The second wives club, p.24
The Second Wives Club, page 24
He started to cry quietly again, and this time Alison started too. Fiona was struggling to hold back the tears; only Julia remained dry-eyed, although her face looked pinched.
They all stood in a circle round the bed, staring silently down at Susan.
“I know none of us is really religious, but shall we say a prayer?” said Alison. Julia was about to pooh-pooh the idea and opened her mouth to speak, but Nick’s voice cut across her.
“That’s a lovely idea, Alison, thank you. I’d like to do that.”
He moved closer to the bed, his thighs pressing against the side. He closed his eyes and bowed his head.
The three women looked at one another uncertainly for a few seconds, then Alison and Fiona bowed their heads too. Julia remained where she was until Fiona scowled at her and she hastily followed suit, tucking her chin into her chest.
“Dear Lord,” he began. “Please help Susan to make a full recovery from her accident. I know I don’t pray very much these days…well, at all, in fact, but I hope you’ll find it in your heart to forgive me and…”
“Oh, my God!” Fiona clamped a hand over her mouth and let out a stifled sob, her eyes welling with tears.
Nick had stopped praying and was staring at her with a puzzled expression. Then his gaze followed hers, down to Susan’s face.
She was still lying in the same position, but her eyes were open and blinking rapidly. She looked faintly confused as she focused on the four serious faces peering down at her.
“Bloody hell,” she croaked. “Has someone died?”
Nick was openly sobbing again, but this time through sheer relief and joy. He and Susan were now alone in the room, the others having tactfully withdrawn after their whoops of happiness and surprise had brought the medical staff running.
“Jesus, you have no idea how good it felt to see you open your eyes.” Nick grinned through the tears. “I was beginning to think that I’d lost you forever.”
Susan feebly touched the bandaged area of her head and winced. “I’ve got the mother of all headaches.” She peered downward. “And what the hell happened to my leg?”
Nick looked concerned again. “Don’t you remember anything?”
She narrowed her eyes. “I remember the yoga class, and I remember having a coffee with Fiona afterward, then…” She stopped. “Nope, nothing else.”
“You were hit by a car while you were waiting to cross the road. Your leg was trapped under the wheel, but a couple of inches the other way and you would probably have been killed.” He stopped talking for a moment, clearly finding even the possibility hard to contemplate. “They think you got the head injury when you fell back onto the pavement.”
She widened her eyes. “What about the driver? Is he or she okay?”
Nick smiled. “Typical of you to worry about others when you’re lying in a hospital bed yourself. It was a he, and, yes, he’s fine. Apparently, he had swerved to avoid a young boy who’d fallen off his bicycle, so it wasn’t his fault. Just a terrible, terrible accident.” He jerked his head back toward the door. “The nurses tell me he’s been ringing every day to find out how you are. He’s overcome with guilt, I’m afraid.”
“Well, he shouldn’t be.” Susan carefully attempted to shift herself ever so slightly. “Please let him know I don’t blame him at all. I would have done exactly the same in his position.”
Nick sat on the edge of the bed and leaned in, gently kissing her forehead. “By the way, Ellie’s on her way with Bill and Genevieve.” He looked at his watch. “They should be here soon.”
Susan smiled weakly. “I can’t wait. Does she know what happened?”
He shook his head. “No, I told her we were both away working.”
“She must be wondering why I haven’t called.” Susan’s face crumpled slightly at the thought. “I hate it that she might think I’d forgotten. Still, as she’s coming here, we’ll be able to tell her the truth now, won’t we?”
He nodded and started to stroke her hair.
Susan lay back carefully. She still didn’t have the full facts about her injuries, about what had really happened, but they could wait. For now, she welcomed the change in behavior that her accident had prompted.
For the first time in ages, she could see the love in his eyes, feel his concern, and enjoy the public affection he had previously shied away from expressing.
“I’m sorry I put you through this,” she murmured. “It must have been hellish for you, particularly after everything you went through when Caitlin died.”
