Perfect Wives

by Emma Hannigan

‘Brilliant.’ Jodi sounded relieved. ‘I’ll meet you at the school and take the three of them off your hands.’

  ‘You’ve no idea how good that sounds right now.’

  The injection seemed to have done the trick because Howie hadn’t soiled the car. Tucking her handbag into the space between the two front seats, Francine set off towards the school. Fleetingly she worried that she’d promised Saul chocolate cake, but she’d make it up to him another day.

  As she neared the school Francine heard crunching and looked in her rear-view mirror to see what Howie had found. At the next red light, she stopped and leaned back. At first she thought it was a calculator.

  ‘Where on earth did you find that?’ she asked him, then heard a familiar beeping noise. He’d just killed her phone.

  She pulled into the school car park, jumped out and opened the back door to prise the phone from Howie’s jaws.

  Wagging his tail, he cocked his head sideways in confusion, as Francine burst into uncontrollable sobs. Lowering herself back into her seat, she dropped the three pieces of her phone on to her lap. His sharp teeth had punctured the keypad in several places.

  Jodi had spent the morning talking to Noelle, and Mike, Darius’s agent. They were all on standby for the possible fallout should Mac spill the story. Now she walked into the car park, spotted Francine’s car, waved and walked over. She nearly died when she saw the poor woman’s face. The normally polished and perfectly presented Francine was blotchy and red with tears flowing down her puffy face. Jodi wasn’t sure if she’d rather be left alone to gather herself but Francine beckoned her over.

  ‘What’s happened?’ Jodi asked.

  ‘Everything and nothing, I suppose,’ Francine said. ‘I’ve been awake all night. As I told you on the phone earlier, Howie was really sick. He ate raw cake mixture. I took him to the vet and he’s fine now but he just ate my phone.’ She burst into fresh tears and dropped her face on to the steering wheel. ‘I think I’m having a nervous breakdown.’

  ‘Oh, Francine, you poor love.’ Jodi leaned through the open window and hugged her. ‘What can I do for you?’

  ‘You’re already doing the kindest thing by taking Cameron and this blasted puppy. I know he’s very cute and I’m sure Howie and I will become friends at some point but right now I hate him.’

  ‘Poor you,’ was all Jodi could think of saying.

  ‘Would you mind if I just hand him over to you and buzz off out of here? I don’t think I could face meeting people in this state.’

  ‘Sure,’ Jodi said, feeling she was being completely useless at helping Francine. ‘Hello … Yes, you’re beautiful … Hello, Howie …’ Jodi grabbed his lead, picked him up and brought him out of the car. She cuddled the wriggling pup. ‘I’ll get him into my car so he won’t pick up an infection. Try not to worry and I’ll see you later on,’ she said, waving.

  Howie jumped into the Mini and seemed delighted to have a sniff around. Jodi closed the door gently and locked the car. Slightly early for the boys, she stood outside the classroom door to wait. Saul and a few of the other children caught sight of her and began to wave. Mr Matthews opened the door and called her over. ‘We were just having a chat about the different things people do for a living, weren’t we, children?’ he said to the class.

  ‘Yes, and we all knowed your job because you do it on the television and at the cinema!’ one of the girls shouted.

  Jodi flushed and felt slightly uncomfortable, until she caught sight of Saul. He was grinning from ear to ear, like a Cheshire cat.

  ‘You have a very proud little man here,’ Mr Matthews said. ‘I pointed out that his dad is a great actor too, and he made us all laugh by saying his dad isn’t quite as pretty as his mum!’ Mr Matthews pushed his hair off his face. ‘I have to say I agree.’

  Jodi became utterly tongue-tied. ‘I … uh … Oh, thanks!’

  Mr Matthews roared laughing. ‘I thought a movie star like you would be well used to compliments at this point!’

  ‘Ah, us women never take them for granted. Especially now that I’m hurtling towards middle age!’

  ‘Do you want to go ahead with Saul, seeing as I’ve mortified you now?’ he said, raising an eyebrow.

  ‘I’m actually taking Cameron too,’ she said. ‘I have your puppy in the car, dude. You’re coming to our house for a while. Is that cool?’

  ‘Yes!’ Cameron said happily.

  ‘Wow, brave lady,’ Mr Matthews said. ‘That’ll be a big bundle of energy at your place this afternoon.’

