The Single Wife : 'Liane Moriarty meets Elin Hilderbrand in an addictive summer read'

by Ella Grey

  But she’d loved it so much she’d stayed, though once Ellie had come along, she’d reduced her hours and now worked only a three-day week and occasional emergencies when the full-time vet was unavailable. This was one of those times.

  “You’ll save him, Mummy, I know you will,” Ellie said, her tone revealing utmost confidence. “You always do.”

  Pulling out onto the road, Olivia bit her lip, and marvelled at the blind and innocent trust of four-year-olds. Because she knew well that, for all her talents, she hadn’t been able use them when it mattered the most.

  There had been an emergency that day too she recalled sadly, her mind travelling right back to that evening five years ago.

  If only that poor Lab hadn’t swallowed a chicken bone and needed an emergency operation to remove it.

  If only she’d been home when she said she’d be.

  If only, if only, if only ...

  It had all gone wrong from the second she arrived at work that morning. Unusually for Olivia she’d reached the centre ten minutes late – and although she wasn’t sure of it at the time, she’d been late for a very good reason.

  A short visit to her doctor at lunchtime confirmed her early-morning suspicions and from then on in, she might as well have been on a different planet.

  Alma noticed it immediately.

  “Well spit it out,” the centre manager challenged Olivia soon after helping her administer worming tablets to a particularly skittish Alsatian.

  “Spit what out?” she laughed, trying desperately to keep her news to herself but annoyed with herself for being so transparent. An open book, Peter always called her, and he was right. She could rarely keep a secret or her feelings from anyone. Her open face and particularly her wide, expressive blue eyes always gave her away.

  “Whatever it is that’s got you beaming like a Cheshire cat all afternoon,” Alma teased. “Although being married to a hunk like yours would probably be enough,” she added with a wink.

  “Nothing,” Olivia said, unable to stop grinning and unwilling to look Alma in the eye. “I’m just in a good mood today, that’s all.”

  Just then the telephone rang, and as their budget couldn’t stretch to a full-time volunteer and Olivia was closest to the door, she went out to answer it. “Paws & Tails.”

  “Hey love,” Olivia heard Peter’s familiar voice and she grinned even more broadly.

  “Hey yourself,” she replied, although she was dying to blurt it out there and then. “What’s up?”

  “Nothing really, just checking that you’re definitely on the eight to four shift today? You’re not on a split or anything?”

  “Nope – I’m out of here by four. Do you want me to pick up something on the way?”

  “No, no – just checking. I might even be home before you yet – depends on how things go here.”

  She could tell by her husband’s weary tone that he was up to his tonsils – again. She hoped Peter would get away from the hospital that bit earlier today, not just because she had something to tell him, but also because he was working way too hard. He hadn’t been himself lately, and tended to be tired and a little moody; the stress of working all those hours obviously taking its toll.

  “Did you get yourself seen yet?” she asked him. “About those palpitations you had last week?” Olivia didn’t want him taking any chances. In a hospital, he was in the best place possible to get himself checked out. It was probably fine, but still –

  “It’s nothing,” he replied, a little testily, and she thought she’d better just let him get back to work. The sooner he did that, the sooner he’d be home.

  “Well, take it easy love, and I’ll see you this evening.”

  “Talk to you later.”

  Most definitely she thought, smiling softly to herself as she put the phone down. Hopefully he would be home before her, because this particular evening they had plenty to talk about.

  She glanced up at the clock. Time for a quick afternoon tea-break. Olivia didn’t normally bother with tea-breaks, viewing them as a surefire way to unhinge her attempts at keeping her figure. Still, her tummy was rumbling, she’d had very little for lunch and, in fairness, she wouldn’t have to worry about her keeping her figure for too much longer. And starving herself surely wasn’t good for the baby.

  Olivia’s heart leaped. She was actually having a baby. Weird but it still wasn’t quite real to her, not until she told him. Even though the doctor had congratulated her and given her a due date, to Olivia it couldn’t be true, it wouldn’t be real until she told Peter.

