My Husband's Wives (34 page)

‘Oh, yes. I've had the name picked for months. I'm calling her Eve.' Kasia smiled through her bruises and Evie's eyes filled with tears.

*

There was a time, not so long ago, when it would have bothered Annalise that Kate Dalton saw her looking so rough. Today that all seemed so trivial, and when she looked at Kate, she had a feeling that she felt the same too.

‘I'm so sorry about Paul,' she said and Annalise could see she meant it. ‘I couldn't go to the funeral, you probably heard my own marriage…'

‘I'm sorry, I did hear.' It had been in all the papers. Des Dalton had been carrying on with a rakish-looking groom right under Kate's perfect button nose. When she read it, Annalise hadn't really thought about Kate, but she'd thought about Nicola.

‘Yes, well everyone did, didn't they? I can thank Gail Rosenstock for the extensive media coverage.' Her voice was bitter, but Annalise couldn't blame her, the press had done a hatchet job on her and they'd even managed a few swipes at her little girl. ‘Then again, she's thrown you to the wolves a couple of times too.' She shook her head, ‘It's a vile business.'

‘I don't understand; she's thrown me to the wolves?'

‘Oh darling, that's just why everyone loves you.' Her voice was kind, ‘You never see the bad in people. Gail has been sabotaging your career since the first day she took you on her books.'

‘But she's kept me there all this time.' Annalise didn't understand. ‘What do you mean, sabotaging?'

They were moving together towards the exit door of the hospital; Kate stopped automatically to use the hand disinfectant – she was here far too often, Annalise thought sadly.

‘Don't you get it? You've been easy press fodder for her. When one of her girls was shagging half the country and she wouldn't behave, she sold your demise to the press in return for them keeping quiet on the junior minister's girlfriend.'

‘Susan Lynsey?'

‘Of course, Susan Lynsey; she's the real earner for Gail. Susan is paying the rent for both of them.' She took a deep breath – there was more. ‘Then a couple of months ago, Susan was rumoured to be getting the push from Miu Miu. The gossip was one of the tabloids had a story about her blackmailing that drippy boyfriend she had all those years ago. You can't have presidential ambitions and a closet of dirty secrets, can you? Of course, they had no evidence. Gail threatened to sue and when that got her nowhere, she gave them you. Tragic Miss Ireland, dumb and blonde, lost her husband but still has time to shop?'

‘That was Gail? Gail organized the photographer?' Of course, Gail was the only person who knew she was going there that day. She'd played into her hands all these years. Annalise thought she might be sick; she stumbled backwards then steadied herself. She was empty after the last few days worrying about Kasia – this just felt like the feather capable of knocking her over.

‘Easy, come on.' Kate put out a hand to steady her. ‘This can't be news to you, not really. I mean, surely you guessed. Never anything good leaked. They were always making you look bad. The press really aren't that vicious, mostly they write what they're fed. I should know; I'm in the game now.' They walked towards the car park in silence, their footsteps ringing out the words that had fallen between them for so long. Could they have been friends? Probably not, but Annalise had a feeling that Kate was a better person than she gave her credit for all these years.

‘All this time, Susan Lynsey?' Annalise said when they came to Kate's smart coupé. ‘I'm glad you told me.' It was beginning to make sense; in some strange way it felt as if it was exactly what she needed to know.

‘I'm sorry I didn't say it years ago. You could have been the best model to come out of Dublin, if you got a decent chance.' Kate was getting into her car, moving on to the next piece of business for the day.

‘How's Nicola doing, you know, after the separation?' Annalise had to ask. There was something about the child, something delicate and entrancing.

‘She's actually doing so much better than I thought,' Kate smiled. ‘She just makes everything worthwhile, you know?'

‘I know.' Annalise felt the same about her own boys. She waved Kate off and headed for the jeep, pulling out her phone as she walked. She dialled the number – it was one of the few she knew by heart.

‘Hello, Gail?' she didn't wait for her agent to answer. ‘Just ringing to let you know: you're fired. Go fall off a catwalk for yourself.'

