Beautiful Liar (28 page)

He looked at me for a long moment, and then sighed. “All right. You win.”

I grinned. “I usually do!”

He took my hand as we walked up to the front door. I let go briefly to search through my bag and find the keys. But once we were inside, his fingers interlaced with mine again,
as though he wanted to be reassured that I was there.

From the small hallway, I could hear the television on in the living room. We walked in to find my mum and April sitting together on the sofa. My sister's face lit up when she saw Alex.

“Alex!” She must have said his name instinctively, without thinking. But then she caught herself, and I could see her blush. My little sister clearly had a crush on my boyfriend, but she was trying hard not to show it. “It's nice to see you again.”

I bit back a smile at April's formality, which I guessed was her way of trying to hide how she felt about him.

I'd expected Alex to go over and make a fuss of April, but instead he was very quiet and almost stiff by my side. I glanced over at him and saw that his gaze was elsewhere. I realised then that he was staring at my mother.

I'd been so caught up in my sister's reaction to Alex, I hadn't even thought about my mother. I looked over at her, and saw that her face was very pale.

Daughterly concern took over, and I hurried to her side.

“Are you all right?” I put my hand on her forehead and leaned over, half-afraid that I might catch the smell of alcohol on her breath. But there was nothing.

My words had caught April's attention, too. As she saw how drained our mother looked, all thoughts of Alex seemed to disappear.

“Mum!”
April scrambled to her knees on the sofa. “What's wrong? Are you feeling sick or something?”

“No, no.” She waved away our fussing. “I'm fine. Just a little tired, that's all.” I opened my mouth to contradict her, but she shook her head. “Honestly. Don't fuss.”

Before I could object, she got to her feet and walked towards Alex, stopping right in front of him. At five foot three and slim, she looked tiny compared to his six foot two, bulked-up frame. But it felt like he was almost the one who shrank back from her.

“So you're Alexander Noble.” Her voice was very neutral, and I couldn't tell if she was pleased to see him or not. Alex must have been worried, too, because I watched as he wet his lips. I was almost holding my breath, waiting to see what would happen.

She stared at him for a long moment, and then to my surprise she put her hands on his shoulders, and stood on tiptoe to kiss him on each cheek. “It's nice to meet a friend of Nina's.”

I could feel the tension leave my body. She retreated to the couch, and I walked over and took Alex's hand and squeezed it.

“Did you want a cup of tea or something?”

I'd hoped that he might stay and we could all talk, like a real family. But he shook his head.

“Thanks, but I'd better get going.”

I tried to hide my disappointment. “Right. Yeah, of course.”

He turned to April and gave her a wink. “Try not to break any boys' hearts.” I could see her squirm and blush under his attention, clearly thrilled. Then he turned to my mother. “And it was nice to meet you, Mrs. Baxter.”

I walked him to the front door, feeling a little downhearted. It wasn't exactly the great “meet the family” moment I'd been hoping for. As we lingered in the half-light of the porch, I tilted my mouth up for a kiss. But he just planted his lips quickly on my forehead.

“I'll speak to you tomorrow,” he said. He touched his hand to my cheek in an almost brotherly way.

I didn't have a chance to respond before he headed off.

* * *

The following day, I came back after work and headed straight for the kitchen. As I got to the door, I could hear my mother on the phone. I couldn't catch much of the conversation—but I heard her say my name, followed by Alex's.

I didn't want to eavesdrop, so I went in and found my mother sitting at the table. She obviously hadn't heard me come into the flat, and looked up guiltily when she saw me.

Now that I was in the kitchen, I could just about hear the voice on the other end of the phone. It was male, and whoever he was, he seemed to be talking animatedly about
something.

“Nina's home.” My mother cut the speaker off before I could make out what he was saying. “I'd better go, but I'll talk to you later.”

As she put the phone down, I walked over to the fruit bowl and selected an apple.

“Who was that?” I bit into the firm skin of the Granny Smith and chewed the bitter fruit slowly, waiting for her response.

“It was my counsellor from the rehab centre, just checking in.”

I stared at her for a long moment. Her counsellor was female, and the voice on the other end had definitely been male. So she was lying—I just had no idea why.

I thought about questioning her, but decided against it. If she wanted to keep her secrets, that was down to her.

“And everything's all right?” I said, playing along.

“Why wouldn't it be?”

I didn't honestly know, but somehow I suspected there was more to this than I was aware of.

I forced a smile. “No reason.” I waited a beat. “I'm going to get changed.”

I walked out of the kitchen still eating my apple, as though it was the most important thing in the world to me. But inside my mind was racing. I would let the lie go this one time, but the exchange had left me feeling uneasy.

* * *

Now that April was back living with us, we began to get into a routine. She would go to school and I would go to work, and then we'd eat dinner as a family in the evening.

My mother was starting to apply for jobs, too, and seeing some old friends. Luckily she seemed to be staying away from the bad men who used to be in her life. One night, one of them called, and I was proud of her when she told him that she wouldn't see him and that he was not to contact her again. At least she was trying to act sensibly this time.

Because I was trying to bond with my family, I didn't have much time to see Alex. April seemed to be in a clingy mood, and she wanted to be with my mother and me, as though she was worried that our domestic bliss wouldn't last. I was concerned about her not seeing her friends, but I thought I'd leave it for a while before confronting her about it.

Then, one Thursday, a couple of weeks after she'd moved back in, April rushed home full of herself.

“Julie's invited me to sleep at her place tomorrow. Is it all right if I go?”

It was perfect. Finally, I'd get a night to myself. As much as I loved my sister, I was missing being with my boyfriend.

As soon as dinner was finished, I called to tell Alex.

“I've got some good news.”

“Yeah?”

“April's
out at a sleepover tomorrow night, so I thought I'd come over and we could have a sleepover of our own.”

