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‘You look weird,’ Kit agrees. ‘Like an old lady.’
‘Exactly the image I was going for,’ I say crossly. I switch off the television, ignoring Kit’s howl of protest. ‘Come on. We need to get going. Louise said we had to be there early if we wanted to get good seats.’
‘Wait. Haven’t you forgotten something?’ Andy asks. He waits a beat, and then grins. ‘I’m sure we can find you some pearls somewhere—’
I thwack him with a cushion. ‘Don’t laugh. This is all your fault.’
He fends off the pillow, and catches my hand. ‘Don’t let Celia get to you,’ he says, suddenly serious. He pulls me onto his lap, and tightens his arms around my waist. ‘Wear what you want to wear, Caz. You don’t have to dress for her or anyone else.’
‘Easy for you to say.’
‘Since when did you give a shit what anyone thinks?’
He’s right. Celia Roberts and the self-righteous Mummy Mafia are never going to like me. Why keep pushing the boulder uphill?
I run back upstairs and change into the skinny jeans and halter top and a pair of skyscraper heels. Andy’s eyes light up when I come back downstairs. ‘That’s more like it,’ he says.
‘Come along then, trophy husband,’ I say, picking up my bag.
The car park at Bella’s school is surprisingly full when we arrive. Louise wasn’t kidding, I think, as Andy circles the lot looking for a space. It’s not even six-thirty, and it already looks like it’ll be standing room only inside.
But as we open the door to the auditorium, we’reblocked by a sudden flow of people leaving. I catch Andy’s eye, puzzled. Perhaps there was a matinee, too. I wish I’d known; I’d much rather have gone to an earlier show so Kit didn’t have to eat so late.
‘Excuse me,’ I say, stopping a woman in a flowery dress who looks vaguely familiar. ‘Was there an early show?’
‘Well, it was at four, if that’s what you mean.’
‘Oh. I didn’t realise there were two performances.’
She looks at me as if I’m mad. ‘There aren’t.’
‘But it doesn’t start till seven—’
‘Itstartedat four,’ she says tersely, turning on her heel to rejoin the throng of chattering parents exiting the auditorium.
I swing round to Andy, not knowing what to say.
‘Are you kidding me?’ Andy exclaims. ‘Wemissedit?’
‘Louise told me it started at seven!’
‘You must have made a mistake. Jesus, Caz. Didn’t you write it down?’
‘I didnotmake a mistake! She told me the wrong time on purpose!’
Kit tugs my hand. ‘Is it finished? Can we go to dinner now?’
‘Of course she didn’t tell you the wrong time on purpose,’ Andy snaps. ‘She’s not a bloody bunny boiler. You obviously got it wrong.’
He sounds like he’s giving me the benefit of the doubt, but I can tell from his expression he doesn’t believe I made an honest mistake. He thinks I deliberately sabotaged Bella’s evening.
Just as Louise intended.
Chapter 9
Louise
‘They’re cutting it a bit fine,’ I mutter, craning my neck to look behind me. ‘It’s almost four. The play will be starting in a minute.’