*

Although Kasia made a good recovery, they spent the first few days between her bed in ICU and the baby unit. Annalise still didn't like the baby unit and that surprised her; she'd always thought, in her own disconnected way, that anywhere there were babies, she'd be happy. The truth was, the buzzers made her a nervous wreck and the nurses made her feel as if she was in their way. Still, she went there – how could she not? Kasia's baby was divine. In a matter of hours, Annalise thought she could see her growing stronger and more beautiful. Now she was practically like a full term baby, with long limbs, her mother's dark hair and a habit of holding her mouth that convinced you she was smiling at you.

‘The sooner I get out of here, the sooner they will let me hold her,' Kasia said as she linked Annalise towards the nurse's station.

‘I've told you a hundred times, I can't move you onto the maternity ward.' The nursing sister observed her from above narrow reading glasses; her glare did not match the kindness behind her eyes.

‘I understand your speaking, but soon you'll have no option but to throw me out and make way for someone who really needs to be in here.' Kasia smiled at her. It was five days since she'd regained consciousness. She was out of danger, but her only visits to the baby unit were in the evening. They insisted she travel on a patient trolley, so she was dependant on getting orderlies to bring her. ‘At least, you can tell them that my friends are very responsible and they will take care of me if you let me go down in a wheelchair?'

‘No. Not possible. My, you are hard work.' The nurse sniffed at Kasia, blowing an exasperated sigh, before finally conceding. ‘Okay, but—' she warned Annalise sternly, ‘you need to get her back here within half an hour. If I have to send one of my nurses looking for the pair of you, I'll be tying you to the bed next time.' Her smile was wide; she'd give them a ten-minute leeway on the time.

‘Thank you, Sister.'

Maybe Annalise had grown accustomed to how badly beaten Kasia was. Certainly, on the short walk along the corridors, she registered the looks of people they passed who flinched at the damage the injuries had caused. Kasia's face was still a patchwork of bruising and swelling. She'd lost one tooth, cracked ribs and had fractured toes and fingers. Grace photographed her from all sides for the court case to come.

‘I'm alive, we're alive. This is all that counts. The breaks, they heal with time, the bruising will too, and I can get the tooth replaced,' Kasia said. Annalise knew she'd been through the wars many times before with Vasile. Perhaps, when the wounds had healed, they would look back and think this time was worth it, because it was the end of Vasile. Either way, he had no reason to come back here now.

It was worth the trip and the stolen glances when they got to the baby unit.

‘She's healthy and strong,' the nurse told them as Kasia held the baby close. ‘She could go onto a maternity ward any day, but…'

‘I'm working on it,' Kasia said with a contented smile.

As it turned out, a week later, they told her she could go home. There would be plenty of time to heal at Carlinville and the house would be good for that. The day dawned bright and crisp. It was a glorious brittle morning that felt as if it might break in half if any of them took for granted the gentle glow of happiness surrounding mother and baby. Evie pulled up outside the hospital in the MG. They had organized a convoy of sorts; the little sports car was not big enough to take the various paraphernalia that had arrived as soon as the baby was ready to go home. The rear-facing seat took pride of place in the bench seat that Annalise's dad had customised to see them through the next six to eight years of car seats and booster seats. Grace put the remainder of their belongings in the boot of her own car.

‘Evie, you are driving us home?' Kasia looked so happy, perhaps even more so than Annalise and Evie had expected. But then that, too, was down to so much more than the MG now.

‘Well, not exactly legally; I'm waiting for my permit, but I thought we'd risk it this once.' Evie's voice was light; lottery winners never got so lucky. ‘I'm booked for my test in a month's time. Some friend of Annalise's dad knows someone who knows someone.'

‘It's lovely,' Kasia said once she settled the baby and folded herself into the passenger seat. ‘It suits you.' She smiled out at Annalise who was standing on the path. She didn't need to say the words, but her eyes held tears of happiness and Annalise knew that she was thanking her from the bottom of heart.

