What Alice Forgot - Liane Moriarty [124]
There were two women at the door, and another three were walking up the driveway. A couple were complete strangers but she recognized the rest from the party and from dropping off the children at school that morning.
“Mega Meringue meeting?” guessed Alice as she held open the door for them. They were carrying folders and notebooks and looked terrifyingly efficient.
“Only six days to go!” said a tall, elegant, gray-haired woman, making her eyebrows pop up and down above her square-framed glasses.
“How are you?” said another one with dimples who kissed her warmly on the cheek. “I’ve been meaning to call all weekend. Bill said he couldn’t believe it when he was on the treadmill and he saw you go past on the stretcher. He said he never expected to see Alice Love flat on her back. Oh dear, that doesn’t sound quite right.”
Alice remembered the red-faced man on the treadmill saying he would get “Maggie” to call.
“Maggie?” she tried.
The woman squeezed her arm. “Sorry! I’m in a silly mood today!”
Without being asked, the women all trooped into the dining room and sat themselves around the table, placing their notebooks in front of them.
“Tea, coffee?” said Alice faintly, wondering if she fed them.
“I’ve been hanging out for your muffins all morning,” said the eyebrow popper.
“I’ll come and help you bring it all in,” said Maggie. Oh dear. It appeared they were used to a spread.
Alice registered Maggie’s look of surprise when she saw the state of the kitchen. Last night’s dinner plates and the children’s breakfast dishes were still lying around. Alice had meant to clean up after she had the laundry on but the photo albums had distracted her. There were splashes of milk and hamburger mince all over the counters.
As Alice hurriedly checked through the freezer for muffins, Maggie put the kettle on and said, “I saw Kate Harper this morning. She said you and Nick were getting back together.”
“Yes!” Alice pulled from the freezer a container labeled “Banana Muffins” and dated two weeks earlier, feeling quite fond of herself. Oh, you’re a trouper, Alice.
“Well, I was a bit surprised,” said Maggie.
Alice looked up at the tone of her voice. She sounded wounded.
“It’s just that I know Dominick is pretty keen,” continued Maggie, sounding as if she were trying to be diplomatic.
“Are you and Dominick friends?” asked Alice.
Maggie jerked her head in surprise. “I’m just saying, he’s my big brother, and he’s sort of vulnerable. If it’s not going anywhere, maybe you should tell him?”
Oh Lord, she was his sister. Now that Alice looked, she could see a slight resemblance about the eyes. That Kate Harper was a real piece of work.
“And I don’t know, Alice,” continued Maggie. “All that stuff you were saying the other day, about how Nick never respected your opinion, and made you feel like you were stupid, and how you and Dominick had a much more equal relationship, and you loved the way he talked to you about the school, because Nick never talked to you about his work. What was that all about, then? And I don’t mean to be rude, but I wondered, could this possibly be related to your head injury? I mean, I know that sounds like, ‘Oh, you must be nuts not to want my brother!’ But I just think that, well, you know, don’t rush . . .”
Her voice drifted away, just like Dominick’s did.
Nick didn’t respect her opinion? But of course he did! Sometimes he thought she was a bit foolish about current affairs, but only in an adorable way.
Alice went to open her mouth, without knowing what she would say, when the doorbell rang again.
“Just a sec,” she said, holding up her hand.
She ran down the hallway past the babble of female voices from her dining room and opened the door.
“So sorry I’m late,” said a tiny red-haired woman with a sweet, childlike voice.
It was the woman who kissed Nick on the washing machine.
Elisabeth’s Homework for Jeremy
So I called and got the blood-test results.
“Come in!” said Alice.
Her body definitely remembered