The Man Who Built the World Read Free

two capsules out of the foil packing and gulped them down. He wiped his mouth and handed the empty glass back. ‘Thanks.’
    ‘Do you want to talk about it?’ Rachel asked. ‘This is a bit of a shock to me too, you know.’
    Matt grimaced again, closed his eyes and shook his head. ‘Yes I know, I should have told you –’
    ‘How long have we been married, Matthew ? How long?’
    ‘Rachel –’
    ‘ How fucking long ?’
    ‘I get your point, okay ? Bethany was just . . . just part of a life I wanted to leave behind. Things happened . . . bad things. Things I wanted to forget about, things I ran away from a long time ago. Until my father rang, those things, that time . . . didn’t exist anymore.’
    ‘But she was your sister!’
    ‘Huh, you could hardly call her that.’
    ‘What the hell does that mean?’
    He scowled. ‘ Fuck. I don’t know. She was sick. She had something wrong with her. Something I can’t explain.’ He scoffed. ‘We weren’t close, let’s put it that way. And it doesn’t really matter now, does it?’
    ‘Why wouldn’t it?’
    ‘I don’t know. Look, it’s complicated. Bethany just wasn’t right .’ He looked exasperated, struggling to find the right words. ‘She just wasn’t all there. Just used to sit in her room all day, staring out of the window like some sort of goddamn statue. She didn’t speak, didn’t react to anyone, anything. My father tried all sorts, but nothing could snap her out of it.’ He scratched his head. ‘She was much younger than me, too. She was just a kid when I left. If you want the truth, she scared the hell out of me.’
    Rachel ignored this last comment. ‘She was, um, handicapped?’
    ‘I don’t know. Look, I told you. It’s complicated.’
    ‘It doesn’t seem you were particularly close to any of your family.’
    He put the coffee back on the dresser, hard enough to make some spill over. ‘Just because my family doesn’t ring me every five fucking minutes, Jesus Christ –’
    Rachel held up a hand. ‘Matthew, please . I’d just like to know. I’m your wife, remember? How – how did she die?’
    Matt’s eyes blazed. ‘He didn’t say, all right? Just because you’re my fucking wife doesn’t mean I have to tell you every goddamn thing about me, Rachel. I don’t like talking about it, and I don’t want to talk about it. Okay?’
    Rachel shook her head, lowering her eyes to hide her tears. ‘No Matthew, it’s not okay. But right now I have to go pick the kids up from school and nursery.’ She fumbled in her pocket for the car keys, found the right one, held it in her hand with the point sticking out through her fingers, the rest of the key ring clutched in her palm.
    I can’t believe I’m holding it like a weapon.
    ‘I’ll see you later, Matthew.’ She started past him, the hall so like a walk to freedom she found herself resisting the urge to make a bolt for it. She didn’t think he would ever hit her again, but once she had never thought he would hit her ever.
    ‘I have to go to the funeral this weekend.’
    Rachel stopped dead. She turned to face him. ‘You’re going home ?’
    ‘I guess I have to. I’ll stay in the village, or at Father’s if I have no other choice. I’ll take the Vectra as it’s a long haul, and the Ford’s getting a bit old for that sort of distance.’
    ‘Oh . . . okay.’ She paused. ‘Do you want us to come with you?’
    His reply was instantaneous. ‘No. I guess there’s no point really, is there? It’d just upset the kids, and it’s only a funeral, after all.’
    ‘It’s your sister’s funeral. I’d say that’s quite important.’
    He held her gaze until she looked away. ‘I’ll be better on my own. It’ll only be for a day or so. I’ll probably be back by Sunday evening, or Monday at the latest.’
    ‘Whatever.’
    She turned to go, and felt a hand close over her arm, a rough hand. She froze. Suddenly the key between her fingers seemed so useless, so