  ‘I like a challenge,’ she said, grinning.

  Once they were inside the cottage and the front door was securely shut, Jodi unclipped Howie’s little red lead. ‘Make sure you don’t let him out of the front door. He’s not allowed out yet and, in any case, he’s a baby – he might run off and get lost,’ Jodi warned.

  ‘Okay,’ the boys chorused.

  Jodi filled a plastic bowl with water for Howie and put down some newspaper. She made hot chocolate, toasted sandwiches and a large cup of herbal infusion for herself. Lunch was crazy and fun. Howie drank some water, chewed his newspaper and leaped on to the table to finish the crusts of the sandwiches.

  Jodi giggled and kissed his head. ‘You’d better get down, naughty pup,’ she said, lifting him, wriggling, to the floor.

  ‘You’re very happy about his badness,’ Cameron observed. ‘My mum gets cross when Howie climbs on our table at home. He eats lots of clothes and shoes. He doesn’t mean to, it just happens. He’s a bit like me at times.’

  ‘How?’ Saul was confused by this.

  ‘Sometimes I get things wrong too,’ Cameron said. ‘But Howie never minds. He’s my friend all the time. I can stroke him when I’m cross. I have a thing called ADD.’

  ‘What’s that?’ Saul’s eyes opened wide.

  ‘A condition,’ Cameron said proudly. ‘It means I do stuff that’s not sept-u-bill.’

  ‘What does that mean?’

  ‘When I hit people. It’s that,’ Cameron explained.

  ‘And now you don’t do it any more?’ Saul wondered.

  ‘Some days I can’t help being cross but I go to a lady called Nuala and she’s helping me to stop my temper winning,’ he said.

  ‘Cool.’

  ‘Me and my family are all working on dealing with ADD,’ he added.

  Jodi folded her arms and stood back. She was amazed by how able Cameron was to talk about his ADD. She’d tell Francine how well she and Carl were handling it. Cameron was lucky to have such a wonderful family to help him. She hoped he would improve. She hated to think of any child being shunned or left out. Perhaps because she had been a neglected child, she felt a connection with Cameron and vowed to make her home a place he felt comfortable visiting.

  Chapter 29

  Francine got home knowing she had just a couple of hours before she had to collect the older children. She went to the bathroom and tried to ignore the fact that her house smelt of dog. The warm water and Jo Malone shower gel did little to enhance her mood. Binding her hair in a towel turban, she phoned Carl from the landline to ask if he could organise a replacement mobile for her.

  ‘Oh, no!’ Carl laughed. ‘How on earth did he manage to get your phone?’

  ‘He stuck his nose into my handbag while I was driving,’ Francine said snappily.

  ‘No need to bite my head off. I’ll get you a new one,’ Carl said. ‘It’s not life-threatening, Francine. Don’t worry about it.’

  ‘I can’t do this any more, Carl,’ Francine said suddenly.

  ‘What?’

  ‘I can’t pretend everything’s hunky-dory any more. It’s not. I feel like I’ve been captured by aliens and thrust into a parallel universe where nothing goes right and everything I used to love has been either pooed on or chewed.’

  ‘The puppy will settle down, darling.’

  ‘It’s not just the puppy. It’s everything. I haven’t slept for months. I miss my job. I miss using my brain for things that don’t invol
ve washing, cooking or wiping. Cameron is like a rare zoo exhibit,’ she ranted, ‘and I never know when he’s going to blow his top. I feel like I’m living on a knife’s edge. I hate my life, Carl! All I wanted was to be the perfect wife. I’m about as far away from that as a cold-blooded murderer.’

  ‘Stay where you are. I’m coming home.’ He hung up.

  Carl marched through the open-plan area at his office and called to his boss that there’d been a crisis at home. He’d been as dependable as rain in April ever since he’d started his job so nobody minded him leaving.

  Since the day they’d first clapped eyes on one another, his Francine had been in control. She’d been happy and breezy, and he loved her for it. And his love came without conditions, not because she was the perfect wife.

  Twenty minutes later he pulled up in the driveway. Francine was sitting at the kitchen table wearing a plain black dress with no makeup and matted hair.

  He pulled her into his arms and stroked her back as she sobbed. ‘Sweetheart, why didn’t you tell me things had got so bad?’ he asked, leading her to a chair.

