‘Okay. I just need to check something in the… I’ll be right back, and then I’m going to make some strong, sweet tea for everyone.’ That’s what you do in a crisis, isn’t it? Hot sweet tea? God knows everyone is in shock – myself included.
I disappear through the utility room and into the garage. Everything looks fine. Why wouldn’t it? I pick up whatever I can find – a milk crate full of old tools, old tins of paint that don’t even belong to us, a small broom and pan, a cushion that’s looking the worse for wear – what’s that doing here? – and I pile it all up on top of the freezer. I am trying to convey that this is an old, unused freezer. An old, unused,emptyfreezer. Nothing to see here.
Then I go back inside.
‘Are the girls upstairs?’ I ask Teri.
‘Yes.’
‘Okay. I’ll make some tea. How are you feeling?’
‘Not great, but not too bad,’ she says, which isn’t exactly what I wanted to hear, but it will do.
‘I’m so sorry this happened,’ I say.
‘Not your fault, Kate,’ she says. ‘It was an accident anyway.’ Then she adds, ‘Where’s Max?’
I swallow and turn to her. ‘What?’ I ask, playing for time.
‘Your husband?’ She laughs. ‘You said before that he was away.’
‘Oh, yes, of course. He’s gone to Zurich. On business.’
‘Zurich? I’ve never been, have you?’
‘Erm, no.’
I resist the impulse to correct myself. Why did I say Zurich? What the hell is wrong with me? I should have kept it vague. How am I going to tell the police later that we had a fight and he left in a huff and drove his car off a cliff? I try to remember what Holly said before I took her to Scarlett’s, when we were chattingto Teri. Did she say,he’s away? Or,he’s gone away? I can’t remember.
Anyway, I’ll just say that she misunderstood. ‘He’sgoingto Zurich,’ is what I said.Soon– that’s what I meant. He was just at the gym.
It’ll be fine.
I hand Teri a mug of tea. ‘If you’ve got something stronger, I wouldn’t say no,’ she says, taking it from me.
‘Leave it with me,’ I say.
I take some tea to the girls upstairs. I find them sitting on the bed, looking white and terrified.
Keeping my eyes trained on Holly, I crouch in front of them. ‘Everything is going to be all right. Nobody got badly hurt.’
‘Are you going to tell my parents?’ Scarlett asks.
I swallow. ‘Well?—’
‘No, Kate! Please don’t!’ Holly screeches. ‘If you?—’
I raise my hand. ‘Don’t worry. Leave it with me.’ Whatever that means. Leave what with me, exactly?
‘But are you really going to call the police?’ Scarlett asks.
Holly makes a whiny noise.
‘Because you said you’d call them later,’ Scarlett says, biting her bottom lip hard.
I did say that, didn’t I? I lean forward. I don’t know why. It’s just the three of us in here. ‘Did anyone see you?’ I ask in a low voice.
They shake their heads.
