The perfect home, p.3
The Perfect Home, page 3
A moment later, a woman with long, wild curly hair appeared, breathless. ‘Isla, what have I told you about running off like that?’ The woman smiled apologetically at Avril. ‘Sorry about that.’
‘Don’t worry.’ Avril stretched out a hand. ‘I’m Avril, we’ve just moved into Regal Close.’
The woman gripped Avril’s hand tightly. ‘Sandy. We’re a couple of roads away from you. This is Isla.’ The little girl stared up at them with huge, dark eyes.
‘Well, Isla is just gorgeous!’ Lily beamed at the girl. ‘Where are you two off to?’
‘We’re on our way to the pool. Isla is desperate to have her first swim.’
‘Oh, the pool’s fabulous. Avril here just took a dip! Enjoy yourselves.’
As she walked home with Lily, Avril was wistful. ‘I kind of wish we’d moved when the children were younger,’ she confessed. ‘They would have loved this so much at Isla’s age.’
‘Oh, I know, but wasn’t it hard work? Toddlers and tantrums and all that? Although grumpy teenagers aren’t much better, are they?’
Avril wished that grumpy teenagers were the only thing she had to contend with when it came to Bethany. ‘We really should introduce our girls,’ she told Lily. And please let Bethany like Poppy, she thought silently. Or, more to the point, let Poppy like Bethany.
‘We must. And think about that bursary for the private school too. It might be too late but you just never know. Anyway, bye for now.’
Lily kissed Avril on both cheeks and strode off, and Avril drifted dreamily into the house to find Tom on the sofa, playing on his iPad.
‘Have you moved at all since I left?’ she asked him and received a grunt in response. ‘Where’s Bethany?’
‘Dunno.’
‘Five more minutes on the screen, okay?’
Tom grunted again and Avril went upstairs to check on Bethany. But when she got there, she looked around her daughter’s empty bedroom with surprise. Bethany never went out, not any more. Avril hurriedly took her phone from her pocket to call her daughter, but it rang out. With rising panic, she dashed back downstairs again.
‘Tom, when did Bethany go out?’
‘Dunno.’
Avril snatched the iPad from her son. ‘This is serious, Tom. When did she go out?’
‘I didn’t even know she’d gone out, Mum! She never tells me anything.’
Avril tossed the iPad back onto the sofa and called Bethany again but there was still no reply. Trying not to show her fear in front of Tom, she ran for the door.
‘I’m going to go and look for her. If she comes back, call me.’
She raced back out of the house again and set off towards the lake, her heart banging against her chest. She shouldn’t have left Bethany alone, not when she was so down. What had she been thinking? What if Bethany had run away? Or done something even worse? Visions of finding her daughter’s lifeless body flooded her mind and they were so unbearable that it made her dizzy. And then another unwelcome thought seeped into her mind. What if she’s hurt someone?
She started to jog and then to run, reaching the lake and following the path around it, calling Bethany’s name over and over again. People were staring at her and one or two asked if she needed help, but she ignored them. She was too frantic to explain what had happened, too worried to voice her fears aloud or call the police, just in case. Even after everything that had happened, her instinct was to protect her daughter. Tears began to stream down her face as the realisation set in that something very bad had happened. But who had it happened to?
Who did she think she was, going for a leisurely dip and having coffee with a potential new chum when her daughter was vulnerable? She was selfish, that’s what she was, and she was filled with self-loathing. Resentment was flooding back too, though, at Bethany for making her feel this way in the first place. Their new life was already unravelling after just three days. This was not how she had imagined Westford Park. This was supposed to be a new start, a place where bad things didn’t happen. Where there was no place for evil.
But now she was fearing the worst, the very, very worst.
3
Sandy beamed as she watched her daughter dipping her toe in the water. She felt like she was living in a dream that she never wanted to wake up from. How could Westford Park be so perfect? Surely there was a catch? But if there was, she hadn’t found it yet. Maybe in winter, when the pool was closed and the sun wasn’t warming her skin, she might feel differently but she doubted it. She imagined a Christmas tree in the clubhouse, lights twinkling along the paths, and felt suddenly festive despite the heat.