  After three years of marriage and two years of trying, it had finally happened. It had actually happened. She was pregnant. He would be ecstatic.

  She mentally hugged herself as she tried to imagine what their baby would look like. The doctor had told her to come back in a few weeks for the first ultrasound and she couldn’t wait to see Peter’s face when they heard the heartbeat for the very first time.

  The next hour passed without event and Olivia managed to get through a much overdue pile of paperwork. She sat back in her chair and yawned.

  Just then Susan, one of the centre’s many volunteers, rushed into the office. “Bit of an emergency – someone’s just brought in a poor Lab – he’s going into convulsions …”

  Olivia leapt into action and twenty minutes later her hands were buried deep in the dog’s abdomen, trying to remove dangerously sharp pieces of bone that had most likely come from a cooked chicken.

  Judging by his condition, he was most likely a starving stray that had come across the chicken carcass in someone’s refuse and unable to believe his luck, had gone through it with relish and amazing speed. But now the poor thing could lose his life because of it. Shards of bone had punctured his stomach and upper colon and Olivia knew that he was lucky to have been discovered at all.

  At last, the extractions were done and she completed the final phases of surgery. Then she looked up at the clock, eyes widening as she caught sight of the time.

  It was after … five.

  “Blast it, I didn’t realise the time. I told Peter I’d be leaving at four!”

  “Go on, off with you,” said Alma. “I’ll finish up here. And sorry – I didn’t notice either –”

  Olivia hastily cleaned herself up. Then she rang Peter’s mobile but only got his answer service. Perhaps he was still driving … She tried the house but got the answering machine. In her haste to get to work that morning, she’d left her own mobile on the kitchen table, so if Peter thought she’d already left and was trying to contact her on that he wouldn’t be able to.

  Finally she left the centre and hurried to her car.

  Some twenty minutes later, after battling maddening traffic, she drove into their housing estate; her heart plunging towards her stomach in horror as she saw the ambulance parked nearby.

  A small group was standing around on the path outside her house, their faces grave as they saw her car approach.

  Among them was her mother, her face striken as she turned towards her. Her next-door neighbour Cora and her new neighbour Deirdre with her little boy. Alex, Olivia remembered his name was, and then wondered why all this stupid trivia was running through her mind.

  It was a delaying tactic, she thought, simply a delaying tactic. Because one look at her mother’s face and she knew that something terrible had happened.

  Her body wracked with fear, her movements almost zombie-like, she got out of the car and rushed to her mother. “What’s going on, Mum?” she asked, her voice shaking. What are you doing here? Where’s …?”

  For a long moment, Eva didn’t answer; she just continued to stare at her daughter, her expression a mixture of sorrow and pity. Instantly Olivia felt her stomach twist. Oh no, please no …

  “Mum? Where’s Peter?” This time her voice was barely a whisper.

  “Oh God – ” Eva reach for her, her eyes brimming with tears. “Love … he’s … it was …” She shook her head from side to side, unable to find
the right words.

  “Mum I asked you a question!” Olivia cried.

  Eva’s eyes brimmed with tears, and she shook her head. “I’m so sorry, love,” she whispered hoarsely. “He didn’t … make it.”

  “What – what do you mean?” Olivia barely got the words out. Her mind whirled. “Were you here when – who – ?”

  “I only just arrived – Cora from next door phoned me. She couldn’t get you at work or on the mobile. That new neighbour of yours Deirdre, she –”

  Olivia’s heart stopped then as right behind her mother, she spotted the paramedics lifting something – someone – into the ambulance on a stretcher.

  A covered stretcher.

  With a cry she made to run towards the ambulance, but somehow Eva stopped her. “There’s no point, love,” she said, holding her daughter in her arms. “Nothing you could have done. He’s gone.”