He placed a finger on her lips. “Ssssh, don’t say that, particularly as it wasn’t your fault. I’m just grateful beyond belief that you’ve pulled through.” He kissed her again, this time on the mouth, and grabbed her hand, clasping it tightly. “Don’t ever, ever leave me again. Not even for a bike ride.”
Susan looked momentarily puzzled by what he’d said, and then the realization dawned. “Ah, yes, the bike ride. Now I remember about that too.” She half sat up and Nick leapt to his feet, plumping the pillows behind her back to support her. “Well, I won’t be going on that now, will I?” She forced a smile.
He stared at her with a curious expression. “I know I never really asked you, because I was too busy thinking about myself and how I’d cope without you around to organize Ellie and me, but what was that all about?”
She smiled. “Ah, now there’s a question.” She paused and sighed. “It was a bid to get noticed, I suppose.” Her honesty surprised even her, but she chalked it up to the strong painkillers numbing her usual cautiousness. Plus, of course, the accident itself. When you’ve almost died, waiting for the right time to say something suddenly seems ludicrous.
“And then you got hit by a car, which worked just as well.” He smiled briefly to let her know that he was joking before his face turned serious again. “Noticed by me?”
She didn’t say anything, just nodded with a wistful, almost apologetic expression.
“I see.” He looked close to tears again. “God, I’m such a fool. I should have known you were feeling that way.”
“How could you? I didn’t exactly wear my heart on my sleeve, did I? Susan the uncomplaining people pleaser. That’s me.”
“That’s not the point, though.” He looked troubled. “I was so busy thinking about how Ellie and I had been affected by Caitlin’s death that I didn’t stop to consider what you’d taken on.” He paused for a moment. “It can’t have been easy.”
They were the words Susan had waited to hear for so long, and now that she’d heard them, she couldn’t quite believe it. She stayed silent, resisting her natural temptation to reassure him that it had all been smooth sailing when, clearly, it hadn’t.
“How long have you been unhappy?” He looked broken.
She squeezed his hand. “I wasn’t unhappy as such, I just felt I needed to remove myself from home for a while so you could realize how much you missed me.” She smiled to try to soften the blow slightly.
“So I could appreciate how much you do for me and Ellie?” he asked quietly.
She looked sheepish. “Something like that, yes.”
Leaning toward her, he placed his face just two inches from hers and stared into her eyes. “Susan, I am so, so sorry that it’s taken you nearly being killed to make me say these things, but I feel we’ve been given a second chance together, so I’ll say them now.” He cleared his throat. “I love you to distraction, and I would fall apart if I lost you. Not because I wouldn’t know how to look after Ellie or myself, but because I would truly, truly miss you as the person, the human being that you are.”
“Thank you.” The lump in her throat made it difficult for her to say anything else.
“And another thing…,” he jumped up, clearly excited by what he was about to say, pacing over to the window and back again, “…I think we should get married.”
Okay, so it wasn’t the dramatically romantic proposal she’d dreamed of…Nick on bended knee at the top of the Eiffel Tower, perhaps, while a violinist played nearby…but it was still a major step forward.
“That would be lovely.” Susan smiled.
“And I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about what you said…you know, about us having a baby.”
She nodded mutely, rendered speechless by the speed with which Nick was changing before her eyes.
“Well, I think we should.”
“You do?” Her head spinning, she tried to shift her body slightly and winced as she discovered she ached all over. “Hang on a minute…am I dreaming? Or has the other Nick been abducted by aliens and replaced by a cloned, New Age version?”
He smiled weakly. “I know, I know. I was a jackass, what can I say?” He held up his hands in a gesture of surrender. “But as I said, I’ve had a lot of time to just sit here and think.” He paused slightly and looked down at the floor. “To think about losing you, to think about life without you…and to think of all the things I wanted to say to you and hadn’t said. ‘Will you marry me?’ being one of them.”
