The Night She Disappeared by Lisa Jewell
49
June 2017
‘You look gorgeous,’ says Zach, appearing in the kitchen a while later. ‘Look at you.’ He grins at Kim and says, ‘Your daughter is properly hot,’ and Kim laughs and looks at Tallulah indulgently and says, ‘Well, she’s the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen.’
Zach approaches Tallulah and kisses her gently on her cheek. Then he grabs Noah from his high chair and twirls him around the kitchen until Noah is helpless with laughter. Zach’s energy is off the scale, high octane, almost infectious. Almost, but not quite. Tallulah forces a smile as Zach passes Noah into her arms and says, ‘I’m off for a shower. I won’t be long.’
When he’s gone, Tallulah’s mum looks at her and says, ‘Well, someone’s in a good mood.’
‘Yes,’ she replies. ‘He is a bit.’
‘Nice to see him so happy. He’s seemed a bit, you know, preoccupied lately. With the flat.’
Tallulah nods, but doesn’t reply.
‘So, tonight, any particular reason for it?’
‘No,’ she replies airily. ‘No. I just think he was getting bogged down in saving up and wanted a break from it all.’
‘Well, you both deserve it,’ says her mum. ‘The two of you are incredible. So hard-working and selfless. It’s about time you put yourselves first for a bit and went out and had some fun.’
‘Are you sure you’ll be all right getting Noah down? He’s been a nightmare lately.’
‘I’ll be fine,’ her mum reassures her. ‘If the worst comes to the worst, we’ll just stay up late. It’s the first time I’ve babysat for ages; I don’t care how challenging it is. I just want you to have a wonderful, relaxing, possibly exciting’ – she throws Tallulah a mischievous look – ‘night out. I don’t want you to think about Noah or me or anything that isn’t fun-related. OK?’
Tallulah wonders about her mother’s use of the words ‘possibly exciting’ and the strange look she’d thrown her. Does her mother know? she wonders. Has Zach told her? Or, God, heaven forbid, maybe even asked her permission? The thought freaks her out.
But she smiles and says, ‘OK. I promise not to think about my mother or my child.’
‘Good girl.’ Her mother throws her another indulgent smile. ‘Good girl. And if you’ve got a hangover tomorrow, just stay in bed. I’ll do the morning for you too, OK?’
Tallulah nods, then places Noah back in his high chair and holds out her arms towards her mother and says, ‘Hug?’
Her mother smiles and says, ‘Oh, yes please.’ And they hug there, in the kitchen, the sun shining on them from the garden, Zach singing in the shower overhead, Noah chewing thoughtfully on the corner of a book and watching them curiously, almost sagely, as if he knows that this is a night that will shape his destiny. At the very thought of it, Tallulah feels a tear roll down her cheek. She wipes it away quickly so that her mother doesn’t notice.