  “No …” Olivia’s words were barely a whisper, and it was as though all the breath had somehow departed from her lungs, all the blood had left her body. She felt as though she was no longer part of herself, as if she were somehow floating outside it.

  “There was nothing any of us could do, pet,” her mother continued sorrowfully. “By the time the ambulance got here, it was too late – we were all too late.” She tightened her embrace. “I’m so sorry, love.”

  “But how … what … what happened?” Olivia’s legs had turned to jelly and she began to sway.

  “They’re not fully sure yet, they tried to revive him but it was too far gone. Look, you need to sit down. Let’s go… let’s go next door to Cora’s, OK?”

  Shell-shocked and stricken Olivia let her mother lead her away. A million and one emotions coursed through her, but strangely at that moment she could only make sense of one. “I should have been there…” she blurted hoarsely, overwhelmed with remorse.

  “There’s no point in saying that, love. There was nothing anyone could have done.”

  But that wasn’t true, and she knew it. Everyone else might have been helpless but she would have known what to do. She always did.

  4

  What’s worse, Olivia thought now as she and her little daughter drove home, having successfully operated on the little hit-and-run victim – today was her and Peter’s wedding anniversary.

  It was inevitable that she would think about him, but for Ellie’s sake, she had to try not to let it upset her.

  She let them both in the door of the modest semi-detached house in Lakeview they’d moved to not long after Ellie was born. It had been a difficult time, trying to raise a new baby on her own so soon after, but Olivia thanked the heavens every day that at least the grief and stress hadn’t affected her pregnancy.

  Ellie was all she had now, and while her mum, Peter’s parents, and good friends were great, Olivia still felt lonely sometimes.

  Without Peter it was like part of her was missing. The two of them had been together so long, had thought they’d be together forever, and then one moment of forgetfulness – of stupidity – had taken him away from her.

  Everyone kept telling her it wasn’t her fault that she’d been late back. Yes, maybe she couldn’t have saved him … but now she would never know, would she? And for a very long time, the guilt had nearly been harder than the grief.

  Still, that had been almost five years ago, and with the exception of significant anniversaries or birthdays, Olivia was getting on with it. She had good friends, a nice house close to her parents in a lovely village, and of course she had her daughter, her pride and joy.

  She made herself and Ellie a small snack.

  “Mum, can I do some painting afterwards?” the little girl asked.

  “Yes but only if you stay in the kitchen this time,” she said, ruffling her fair curls. Her hair was way too long and flyaway, but Olivia couldn’t bring herself to cut it and part with those beautiful little ringlets just yet.

  Later she had just finished cleaning the bath when she heard her mobile phone. She stood up, red-faced from exertion and went to hunt for it.

  She didn’t recognise the number, but that was nothing new. She hated bloody mobile phones and only kept one so she could be contacted by work or keep in touch with her mother when she had Ellie, if needs be.

  “Nailed it,” the text said.

  She smiled. Leah had taken her driving test this morning and, by some miracle must have passed it. Must have changed her phone number again too, she thought. She was forever losing her stuff and had changed her number four times this year alone, which was why it was a question of ‘pick a number – any number’ when you wanted to get Leah on the phone. Luckily it didn’t feature on her business literature; otherwise she would never have any customers.

  “I don’t believe it,” Olivia wrote back, meaning it. Her friend’s driving was … suspect, to say the least. “Celebrating tonight so?” she enquired, thinking that Josh would surely take her out somewhere.

  “Definitely. Though need a wingman. Fancy it?”

  So Josh must be working late or something. Olivia thought about it. At that moment, a few drinks and a chat with Leah sounded wonderful.

  It was brilliant to have her back in Ireland after her Belgian stint, and although Olivia had made lots of friends over the years, there were none like those who knew you best. With Leah, she never had to avoid the subject of Peter or answer awkward questions about her single status. Not that it was anyone else’s business, but she only felt comfortable talking about Peter to those who knew him too. And considering the day that was in it, she could do with some cheering up.

