The Stepmother Read Free Page B

you, Amber. You put so much work into that show and it paid off. I don’t think even you thought you were going to be that good. Did you?”
    â€œBut Mummy, when the lights came up I forgot about me and became her. It was like I’d gone through the looking-glass. It wasn’t until I saw you guys that I remembered who I was. It was weird.”
    â€œYou were Maria absolutely. Even I forgot it was you at times,” I said, stroking her hair. “But as brilliant as she was, I’m very glad I have my beautiful Amber back.”
    â€œI’m pooped,” she said, flopping into her bed and reaching for a tendril of hair, which she curled around a finger and held to her face. She’s been using her hair as a security blanket since the first tufts appeared behind an ear. So much easier than Lulu’s rabbit, which I’ve lived in fear of losing for nearly a decade now. I didn’t make that mistake a third time. Maddy had a muslin cloth to cuddle up to and I used to buy them by the sackload.
    â€œLove you, Mum.”
    â€œI love you, my amazing girl. I’ll come and give you a kiss after I’ve settled the other two.” She waved her hair-ringed fingers at me. It was these gestures, not her perfect pitch, that made me love my daughter.
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    J IMMY SAT ON THE FLOOR cross-legged between the two single beds and read from a book he’d picked off the shelf. It didn’t matter that it was babyish, it didn’t matter that they didn’t like the story, it didn’t matter that they were virtually asleep: their eyes and ears were on their father, drinking him in. My heart constricted and I retreated to the corridor. By the time I’d picked up the discarded clothes, screwed the cap onto the toothpaste, flushed the loo, put out clean uniforms for the following day, checked all three book bags, hung up the wet laundry, disposed of the empty Nando’s bucket, and sorted out breakfast, the house was quiet. I went back upstairs to kiss my sleeping children, then joined Jimmy at the kitchen table. He opened the box of Crunchy Nut Corn Flakes and grabbed a handful. A few spilled out, and more dropped from his hand as he threw them into his mouth.
    â€œSorry about tomorrow night. It’ll be a late one,” he said, crunching. I stared at the cereal scattered over my recently cleaned table. “I had to juggle some things to get to the play, and they’ve been moved to tomorrow.” He put the packet back in its place but without folding down the plastic innards or the top of the box.
    â€œIt’s okay,” I said, itching to close it but resisting, because I knew it would be seen as an act of aggression.
    â€œGod, she was brilliant, wasn’t she?” said Jimmy.
    I tore my eyes away from the bloody cereal and forced myself to remember the show. The smile returned to my lips. “Yes, she was.”
    â€œI hope they’re making a movie. Lucy’s coming tomorrow, right? She’s got one of those digital recorders. Shall I ask her?”
    I had already called Jimmy’s wonderfully left-field sister and asked her. “She’s bringing it.”
    â€œPerfect. That’s the sort of thing we need to save up for Amber’s twenty-first.”
    â€œOr her wedding,” I replied. We caught one another’s eye, then looked away.
    â€œRight,” said Jimmy, standing up. “I’d better be going.”
    I glanced at my watch. “Gosh,” I said, faking a yawn, “how did it get so late?”
    â€œBea, I’m sorry I can’t collect Lulu and Maddy tomorrow.”
    â€œIt’s all right. I’ll sort something out. Maybe they’d like to come and see the show again.”
    â€œI would.”
    â€œReally? Do you want me to get you an extra ticket? The last night is Friday.”
    â€œFriday, Friday…Yes. I can come on Friday. I could take the girls afterward for the night. Make it up to