He didn't jump at the opportunity like I'd expected. We'd hardly seen each other since April had come back, so I'd assumed he'd be dying for me to stay over.

“Of course, if you'd rather not see me, that's fine. I'm sure I can find another young gentleman who'd jump at the chance to invite me over . . .” My tone was teasing, but deep down I was taken aback by his attitude.

“There's no need for that.” He was trying to match his tone to mine, but I could detect something of an edge there. “What time were you thinking?”

“My shift ends at six.”

“Six . . . right . . .” He sounded a bit lost in thought. “Well, why don't you come round for eight thirty?”

I was surprised he said that. Usually he would tell me to come straight from work, and have a shower and change at his place.

“How come so late?” I couldn't help asking. “Are you doing something?”

He hesitated for just a split second before answering.

“Hugh asked me to go for a drink tomorrow, straight after he finishes work. I have a feeling he might be planning to pop the question . . .”

The momentary hesitation might have unnerved me, but
I was too thrown by the idea that Hugh was thinking of proposing to Jas.

“God . . . wow.” I could barely contemplate the enormity of it. “I can't wait to hear all about that! Eight thirty it is, then.”

I might not have thought anything more about our conversation. But after hearing him mention Hugh's intentions, I felt an inexplicable urge to talk to Jas. I wasn't going to say anything to her, of course, but I just wanted to hear her voice.

Unfortunately, she sounded busy.

“I can't talk for long,” she said breathlessly. “We're off to Paris tomorrow, and I'm in the middle of packing.”

Alarm bells sounded in my head. “When are you going?”

I was praying that she would say the following evening.

“First thing tomorrow, babes. So I'd better . . .” She didn't finish the sentence, but instead made a sound like a car engine.

“Yeah, of course.” It was an effort for me to match her breezy tone, but I just about managed it. “Call me when you get back.”

* * *

After that call, I lay down on my bed, staring up at the ceiling, the phone resting in my hand. A spider had made its web on the light fitting, and I watched as it struggled to
make its way to the top, and then fell back down.

I watched the spider climb up and fall down again and again. Losing myself in its struggle was the only way I could stop myself from calling Alex and demanding to know why he'd lied. I hated those paranoid, clingy girls who were deeply suspicious if their boyfriends weren't by their sides at all times. I wasn't about to turn into one of them.

I had no reason to doubt him. It was probably just a simple mistake, and he'd got the day wrong. We'd probably laugh about it tomorrow night.

So why, despite telling myself that, did I still have a nagging sense of unease?

Luckily, before I had a chance to change my mind, April came in.

“Are you done with the phone? My minutes are all used up, and I want to call Julie to tell her that I can come tomorrow.”

“Yeah. I'm done.”

I got up from the bed and handed her my phone. It was a relief not to have it. That way I couldn't call Alex.

“I won't be long,” April said over her shoulder.

“Take as long as you need.”

She stopped and turned to me, her face animated. “Really? Brilliant!”

By the time she'd finished, almost forty-five minutes later, I'd managed to calm myself down and no longer felt the urge
to talk to Alex.

I managed to put the matter from my mind the following day. I woke late and had to rush for work, and then I was kept busy.

I'd planned on going home to change before heading round to Alex's flat for eight thirty. But one of the other receptionists was feeling ill, and so I agreed to stay at work a bit longer. That meant staying until the last person was out, so by the time I'd finished, there was no point going home. I knew the code for the lift, and I had clothes with me, so I could shower and change at his place instead. He was obviously going to be out—although I had no idea where—but at least I'd be there when he got back.

I wasn't expecting anyone to be there, but as the lift doors pulled open, I found the lights were all on. It looked like Alex had left them on by mistake.

I was halfway along the hallway when I heard voices from the living room. I was about to call out a greeting, but some deep, innate instinct cautioned me not to speak up. Then I heard a woman say my name.

The voice was familiar. It took a moment to place it, simply because it was so unexpected. It was my mother, and she sounded upset. I frowned. What the hell was she doing there?

I carried on down the hallway, being careful not to make a sound so that I could hear exactly what my mother was saying.

“Don't
you think my daughter deserves to know the truth, Alex?” she said, as I reached the door. It was a little bit ajar, so I could hear every word. “Do you honestly think she'd be with you if she knew what you'd done?”

The words chilled me. What could be so terrible that everyone was scared to tell me what it was? And what could it be that would make me not want to be with Alex? Part of me didn't want to know, didn't want my happiness disturbed. But it was all going to come out at some point. It might as well be now.

I took a deep breath, and pushed open the door. My mother was with Alex and his father. They turned to see who the intruder was—and when they saw it was me, I could see shock, then fear, cross their faces.

I looked from one to the other.

“I couldn't help overhearing your argument,” I said. “Now, does someone want to tell me what the hell this is all about?”

No one spoke for a long moment.

“Well?” I said, still standing, my hands on my hips. “Is someone going to tell me what this is all about?”

More silence, and then: “It's about your father.”

It was Duncan Noble who spoke.

“My father?” That was the last thing I'd expected to hear. “What about him?”

I cast my eyes over the people in the room. None of them looked happy, but it was Alex who looked worst of all. He was so pale, like a corpse in the morgue in one of those crime series. Laughter bubbled up inside me at the comparison, but I swallowed it down. Part of me already sensed how inappropriate it would be.

No one seemed to be rushing to fill in the blanks.

“Seriously—is someone going to start talking? I don't understand what my relationship with Alex has to do with my father.”

I expected Alex to answer, but he was looking so sadly at me, as though he already sensed that what was about to come out would be the end of us.

Instead, Duncan Noble spoke again. He seemed to be the only one with his emotions under control. “It's to do with your father's accident. The night he—”