She heard footsteps and looked up to see Clare jogging towards her. ‘Good run?’
Clare stopped in front of her and started stretching. ‘Fabulous. I did five miles through the woods and round the lake a couple of times. I thought I might find you two here.’
‘Isla was desperate for a swim. We were waiting for you so she could go in properly.’
Clare looked down at her. ‘You’re not going in with her?’
‘No, not today. Maybe another time.’
Clare’s eyes narrowed and Sandy knew what she was thinking. She couldn’t hide anything from Clare. They had no secrets between them and that was just how Sandy liked it. Clare knew exactly why Sandy didn’t want to go in the pool and Sandy knew that her wife would gently bring it up later when the time was right. No pressure, no judgement. Think about it, love, you have nothing to be ashamed of. That was Clare and that was why Sandy loved her.
‘I’ll go and get my costume in a second.’ Clare sat down by the side of the pool next to Sandy. ‘I can’t believe I’ve got to go back to work tomorrow. I feel like we’re on holiday.’
Sandy smiled. ‘I know what you mean. But we live here now. You can jog in the morning, or swim in the evening. And we’ll have the pool every weekend.’
‘I know, I still can’t believe it.’
‘I’ve been thinking about my work too. Isla will be at school soon and I really can’t wait to start painting more regularly again. This place is so inspiring.’
Sandy sold prints and greeting cards of her work online. It didn’t make a fortune – certainly not enough to pay the mortgage at a place like Westford Park – but she had slogged away for years and earned a nest-egg before quitting her job in finance soon after Isla was born. And Clare was successful and supported Sandy’s desire to work freelance around the children. Sandy had wanted to be around for her daughter, to be a better parent this time after she’d got it so wrong with Micky when he was little. With Clare’s support, she had set up her online shop, enrolled on a social media marketing course, and painted at weekends or whenever Isla napped. Over the years, she had built up a decent following and had some loyal customers.
Clare was looking around, shielding her eyes from the sun. ‘It’s the perfect place to paint.’
‘I’m going to go down to the lake, I think I want to try some landscapes.’
‘Speaking of the lake, something very peculiar happened when I was out jogging.’
He’s found us. Fear hit Sandy with the full force of a train and her body was instantly on edge, ready to flee. Terror never really left her, even after all this time. It lay dormant, sometimes for months on end, but it was ready to activate at any second and at any given moment. Did you check the doors? The windows? She clenched her fists and looked at Clare. ‘What do you mean?’
‘A woman was running around in tears, shouting. I thought maybe she’d lost her dog. But when I tried to help her, she completely ignored me.’
Sandy closed her eyes and exhaled as her fear began to ebb away again. It wasn’t him, it was nothing to do with them. She felt foolish now for overreacting because Clare would never have been so flippant about something that serious. She opened her eyes again and watched Isla sitting on the pool step, absorbing her innocence. ‘What was she shouting?’
‘She kept screaming “Bethany” over and over again.’
Sandy frowned. Bethany didn’t sound very much like a pet’s name to her. ‘What if it wasn’t her dog? What if Bethany’s a child?’
Clare’s face paled. ‘I didn’t think of that. I tried to help her, Sands, I really did.’
Sandy’s heart was already racing again, adrenaline beginning to course through her body. Clare didn’t know what it felt like to have lost a child. The terror that gripped at your throat and made it impossible to breathe. Numbing shock competing with unbearable pain.
She stood up. ‘I’m going to see if I can help. Stay with Isla.’
‘Sandy, wait,’ Clare called but Sandy was already running down the path, away from the pool. She ran until she got a stitch and eventually, she had to stop, winded, to catch her breath. She looked around for any sign of an emergency, but everything was as peaceful and serene as it had been the day before when she had taken Isla for a scoot around the lake. Spotting the little wooden boathouse in the distance, she hurried towards it.