  ‘I didn’t want you to think I was the world’s worst wife as well as the world’s worst mother,’ she said miserably.

  ‘You’re an amazing wife and mother. Who told you otherwise?’ He was aghast.

  ‘Look at the state of Cameron. It’s my fault. I should’ve known he wasn’t right. I went to work when he was a baby and left him with a woman who did her best, but she wasn’t his mother. I know you’re being very kind about it all, but the fact remains that I did this,’ she said, shuddering.

  ‘Francine, darling! Cameron has ADD. It’s a condition any child has the potential to have. Not only are you being fantastic at helping him but, as far as you can, you’re making sure the other kids aren’t being affected,’ Carl said, holding her hands. ‘I might miss some things that go on around here, but I can see what an amazing mother you are.’

  ‘I don’t feel it right now,’ she said.

  ‘That’s okay too, you know.’ He smiled. ‘No parents want to go through what we’re dealing with right now. It’s a bloody nightmare. But we’ll get through it as best we can. We’re a team, love. Always were, always will be.’ Carl pulled her into his arms again, rocking her back and forth. ‘I know it seems hopeless at the moment but it’ll get better. The puppy will stop chewing things and, with Nuala’s help, Cameron will find his own path in life,’ Carl promised. ‘It mightn’t be the one we’d assumed he’d travel but there’s nothing wrong with that. You can look for a new job and, before you know it, things will be on an even keel again.’

  Francine was so grateful to Carl for his optimism. But, more than that, she knew she had a wonderful husband.

  ‘Now you stay here and relax. I’ll go and collect the kids and we’ll have dinner delivered tonight. You and I are going to have several glasses of wine, followed by a large brandy, and even if the dog chews the leg off the table, you will sleep tonight!’ he said, grinning.

  Francine felt better already. ‘You don’t think I’m a desperate wife?’

  ‘You’re my perfect wife, Francine,’ he said, as he kissed her tenderly. ‘Raising children certainly isn’t easy and you’ve been very hard on yourself in the past. You need to take our daughter’s advice!’

  ‘A chill-pill?’ Francine said, with a watery smile.

  ‘Uh, loike, todally!’ Carl said, in his best bored-teenager voice.

  ‘Cameron is at Jodi Ludlum’s with Howie and she’s going to drop them back later, so it’s just Cara, Conor and Craig for pick-up,’ she told him.

  Carl saluted and disappeared to fetch them. With no dinner to prepare, no children shouting and no dog whining, soiling or chewing anything, Francine flicked on the kettle. For a brief moment she considered reaching for a baking book. Stopping herself, she made a cup of tea and did something she hadn’t done for at least a decade. She turned on the television and flicked through the channels, looking for a chat show to watch.

  Chapter 30

  After a couple of hours Jodi could see that Cameron was getting tired. As a result he was becoming increasingly difficult.

  ‘I want to play something else,’ he said, kicking over the Lego scene that he and Saul had painstakingly built.

  Saul’s face fell. ‘Why did you spoil our town? I thought we were going to do a rescue where the policeman drove in the car to help the people in the yellow and red house I made?’

  ‘It’s stupid,’ Cameron said, and his eyes began to flash.

  ‘Will we bring Howie for a walk up and down the hallway?’ Jodi suggested. ‘You could show us how to hold the lead, Cameron.’

  ‘But, Mum, our game …’

  ‘I’ll play that with you another time, dude,’ Jodi said quietly. ‘Cameron, do you need to go to the bathroom?’

  ‘Okay,’ he said, staring up at Jodi to gauge her mood.

  ‘You do that, and we’ll do a little bit of training with Howie before bringing you home, okay?’

  As Cameron ran to the toilet Saul flung himself at Jodi. ‘It’s not fair,’ he said, and burst into tears. He wasn’t used to anyone kicking his games about the room.

  ‘Honey, I know you find this hard to understand, but Cameron needs to learn over time how to be calm,’ she soothed. ‘I need you to be a good lad and not make a fuss. It’s not nice to kick Lego like that and usually we’d be a bit cross about it. But Cameron doesn’t mean to be difficult. He can’t help it.’

  ‘If we tell him that’s naughty, maybe he won’t do it again,’ Saul reasoned.