*

The solicitor was not what Annalise expected. Mr Blake-Nash was hardly thirty years old and he might easily have walked off the set of a Hollywood movie. He was tall and dark with chiselled features that owed more to his mother than his slack-jawed father. Malcolm was the third generation to take up practice in the legal firm and his father had written both Evie and Paul's wills. They wrote them here, in the library at Carlinville. ‘Ladies, I appreciate you taking the time. I understand you have a big exhibition coming up.'

‘To be fair, Malcolm, we should have done this months ago, but I'm not sure any of us were ready,' Evie said. They arranged the will reading for a sunny afternoon, when they'd all have preferred to be doing anything but. Then again, there was never going to be a good day for it.

‘I have a copy here for each of you. There are letters also. Paul asked that you each read them after the will. They were sealed; we have no idea what they contain.' He handed each of them a small white envelope, their names carefully written in Paul's neatest handwriting, with the familiar blue ink of his fountain pen. He placed his own copy before him on his knees. ‘I'm not sure if you have the most up-to-date copy, Evie.' He glanced across the room that wasn't as faded as the last time he was here, the light caught sparkling wood now instead of dusty rays. ‘This is dated three weeks before he died. He made just one change, but he was adamant that it was important.' He began to unfurl the last will and testament of Paul Starr. The will began with the bequeathing of a number of personal items to each of his wives. Little things, which were of sentimental value more than any financial benefit.

‘And, to my children: To Delilah, Jerome, Dylan and Kasia – I….'

‘Oh, my God,' Kasia shrieked. ‘I don't believe it. How can that be?' Her expression clouded as she tried to add up what she knew of life, of her mother and her father and the way Paul had befriended her – it was a jolt.

‘Say that again?' Grace looked at each of them, shock registering on her face, in her voice and then the glimmer of a smile played on her lips. ‘That makes me your stepmother?' She looked from Kasia to Evie, ‘Or at least one of your stepmothers?'

‘It kind of makes sense, doesn't it?' Annalise looked across at Evie's shocked expression. ‘I mean, she has his eyes. You had to have noticed, they do have a resemblance to each other. Baby Eve is the spit of him – don't you think so?' It would take a while for the news to settle on Annalise, but it was good, she was sure of that. It was good news for all of them.

‘Well, I…' Evie was lost for words; she had to let this settle first. Paul had a child. Paul had a child with a woman who lived on the far side of Europe. He got some woman pregnant and said nothing to her all these years. ‘So all this time he lied to us?' She looked at Grace.

‘We've blamed ourselves.' Grace nodded. Maybe she was thinking, too, of the wasted years when she held herself and Annalise responsible for how things had turned out with Paul.

‘It's what I've been trying to say to both of you. He wasn't as bloody perfect as we thought he was,' Annalise whispered. ‘I didn't know that Kasia was…' She looked across at Kasia whose face had set in a distorted grimness. Shock? Annalise figured it was going to get them all. ‘None of us knew, Kasia, you know that?' She tried to catch Evie's attention, raised her voice a little. ‘I've tried to say it to both of you: we did nothing wrong. All we did was love him, but maybe he wasn't able to love us the way we loved him.'

‘Maybe he still loved your mother?'

‘No.' Kasia made a sound; her rounded lips told them what it was. ‘No. He loved you all, I'm sure of that. I've always been sure of that. Whatever else I knew of him, I've always known that much. Whatever he had with my mother, he still left her, didn't he? He still left us both there and he stayed married to you Evie; he didn't leave you for my mother.'

‘Oh my.' It was all Evie could manage for a moment. ‘It's not that it didn't cross my mind. I've wondered a thousand times, if maybe… I mean, he went there every year, and you have his eyes, my dear. I can see that now.' She made a sound; it might have been a laugh, but emotion carried it into territory that was more tremulous. ‘I watched you once, here, in the garden. It was something in your expression when you were caught by surprise. Ah, yes. I can see it now.' She shook her head, as though to dispel a terrible thought. ‘How could he have left you in that orphanage? How could he have walked away knowing that you were there with no family to call your own?'

‘Oh, Evie, are you all right?' Kasia moved towards her, balancing the baby at the same time. She knelt before her, perhaps not sure whether to embrace her or apologize. It wasn't her fault, of course, but she couldn't stand to think of Evie being hurt once more.