“Well, since you ask, yes, I will!” She laughed, tears in her eyes.
“Fantastic!” He walked back to the bed and gave her a lingering kiss on the mouth. “And then we’ll try for a baby.”
“Nick, you don’t have to do that. It’s fine really.”
“No, that’s just it, I want to,” he said breathlessly. “In fact, I can’t think why I ever thought it was a good idea to wait. We’re in love, we’re going to get married, why on earth wouldn’t we want to try for a baby?”
She laughed at his infectious enthusiasm. “Okay.” But inside, she knew it was immaterial at the moment, certainly until her leg had healed enough to bear her own weight, let alone that of a pregnancy. And by then he might have changed his mind again.
“So how do you feel?” He was back by her side again, carefully lowering himself onto the bed. “Are you in a great deal of pain?”
“Not really. More of a dull, persistent ache.” She looked at one of the tubes running into her hand. “But I suppose if I didn’t have the morphine, it might be another story.”
“When you were saying good-bye to the others, I had a word with the surgeon outside, and he seemed really pleased with your progress. But we have to keep an eye on you because the brain can play funny tricks.”
“Particularly mine.”
“No, I’m serious. I saw a documentary the other day where this guy had suffered a head injury and knew who his family was and stuff but couldn’t name certain objects. It was really weird.” He held up his wrist and tapped the face of his watch. “What’s this?”
“That’s easy.” She grinned. “It’s a cucumber.”
one bump or two?
“Do you think she’s forgotten?” Alison looked at her watch and scanned Natasha’s for the fifth time in as many minutes. “It’s not like her to be late.”
“Yes, it is,” said Julia derisively. “She’s always late, except this time she’s actually got the excuse that she can’t get around that easily.”
Fiona looked worried. “I offered to pick her up, but she refused. She got quite cross with me actually, and said she wasn’t an invalid.”
“Susan cross?” Julia raised a perfectly plucked eyebrow. “Now that really isn’t like her.”
“I know.” Fiona sighed, smoothing out a crease in her skirt. “I think a lot has changed about Susan since the accident, but it’s all good. She just seems much more confident and decisive somehow.”
“Well, let’s hope I don’t have an accident then,” said Julia. “I’d be even more of a nightmare afterward.”
Neither Fiona nor Alison responded, their silence indicating that they agreed with Julia.
“Aha!” she added, pointing along the street. “Here comes Hopalong Cassidy now.”
They all craned their necks to watch Susan’s painstaking progress along the sidewalk toward where they were sitting at a table positioned in the open French windows at the front of the café.
She was walking slowly but purposefully, leaning on a walking stick in her left hand, her left foot still lightly bandaged. She was wearing a pink driving moccasin on her right foot, but her left was encased in a large, burgundy slipper.
“Sorry, love, but it’ll never catch on.” Julia grinned, nodding toward Susan’s feet as she hobbled up to the table. “Didn’t they have one in pink?”
“Fuck off.” Susan smiled, easing herself into the empty chair between Fiona and Alison. “Sorry I’m late. The traffic was so bad that I would have had time to change a flat tire without pulling over.”
Fiona reached over to an ice bucket at her side. “As it’s a special occasion, we have taken the liberty of ordering champagne.” She poured Susan a glass and passed it to her. “Welcome back to the Second Wives Club. We’ve missed you.”
Susan raised her glass and smiled. “Thank you. I’ve missed coming.” It had been six months since she’d regained consciousness, and it had been a long, slow, limping plod along the road to recovery. She was still attending regular physical therapy sessions as well as doing exercises at home, much to Ellie’s amusement. Fiona, Julia, and Alison had all been regular visitors to Susan and Nick’s house over the course of the past few months, but this was the first time she had ventured out alone.
“It must be really hard,” said Alison, nodding toward her leg. “I remember I broke my leg once, skiing on a school trip…it was a novelty at first, getting out of gym class and having everyone fuss over me. But then it quickly became a boring inconvenience.”
