Page 48 of The Happy Family

I don’t have much longer to ponder that thought because Mum and Dad’s fancy new doorbell sounds, audible to us even out here in the garden, and that tells us there are visitors at the door.

We all head inside, Mum moving quicker than me and Dad because he is having to help me back into the house. As he lowers me onto one of the sofas, I hear the front door open and Arthur and Ruby’s excitable voices soon follow. I smile as I prepare to see my children, and as they come running into the room, I open my arms wide to take them both in a big hug.

As they race towards me, I see Reid walk in after them, looking a little pensive. As I cuddle our children, I realise why he looks unsure.

It’s because he has brought someone else with him.

Someone I wasn’t expecting to see for a while yet.

Someone who is pushing a pram into the room with a sleeping baby inside it.

Luna is here.

She’s here in the house she once burnt down.

THIRTY-THREE

LUNA

Returning to the scene of my crime is the least of my worries as I stare at Sadie and try to figure out what she might be thinking. As far as I know, her memory has still not returned, so I should be safe. But I did not fail to register the flicker of emotion on her face when she realised that I had accompanied Reid and the children on this visit. There was a definite reaction from her and while it could be one that is simply because no woman enjoys the company of their ex-husband’s new partner, it could also be that there is a part of her brain that remembers how my presence signifies danger for her.

I don’t know, but what I do know is I cannot just stand here and say nothing. I can’t appear to be hiding anything. So I force myself to speak.

‘Hi, Sadie. How are you feeling?’

The tension, and awkwardness, in this beautifully decorated room are palpable. It hangs so heavy in the air that it feels like someone could cut it with a knife. As well as Sadie’s eyes on me, I can feel her parents’ gaze burning into my back from where they stand behind me in the hallway. Then there is Reid, standing between me and his ex and looking as hapless as ever, no doubt wanting the ground to open up and swallow him so he doesn’t have to spend another second between us two women.

‘What are you doing here?’ Sadie asks, and I feel my heart skip a beat.

Does that question mean she remembers?

‘Erm,’ I reply, looking to Reid because I’m not sure what to do. Then Sadie speaks again.

‘I thought you hated me,’ she says.

That’s when I realise that she isn’t questioning my presence here because she knows I was trying to kill her before her accident. She’s questioning it because, based on her memory, she was trying to kill me, and therefore, she should be the last person I would ever want to visit.

Sadie starts crying then, causing concern from her children who were hugging her but now worry why their mother is shedding tears. I realise that rather than the potential disaster I was afraid of, it could actually be an opportunity to further cement myself as a friend to this family rather than a foe.

‘I don’t hate you,’ I say softly. ‘I know a lot has happened between the two of us, but I consider it all to be in the past. I want you to know that, which is why I’m here. I want you to know that I forgive you.’

If this scenario wasn’t actually as warped as it was, my words could qualify me for the Nobel Peace Prize, such is the generosity and compassion I am displaying to a woman who ‘tried to kill me’. Of course, there is no compassion at all and I’m simply playing another one of my games, but it seems to be working.

‘I don’t deserve your forgiveness,’ Sadie says, wiping her tears.

‘It’s very kind of Luna to forgive you,’ Reid says then to his ex. ‘But we both just want you to get better.’

Sadie nods as she continues to try and dry her tears.

‘How about a cup of tea?’ I suggest then as a way of breaking the ice a little more, and Sadie’s mum agrees that is a good idea.

I decide to follow her into the kitchen, if only to get a little break from being around Sadie. Reid and the children stay with her while Sadie’s father joins us, and as I enter the immaculate kitchen, it’s clear to see just how impressive a job the builders did on this house. Of course, I held no ill will against the couple who lived here when I set fire to their property. It was simply a means to an end to add the final bit of force to Sadie and Reid’s marriage so they would separate and I could swoop in. That’s why I’m glad to see that it appears it has turned out well for this couple as they stand in their lovely rebuilt home. The only losses they incurred were of the material kind rather than the more serious loss if somebody had died.

‘Thank you,’ Sadie’s mother says to me as the kettle boils.

‘What for?’ I ask.

‘For your forgiveness. You didn’t have to do that, but it will help Sadie a lot to know that she isn’t hated by you and Reid.’