  ‘You’re right to think that might work, but when children have ADD, which Cameron has, they get more upset. It won’t help him. Will you trust me on this and help me play with Howie? Then we’ll see if Cameron feels calmer. He’ll be going home really soon. Then I promise we’ll come back here and I’ll play Lego with you for as long as you like. Deal?’

  Saul nodded.

  Bless him, Jodi thought.

  Cameron ran out of the bathroom and grabbed Howie. ‘Come on,’ he said, as he buried his face in Howie’s furry back. As he cuddled the puppy, Jodi could actually see him settle. Howie responded by spinning around and licking Cameron’s hand.

  ‘He kissed me!’ Cameron said, as his frown dissolved and a smile spread across his little face.

  ‘He loves you, doesn’t he?’ Jodi said.

  ‘Yup.’ Cameron patted him.

  ‘Come on, Saul, let’s get Howie’s lead and Cameron can show us how to walk him. It’ll be good practice for when he’s allowed to go outside.’ Jodi winked at him and tweaked his cheek. Saul clutched Jodi’s hand. ‘Good boy,’ she said.

  It was soon clear that the space in the hallway wasn’t adequate for training Howie. The boys were too boisterous and the puppy was beginning to become agitated.

  ‘Maybe we should let Howie have a little rest for a few minutes while we go for a quick run up the avenue?’ Jodi suggested. ‘Then we’ll put him in the car and bring you guys home.’

  ‘Okay,’ Cameron said politely.

  Once they were safely off the road Jodi let the boys run ahead and burn off some steam. She shoved her hands deep into her pockets and closed her eyes for a moment. The November sun was low in the sky, offering little warmth, but she was grateful for the brightness.

  ‘Sebastian, look, it’s Cameron. He and his puppy both came for a play date,’ Saul shouted to their neighbour, who was brandishing secateurs.

  ‘So I see. Where’s your puppy gone?’ Sebastian asked, looking around.

  ‘He’s too little to go outdoors so he’s having a little rest in Jodi’s kitchen,’ Cameron said knowledgeably.

  Piles of clippings littered the pathway from the main house.

  ‘Is that a scissors?’ Saul said, wildly impressed.

  ‘It’s a special tool for cutting small branches and bushes,’ Sebastian explained. ‘It’s not for messing with – it’d chop your finger clean off your hand.’

  ‘Oooh!’ the
boys chorused.

  ‘The part you’ve done looks so much better,’ Jodi ventured, as she caught up with the children.

  ‘It’s slow work and I should really use the electric clippers, but they tend to take too much of the hedge away,’ he said. ‘I prefer to leave a bit of growth.’

  ‘It’s probably quite satisfying to look back and see the results too,’ said Jodi. ‘Will I give you a hand? I could pile the clippings into your wheelbarrow if you like?’

  ‘Don’t you have enough on your hands with the lads?’

  ‘We’ll all help, won’t we, boys?’ Jodi asked.

  The time flew as the four of them cleared up the avenue.

  ‘After all that work I reckon you should be paid in hot drinks and treats,’ Sebastian said cheerfully. ‘Would you like to come into my house and warm up?’

  ‘What about Howie?’ Cameron asked.

  ‘We’d better leave him at the cottage for the moment,’ Jodi said. ‘We won’t stay too long.’

  Jodi was secretly thrilled. She’d only ever seen the manor house from the outside. Now the stunning granite double-fronted Georgian residence, with its duck-egg blue front door, beckoned. The place was immaculate. The three stone steps up to the main door were swept while the turning circle was weed free, the gravel raked.

  ‘Come around the back into the kitchen. The main door is almost always locked,’ Sebastian said, over his shoulder, as he led the way.

  ‘Your house is big!’ Saul said. ‘Our entire school could live in here.’

  ‘You could have the biggest sleepover ever!’ Cameron put in.

  Sebastian laughed, making Jodi jump. She suddenly realised she’d never heard him laugh properly before.

  ‘Come on in, lads and lady,’ he said, grinning. Much less shy than usual, Sebastian showed them where to kick their shoes off as he opened the door to the kitchen. It was more modern than Jodi had expected. With a classic cream Aga and floor-to-ceiling cupboards, it also had stainless-steel worktops and contemporary furniture. The pale yellow walls added warmth to the dominant chrome theme.