Inside, a man was sitting behind the desk with his feet up, watching something on his phone. Sandy spied the bowl of sweets on the table and realised that this was probably where Isla had got the free lollipop from. The man looked up and smiled when he saw Sandy.
‘Morning. What can I do for you?’
‘I heard there was a woman in distress and I came to see if I could help.’
The man frowned. ‘What kind of distress?’
‘Apparently, she was calling for someone. I thought maybe she’d lost her child.’
The man pocketed his phone and sprang up from his seat. He had longish hair and wore scruffy jeans, and Sandy guessed that he was probably in his late thirties. Something about him was familiar but, in her panic, she couldn’t put her finger on what. Had they met before? She didn’t socialise in wide circles, so it seemed unlikely. But she didn’t have time to figure it out because the man had raced around the desk and was making his way for the door.
‘Where was this lady last seen?’ he called behind him.
‘I don’t know,’ Sandy called back. ‘My wife told me about it a few minutes ago. She was out jogging and she saw this woman near the lake looking very upset.’
The man stopped as they reached the water. ‘All right, you go that way and I’ll go this way. That’ll give us a better chance of finding her. We’ll meet round the other side.’
‘Okay.’ Sandy set off at a jog, scanning the path for any sign of the woman and wishing that Clare was with her. She’d know what to do; she was always calm in an emergency. Part of Sandy was annoyed with her wife for not doing more to help the woman, but she knew it was unfair. Clare had assumed it was nothing serious, most likely a boisterous dog who had run off chasing squirrels and would be back again in minutes. Clare was the sort of person who always saw the best in life. Sandy, however, usually saw the worst.
She slowed down as she spotted a figure in the distance, crouched down and sobbing. As she got closer, she recognised her as the friendly, cheerful woman who had introduced herself outside the clubhouse less than an hour earlier. Taking a few deep breaths, Sandy approached the woman slowly, as one might do a terrified animal, and called out so as not to startle her.
‘Hi there, are you okay?’
The woman looked up at Sandy with a tear-streaked face but didn’t reply.
‘Can I help you? I want to help.’
‘It’s Bethany, it’s my daughter…’
Sandy’s heart constricted. She’d guessed correctly but she took no pleasure in it. ‘It’s Avril, isn’t it? We met earlier, by the clubhouse. I’m Sandy. When did you last see Bethany?’
‘I don’t know.’ Avril was distraught, confused. ‘A couple of hours ago.’
‘Okay,’ Sandy said calmly. ‘And how old is Bethany?’
‘She’s fifteen.’ Avril dissolved into tears again.
‘Could she be out for a walk? Perhaps she’s gone to meet her friends?’
‘She doesn’t have any friends. This is all my fault, I should never have left her.’
Sandy crouched down and rubbed Avril’s back. ‘We’re going to find her, okay?’
‘It’s all my fault,’ Avril repeated.
Sandy stood up again. ‘I’m going to search for her. What does she look like?’
‘She’s…’ But Avril didn’t finish her sentence. Both women heard footsteps and looked up to see the man from the boathouse running towards them from the other direction.
‘I hear your child is missing?’ he called.
‘Yes, Bethany. She’s fifteen. She’s not answering her phone and I can’t find her anywhere.’
The man pointed behind him. ‘I just saw two teenagers on the fishing platform over there. It’s not visible from the path. Maybe one of them is your daughter?’
Avril scrambled to her feet. ‘Where?’
‘Follow me.’
Sandy and Avril ran after the man as he tore back up the main path and then guided them down a narrow dirt track towards the water. ‘There.’ He pointed.
Sandy followed his gaze and saw two girls sitting at the end of a rickety wooden platform, their legs dangling over the edge. They were throwing pebbles into the lake and Sandy heard the splash as the stones hit the water. It all looked very peaceful. She turned to Avril and knew from the woman’s relieved expression that one of them was Bethany.
‘Is it her?’ the man asked.
‘Yes.’ Avril’s voice was barely above a whisper. ‘It’s her.’
The man puffed his cheeks and blew out air. ‘Thank God for that. Everything okay, then?’
