fry. After everything that’s happened, the last thing I feel is sexy, but live the life you want, right?
That’s the mantra I gave on my reel this evening as I got ready, hinting at a romantic evening planned with Nate. I didn’t give the specifics, just the sentiment and an artful flash of the new underwear. The reel has already had over a thousand views. I don’t even care that I’m cold.
This has to be something I can fix – my marriage. Because I can’t fix what’s happening with Keira. I can’t stop what we have to do tomorrow at 5.05p.m., when Beth, Tasha and I are going to drive to the outskirts of town and kill a man we’ve never met.
I can’t change that.
If we go to the police, Keira will send everything to DS Sató – the recording, the evidence. And if they believe her over us, she will walk free – and she will come back to Magnolia Close and…
My chest tightens as I think of the photo of Oscar taken inside the gates of Magnolia Close. She must’ve been hiding behind the bushes by Jonny’s house. Keira doesn’t play by the rules. She killed Jonny. She stabbed him with a knife and admitted it. She’s a murderer. And the thought of her coming back to Magnolia Close, coming to my house, to Nate, Oscar?—
No!
There’s only one way out. Tomorrow, we’re going to take it and it will all be over and we can finally move on with our lives. And before then, I’m going to fix things with Nate. All we need is a little fun, a little spark to nudge us back on track.
There’s a sound on the stairs, drawing me back to the kitchen and the vegetables sizzling in the wok. I send a silent prayer into the universe that it’s Nate and not Oscar I hear, and when my gaze draws to the doorway, there he is – my husband.
I give my best sultry smile, waiting for him to grin back and wolf whistle as his eyes roam up and down my body. But when I look at his face, his expression is blank. He stays in the doorway, leaning against the frame, hands in his pockets.
‘What are you doing?’ he asks. No amusement, no coy tone.
A part of me knows in that moment there will be no spark tonight. No fixing of anything, but I give it one more go. ‘What does it look like?’ I motion to my almost naked body. ‘I’m cooking in my underwear.’
‘Why?’ I try not to hear the exasperated tone of Nate’s voice. The one he uses when Oscar bounces around, being loud and silly and ignoring Nate’s requests to sit still.
My smile slips, but I keep my head high. I am Georgie Bell and I am magnificent. ‘Why do you think?’ I reply with a raisedeyebrow. ‘I want us to reconnect. To be good again.’ And then I say the words I’ve been avoiding. ‘Because I’m scared that maybe our marriage is…not working.’
Nate watches me for a final second before crossing the kitchen without a word. I hold my breath, hoping he’ll scoop me into his arms and tell me I’m being ridiculous. Instead, he moves past me and, reaches into the fridge. Grabs a beer.
‘I’m too tired for this. You’re acting nuts, Georgie.’
I laugh, the sound too bright, reaching for my wine and taking a long sip for extra courage. ‘No more than usual.’
‘You were just talking to yourself,’ he replies.
