Page 79 of Perfect Wives
‘You hated Jonny too!’ Tasha blurts out. ‘All of you did! Why is this all on me? I didn’t do anything. That’s not my phone.’
‘It’s in your bag,’ Beth replies, eyes darting from DS Sató to me, like she can’t believe it either.
‘And it was your dad’s sleeping pills, and the top you were wearing that night,’ I add. And suddenly I’m not only hurt and confused – head spinning with WTF is happening – I’m also angry. Furious. Blood roars in my ears. ‘You let us think Keira was the threat when all along it was you.’
‘I’m sorry—’ Tasha starts to say, but Beth cuts her off.
‘It’s too late for sorry,’ she hisses.
‘That’s enough,’ Sató says, and the command in her tone cuts us all dead. ‘I think you should come back to the station with me now, Tasha.’
Tasha wipes her face with the sleeve of her jumper, her shoulders trembling with silent sobs. ‘Please,’ she chokes out. ‘Please…I didn’t do this. I can explain why I’ve been acting differently. Marc was?—’
‘You threatened our children,’ Beth cuts in, and Tasha shakes her head.
‘No. I didn’t—’ Tasha’s words are lost in a sob.
‘Let’s talk at the station,’ Sató says, still so calm.
DC McLachlan moves to stand beside Tasha.
Tasha cries out. ‘Let me see my girls first. Please.’
‘Not right now, Tasha. You don’t want them to see you like this,’ Sató replies.
Tasha looks between us, eyes wild like she’s searching for something – mercy, forgiveness, a way to take it all back. ‘I’m sorry, but this isn’t right.’
The words fall flat. Too late to backtrack and deny what she did. Beth turns towards me, covering her face with her hands. I stay frozen, not wanting to watch, not able to look away. Then gently, firmly, Sató and DC McLachlan steer Tasha from the room and out the front door. I listen to them leave. More tears. Half sentences and spluttered apologies. And then the front door clicks shut, leaving only silence. Hot and uncomfortable.
I force myself to swallow, to stay standing. I turn towards Keira slowly.
‘I’m sorry,’ I manage, realising how wrong I’ve been about her. ‘We thought?—’
‘Save it,’ she sighs. ‘Apology not accepted. I get you were manipulated here, but don’t think I don’t see the way you all look at me. The posh mums with your matching yoga mats and perfect little lives in Magnolia Close, so quick to judge me.’
Her words hit harder than I want to admit. She’s right. We did exactly that. I thought I was so much better than her, and yet my marriage has been a lie, my friend has betrayed me. Everything I fought so hard to protect didn’t even exist.
‘I don’t wear the right clothes. I don’t say the right things,’ Keira continues. ‘I don’t live on the right street. It probably took nothing for you to convince yourselves I was crazy and fall forwhatever lies that other friend of yours cooked up. You need to take a long, hard look in the mirror. Now take your children and get the hell out of my house.’
There’s a pause. A fraction of time where Beth and I stand there, open-mouthed. Reeling from everything Tasha did and the sharp honesty of Keira’s words. Then we do what we always do as mothers. We rally, and we put on our brave faces and bright smiles as we call the children in from the garden. They’re all pink-cheeked and breathless, giggling about a made-up game they invented.
‘Where’s my mum?’ Matilda asks as we herd them towards the front door. I watch her feet falter and her bottom lip tremble as she peers around the hall, searching for Tasha. Sofia silently slips her hand into her sister’s.
‘She’s busy right now, sweetheart,’ I say, my voice bright and bubbling and a notch too high. I crouch down, forcing a smile onto my face. ‘But guess what? I bet your daddy’s at home. Shall we go see him?’
Matilda nods, but her eyes are still wary. Beside me, Beth fumbles with Henry’s coat, like she’s trying not to shake. We step outside, and cold air hits my face. Beth and I walk in silence, barely listening as the children tell us the fun they’ve had at Keira’s house.
‘We had ice cream for lunch,’ Oscar tells us.
‘And chocolate,’ Henry adds.
Sofia grins. ‘I had sprinkles on mine.’
I stare at them all. Happy. Safe. Never in danger. Tasha made us think we’d never see them again. She’s a mother too. She loves her girls. How could she do that to us?
Only when we turn into the private road that leads to Magnolia Close do the children scamper ahead and I step closer to Beth.
‘I still can’t believe it was Tasha all this time,’ I whisper. ‘How could she manipulate us like that?’