‘Yes.’ Avril was staring at her daughter, her eyes fixed on Bethany’s back.
The man seemed to be waiting to be dismissed and Sandy stepped in. ‘Thank you so much for your help. I don’t know if we’d have found her if it wasn’t for you.’
He grinned. ‘I know all the secret hiding places around here.’
Sandy felt another stirring of recognition and she studied the man intently, trying to work out where she knew him from. But her mind was blank. Maybe he just had one of those faces that looked familiar or perhaps she’d seen him around Westford Park without even registering him properly. ‘You’re a star, erm… Sorry, what’s your name?’
The man extended a hand. ‘Steve.’
Sandy clasped his hand tightly. ‘Well, thank you again, Steve.’
‘No problem. I’d best get back the boathouse.’
He began to pick his way through the overgrown bushes back towards the main path and Sandy turned to Avril. ‘Are you okay?’
‘Yes.’ Avril seemed to finally register that she had company. ‘I’m so sorry for all the fuss.’
‘Not at all. You have nothing to apologise for.’
‘You must think I’m crazy for getting into such a state.’
Sandy smiled. ‘I don’t think that at all. I have children, I know what it’s like.’
Avril gazed at Bethany. ‘She used to be such a happy child. I don’t know what happened.’
‘Puberty,’ Sandy said knowingly. ‘It happens to them all. She’ll come back to you.’
‘I don’t think she will.’
Avril sounded so bleak, and Sandy looked again at the two girls, who were still unaware of their presence, and wondered what had happened to rip this poor family apart. ‘All we can do is love them and let them know we’re here for them.’
‘But I wasn’t there for her, that’s the problem. I wasn’t.’
‘What do you mean?’
Avril shook her head, as though realising she’d said too much to a stranger. ‘Forget it, it doesn’t matter. Thank you for your help, it’s very kind of you.’
‘Are you okay? Shall I stay with you?’
‘No, I’m fine now. Thank you.’
‘Okay.’ Sandy was reluctant to leave, but she sensed that Avril wanted her to. ‘Let me know if there’s anything I can do. Or if you ever want to talk. I’m Sandy.’
‘Sandy, yes. I remember.’
‘Bye, then.’
With a last look at Avril, Sandy turned away. In the panic, she’d stayed calm and collected but now that it was over, her mind was already hurtling back through the years, to a time she wished she could forget. She could feel her fear as if it was yesterday, even though more than ten years had passed since it happened. Waking up with bleary eyes and staggering into Micky’s room to find it empty. The first stirrings of dread as she ran from room to room calling his name and then the cruel, undeniable realisation that he was gone. No parent should ever have to feel that pain, it was more acute and horrific than any physical injury, and she had known that if anything had happened to him, she would not survive it either.
She had been one of the fortunate ones, thank God. She had got Micky back within twenty-four hours and then she had moved them far, far away, where no one could ever hurt them again. So much had happened since then, so many happy memories had buried that dark time. But for a few minutes, fear took over her body again, running through her veins and reminding her that no matter where they went, they would never be completely free.
Suddenly Westford Park didn’t seem like a holiday resort any more, it felt sinister. The woods were full of danger, the pool a tragedy waiting to happen, and the boathouse a convenient place for someone to hide. They were isolated here, away from the comforting light, sounds and crowds of the city. How long would it take for the police to come, if she had to call them in an emergency? Sandy crumpled as she saw her vision of the perfect life shatter around her, each shard of glass piercing her dream. How had she not learned by now that a new address couldn’t fix old problems? She had moved five times and yet Sandy still didn’t feel settled. She had promised Clare that Westford Park was their final destination, and she had fervently wanted to believe it herself, but now she was no longer sure that this was the place for them.
Glancing anxiously over her shoulder at the sound of a twig snapping, she reached the main path and saw Clare and Isla walking towards her hand in hand. Isla had put a summer dress on over her swimming costume and it was Sandy’s favourite, pink with yellow lemons dotted over it. Sandy could hear the clip-clap of her daughter’s sandals.
