was still daylight at 8 p.m., dusk had been marshalled early by the gathering storm clouds and occasional flashes of lightning. The air was sweet with the earthy scent of moist soil, and the soggy blood-red petals on the geraniums by the front door hung down, droopy from the downpour.
Tim methodically pulled each key from his key ring round and round looking for the house key as she stood next to him, shivering in the porch, moisture trickling down the back of her neck. Once he’d located the right key, he put it in the lock with an ‘ah’.
Before he went in, he stopped and turned around to face her. ‘Maddie, I know I haven’t always been the best husband, but you know your place is here, with me.’ She forced a smile as he patted her on the arm. Perhaps he could sense the tension. Pat, pat, pat. She glanced at his neatly cut fingernails.
Maybe they did need to go away. A holiday of some sort, maybe one of those couples’ places? Actually, that might be bloody dreadful. But she decided to keep an open mind and have a look later, once they were curled up on the sofa with a hot chocolate and out of this miserable rain.
As they walked into the kitchen, she could see it. Water spread out all over the floor by the fridge, the freezer door ajar.
‘Jesus Christ, Maddie, when did you last defrost the freezer?’
How was this her fault? Water was seeping all over the floor from the freezer.
‘You must have left the freezer door open.’ She turned to him as she tiptoed through the mess.
‘I really don’t think I did. Well, if you had been a bit more observant! None of this would have happened!’
Observant? Maddie’s heart quickened in annoyance, standing there in an inch of water. There was the woman she was, and the woman she wanted to be, and she was finding more and more that they were not quite the same. Suddenly, she wasn’t sure any weekends away were going to fix that.
‘What are you talking about? Don’t be utterly ridiculous!’
‘Don’t call me ridiculous, Maddie, after all I’ve done for you!’
That faulty fuse inside her fizzed just a little more and she blinked. She had to bite her lower lip not to say anything more. How many years would she have to pay for this?
Her phone beeped. She was desperate for news of Ed; she dashed over to see if it was him. It was! Only when she clicked on the icon there was a message saying:
This is not Ed.
‘Tim, quick, look at this, I think he’s been hacked! Look!’
Tim took the phone from her and read the message. His face turned pale.
‘No. He hasn’t been hacked, Maddie, he’s in hospital.’
Maddie snatched the phone from Tim’s hand.
Hello this is Johnny – I’m a mate of Ed’s. I had no other way of contacting his family. He is all right, but he needs to stay in hospital for a few days. He’s had a bang to the head from a surfboard in a storm and blacked out. The staff have put him under 24-hour surveillance. Has he had any history of fitting? Can you let me know? My number is…
But she couldn’t read it for the tears…
‘I need to go, Tim!’
‘What? Where?’
‘To Bali, of course!’
‘That’s insane. You?’
She jerked her head to the left to look at him. ‘Why not?’
‘Well, because, you’re needed here – he’ll be fine, Mads. Besides, you wouldn’t cope.’
And there, in that one moment, was the defining difference between them. She would have run, barefoot if necessary – across hot coals if she had to – to the airport and got on the next flight to see her son. And not just that, Tim thought she couldn’t do it. You? She couldn’t turn back the clock, but she could make a decision that would affect the rest of her life.
‘I’m going,’ she said, swiping her wallet off the table.
10
‘This is your captain speaking. We are about to start our descent into Denpasar International Airport. Please return your seats to the upright position…’
Maddie shifted in her seat. The flight had been sixteen hours with a stopover in Singapore. Never, ever, had she wanted a shower so much in her life. It was the longest she had sat next to someone who kept falling asleep on her shoulder. It was hard not to stare at her neighbour’s bright pink nail polish. Maddie looked over at the girl sleeping peacefully