‘I replaced the taps while I was at it,’ Adam said, nodding towards the bath. ‘You should get a decent flow of water now.’
‘Thank God for that.’ Kim eyed the ceiling. ‘I’m just about coping bathing Samuel in the kitchen sink, but I’m struggling to fit in it myself.’
‘I can see that would be a bit of a problem.’ Adam glanced back at her, amused. ‘I’ll check out the plumbing in the kitchen sometime,’ he offered. ‘It looks a bit dodgy.’
‘Brilliant, thanks, Adam.’ Smiling, Kim smoothed down the short fuchsia-pink slip dress she’d chosen from Miss Selfridge for just this occasion.
‘You’re off out, I take it?’ Adam asked, turning to pick up his tool bag.
‘Just to the pub with my friend,’ Kim answered, heading out onto the landing.
‘Not the friend who minds Samuel, I take it?’ Adam asked, following her down the stairs.
‘No. You don’t know her,’ Kim answered, leading the way into the kitchen. Glancing back at him, she noted a puzzled look cross his face. ‘Samuel’s with the girl who normally minds him, don’t worry. She texted me just now to tell me he’s fast asleep. She’s dropping him home on her way back from taking her little boy to school in the morning.’
‘Oh, right. Good.’ Adam nodded contemplatively.
‘Coffee?’ she asked, giving him a bright smile.
‘Yes, why not? Just a quick one, thanks.’
Aware of him watching her carefully as she filled the kettle, Kim felt a bit flustered. She needed to change the subject. He’d been asking one or two pointed questions, wearing that same quizzical expression he’d had when he’d asked her about her trip to Boots on the day of Cassie’s shoplifting spree.
‘Ooh, I’ve just thought.’ Flicking the kettle on, she went to grab her phone from the work surface. ‘We should have a photo.’ Scrolling to her camera, she threw her arm around his shoulders, taking a couple of quick shots at arm’s length before he had a chance to object.
Heading back to the kettle, she beamed him another smile over her shoulder. ‘I hope you don’t mind. It’s just that after seeing your albums, I thought I should start one of my own. You know, as a keepsake for Samuel,’ she gabbled on while she made the coffee. ‘I’d much rather have pics of his new family than my dysfunctional one.’
‘Er, no. I don’t mind,’ Adam said, sounding unsure.
Kim realised she’d dropped a bit of a clanger with his own family looking pretty dysfunctional at the moment. ‘Black, no sugar.’ She twirled around and offered him a mug. ‘I put some cold water in it so you wouldn’t burn yourself.’
‘Cheers.’ Adam smiled, but his eyes were still curious. ‘So, this friend who looks after Samuel…’ He went straight back to the child-minding subject. ‘Sorry, I didn’t catch her name.’
‘Freya,’ Kim said, turning away to retrieve some clothes from the washing machine. ‘She’s an old school friend.’
‘You’ve known her a while then?’ Adam asked as she headed to the conservatory to hang the washing on the clothes rack she’d put in there. He was grilling her again. Kim didn’t like it.
‘Since we were eleven,’ she shouted back. ‘She’s as mad as a hatter, but we’d trust each other with our lives. Like I say, she has a little boy of her own, so I know Samuel’s in safe hands.’
Coming back into the kitchen, she stopped in her tracks.
‘It’s a decent photo,’ Adam said, his eyes flicking from her to the phone he’d picked up from the work surface.
Shit. Kim cursed silently. She hoped he hadn’t bloody well checked her texts.
Forty-Five
Cassandra
Realising she couldn’t hide away in Herefordshire forever, a place full of happy memories that only exacerbated her loneliness, Cassie had decided it was time to come home, to be honest with Adam. What she would say to him, how she would begin to explain, she didn’t know, but she had to try. First, though, she knew she had to confront the woman whose threatening texts had added to the weight of the problems that were crushing her marriage, crushing her and Adam both.
She glanced at her dashboard clock and then looked back to the pub doors, wondering whether to go in, where she might be able to follow the woman to the toilets. She had to find a way to talk to her alone. Reaching for the door handle, she stopped, relief flooding through her, as the man the woman had gone in with emerged without her.