remember the journey. You were distracted by Mabel, I expect. Nothing to worry about. If you’re looking for a reason for me not to go to the conference, you’ll have to do better than that.’
There are many things Amber could say in reply, but she decides to keep them to herself. She cannot, will not spend the weekend on her own with Mabel. The mere thought of it makes her insides roll over in waves of panic.
After dinner, while George is in the nursery getting Mabel ready for bed, she manages to exchange a few frantic texts with Seth, then makes a call to her sister.
‘Rubes, are you doing anything at the weekend?’
‘Hmm … not sure … possibly,’ she replies. ‘I’m not working, so Lewis and I were thinking of going to Bristol to see some friends.’
‘Oh.’ It only takes one small word to convey Amber’s enormous disappointment.
‘Why? What’s up?’
‘George has to go to a conference in Manchester, for two whole nights, and—’
‘You want me to come over and keep you company?’
Amber lowers her voice. ‘Well, what I really wanted to ask was if you could possibly look after Mabel by yourself, like last time.’
There’s the tiniest of pauses. ‘Oh, so you want to go with him? Another romantic night away, eh?’ Ruby sounds pleased.
‘No, no.’ Amber cups her hand over the receiver. ‘There’s this yoga retreat I want to go on in Somerset. Gaia Hall. Usually they’re booked out, but they’ve had a cancellation. It would really help me if—’
‘Why are you whispering?’
‘I’m not.’
‘You are.’
‘I was talking too loudly before, that’s all,’ she bluffs. ‘George is trying to get Mabel down.’
Ruby doesn’t respond immediately. Amber can tell she’s weighing up the situation, trying to work out why her sister is lying.
‘Okay,’ she says finally. ‘Can I bring Lewis?’
‘Of course. If he wants to come.’
‘See you Friday then. And make sure you’ve got some beers in.’
It’s nearly eleven before Mabel finally accepts defeat and George manages to get her to sleep. Amber has already gone to bed but is sitting up tapping away on her laptop. She quickly shuts the lid as George enters.
‘Look what I’ve just found,’ he says, holding up a key.
She peers at it across the room. ‘Is that the spare to the front door?’
‘Yes!’ He puts it on the chest of drawers.
‘Where was it?’
‘In the saucer of that cactus, you know, the one you bought me for my birthday about five years ago. God knows why Ruby put it there. She’s such an airhead.’
‘I know, she’s impossible,’ agrees Amber. ‘Still, she’s been incredibly good to us. I spoke to her earlier; she’s coming to stay for the weekend.’
‘Great.’ He starts to undress.
Amber knows she ought to tell him that Ruby will be looking after Mabel by herself, but she holds back. He should like the idea of her going on a yoga retreat, but what if he objects and tells her to cancel?
‘Odd about the key,’ he continues. ‘I’m surprised you didn’t find it earlier.’
‘I’m surprised you didn’t,’ she retorts.
‘Yeah, but surely you would have seen it when you were watering the plants.’
‘You’re not supposed to water cacti during the winter – hardly ever, anyway. Besides, it’s your cactus.’
‘Yes, but you’re at home all day.’
She tightens her jaw. ‘So? What are you implying?’
‘I just find it weird that you claimed you’d searched high and low when clearly you hadn’t—’
‘George! Stop being such an arse. You found the key, okay? Congratulations! There’s no need to weaponise it.’
He pulls back his side of the duvet and climbs in next to her. ‘I’m not. I’m just saying it’s odd, that’s all, when the thing was there all the time, staring you in the face.’
‘Us,’ she snaps, turning out the light without warning. ‘It was staring us in the face.’
But later, as she lies there in the darkness, her irritation gives way to a fresh anxiety. She did search high and low. That cactus sits on the sideboard in the corner of the kitchen-diner. She gives it a few drops of water once a week, moves the pot whenever she dusts. She must catch sight of it several times a day, whenever she opens the cupboard or uses the drawers. So why didn’t she see the key before?
Chapter Eleven
Two days before
Ruby pulls a face. ‘Please, Lewis! Don’t make me look after Mabel all on my own. One night was hard enough, but two …’
‘Sorry, but I need to work this weekend.’
She stares at him suspiciously. ‘Really? The last I heard,