  Despite the fact that she hated leaving her, she knew she could ask her mother to look after Ellie, who adored being spoiled by her grandmother.

  Eva would be delighted too, she was always on at Olivia to get out and about more. She knew her mum would like her to move on and try to meet someone else. She saw Leah and hunky Josh for the odd drink, but it had been ages - months actually - since she and her friend had been out on the town on their own.

  “Will check how land lies and get back to you,” she texted again slowly and then using her fixed line phone, dialled her mother’s number.

  “Would you mind looking after Ellie for a few hours this evening? Leah passed her driving test and wants me to meet her for a drink to celebrate. I can drop her off on my way.”

  “She … passed it?” Eva, who knew Leah well, sounded surprised. “Did she bribe yer man?”

  “I’d imagine it was something like that or else he was so terrified he just wanted to get it over with,” Olivia joked.

  “Ha. But of course I’ll take Ellie. We’ll be here all evening so drop her over whenever you want.”

  “Thanks Mum.”

  “And be sure and enjoy yourselves and don’t worry about coming back early,” Eva soothed. “It’s a Friday night, after all.”

  “Don’t worry, Mum, we’re a bit ould for the Temple Bar thing – well, I am anyway,” she added wryly, trying to remember the last time she was on a rip-roaring night out in the city.

  “Just take your time and enjoy it – that’s all I’m saying,” Eva said. “Ellie will be fine with me and your dad.”

  “Celebrations good to go,” she messaged her friend then. “Say where and when …”

  It was a few minutes before Leah replied. “Fantastic. Searson’s around six? Champers on me.”

  Champers? She really was going all out tonight. Well, Olivia didn’t care what they drank, she was just looking forward to getting together with her friend for what would undoubtedly be a … lively evening.

  Leah’s phone rang just as she was putting the key in the front door of her apartment.

  “Eva,” she answered warmly, seeing the number displayed on the screen. “How are you?”

  “I’m good,” Olivia’s mother said cheerily. “Olivia told me about the driving test and I’m thrilled for you. I just wanted to say enjoy yourselves tonight, but also make sure my daughter does too and –”

  “T
hrilled?” Leah interrupted, startled. “Eva I failed again - miserably. There’s nothing to be thrilled about.”

  “What? But why on earth did you tell Olivia you passed it?”

  She frowned, confused. “I haven’t spoken to Olivia since last night when she rang to wish me good luck, but good luck must have gone on holiday.” She rolled her eyes. “What on earth would make her think I’d passed it?”

  “But she said the two of you were going out for a celebratory outing in Dublin tonight. She wanted to know if I could take Ellie. She wouldn’t have made it up, surely?”

  “Eva I’ve been on a different planet most of today, but I’m one hundred per cent positive that I did not ask Olivia to come to Dublin tonight.” Although it sounded good, now that she thought about it. She could do with drowning her sorrows. “Where did she say she was meeting me?”

  “She didn’t mention that. But, I’m a little concerned now. I know Olivia is a grown woman and she can do what she pleases, but why would she lie about meeting you?”

  “Maybe she has a man on the go?” Leah said dramatically, although she dismissed the thought as soon as she said it.

  Olivia wouldn’t have a secret lover; her friend wouldn’t have a lover full-stop. Peter had been the love of her life and the only man she had ever wanted.

  Still, it was all a bit … strange. Olivia was straight as a die and didn’t do things like that - lie to her mother and go off and leave her daughter without good reason.

  Something was up, Leah knew.

  And while she had no idea what was going on, she just hoped for Olivia’s sake that her friend knew what she was doing.

  5

  Robin slung her bag over her shoulder and headed north on Broadway.

  Already the air was thick with humidity that she reckoned only seasoned New Yorkers could tolerate. She still hadn’t got used to the mild spring temperatures, let alone the choking heat of summer. She’d just left the air-conditioned cool of the office for the day, but already her face was red and perspiring and her cotton shirt super-glued to her chest and back.