“I broke a leg while skiing too,” Julia piped up. “Fortunately, it wasn’t mine. By the way, your phone’s flashing.” She pointed at it lying on top of Susan’s handbag.
“It’ll be Nick.” She sighed heavily. “He’s already rung me about ten times on the way here, to see if I’m all right. I’ve put it on silent, as I can’t stand hearing it anymore.” She picked it up and pressed the answer button. “Hi, darling. Yes, I got here safely. I’ll call you later.”
“It’s nice that he’s so worried about you,” said Fiona, remembering all too well where Susan’s relationship with Nick had been before that fateful day.
“Yes, it is,” Susan acknowledged. “But it’s also bloody irritating. Hopefully, once I’m fully recovered, things will settle down a bit and I’ll be able to leave the house without a search-and-rescue team checking on my every move.”
“So when might that be?” Alison peered down at Susan’s bandaged foot and looked dubious.
“Not long. The bandage comes off for good next week. Then I just have to wear one of those elastic support socks for a while…”
“Sexy!” interrupted Julia.
“…and then I can start to put weight on my foot without using the cane and, hopefully, attempt a brief vacation. Nick and I thought Florida might be nice. It’s the perfect time of year there, in the eighties at the moment…”
“Like most of the population,” Julia quipped.
Fiona was on her second glass of champagne, and as she looked at Susan she felt the alcohol making her emotional all over again. “I can’t believe you’re sitting here.” She smiled. “Having seen you lying on that road, I wasn’t sure if you’d pull through.”
“Yes, I was a bit of a mess, wasn’t I?” Susan grinned, trying to lighten the mood. She’d spent the past few months surrounded by people with worried expressions, and the last thing she wanted to do was discuss the accident one more time. “But I have bounced back to fight another day.” She held up her glass. “Salut!”
“Salut!” they parroted, and all took a swig.
Susan simply sipped hers and placed it back on the table.
“I suppose you have to be careful, do you?” asked Alison, nodding toward the glass.
“Yes. I find it hard enough keeping my balance as it is, so I’m taking it easy.” She smiled before turning to Fiona. “But enough of my woes, I want to hear about someone else’s! How’s life with Jake?”
Her mouth full of olive bread, Fiona chewed a few times before swallowing. “Knock on wood…,” she reached over and tapped the back of Alison’s chair, “…everything is really good. He’s much nicer to me these days, but I think being the keeper of his little drug secret may have something to do with it.”
“May have?” Julia scoffed. “I’d say it has everything to do with it.”
Fiona laughed. “You’re probably right. Regardless, it has improved life immeasurably. He even cooked breakfast for us on Sunday.”
“Isn’t David suspicious as to why you and Jake have suddenly gone from butting heads to a regular lovefest?” asked Alison, looking amused.
“He doesn’t seem to be. If he is, he certainly hasn’t said so. I think he’s just relieved not to be dragged into the middle of our arguments anymore.”
“Excellent!” Susan beamed, patting Fiona on the back. “I now have a husband-to-be bending over backward to show how much he adores me, and your stepson is finally toeing the line. What a difference six months can make! Can things get any better?”
“Yes, they can!” Julia looked fit to burst. She paused for dramatic effect. “Deborah’s pregnant!”
“Wow,” said Alison, taken aback. “Who’s the father?”
“Paul.”
They all looked at her blankly.
“You remember, my friend’s brother at my party, the one I introduced her to…the black guy.”
“Ah, yes!” Fiona nodded, recognition dawning. “Gosh, that’s quite quick work, isn’t it?”
“I’ll say!” Julia was beaming ear to ear, her eyes shining with the scandal of it all. “James came home and told me the other night, and he didn’t look too pleased with the news. I couldn’t wait for him to leave for work this morning so I could call my friend Jade and get the scoop.”
“And?” Fiona raised her eyebrows expectantly.
“And Paul’s family are absolutely furious…they’re seething, in fact.”
