Three’s a Crowd (49 page)

Rachel felt Tom's foot nudging hers, then sliding up her ankle; at least she hoped it was Tom's foot. She looked across the table and he was gazing at her with a bemused grin. She moved her foot against his. They could be alone together at her place right now, but instead they were reduced to playing footsies under the table.

Lexie started to clear the plates, and Tom and Rachel both jumped up to help. ‘No, sit, you're guests,' she said, glaring at Scott. But he didn't budge.

‘Yeah, really guys, let her do it all herself,' said Scott. ‘She's going for the title Superwoman of the Year, or is it Martyr? I keep forgetting.'

Lexie stomped over to the kitchen and started clattering the plates noisily into the dishwasher.

‘Tom, can you grab another bottle out of the fridge while you're up, darling?' said Catherine.

‘You're opening another bottle?' said Martin.

‘Yes. I'm sure I'll have help drinking it. You're having white, aren't you, Rachel?'

‘Yes, but I still have half a bottle,' she said. ‘Do you want some of mine?'

Catherine curled her lip. ‘Probably not. I'm sure we'll get through another bottle.'

‘I'm sure
you
will,' Martin muttered.

‘Lay off, would you, Martin? It's a Saturday night, it's party night.'

‘So what was your excuse Friday night, and Thursday night, and Wednesday –'

‘Okay, we get it, you can recite the days of the week, backwards even,' Catherine sneered. ‘Tom, you haven't talked about work at all this evening,' she said, placing a hand on his arm as he reached past her to fill her wineglass.

‘It's Saturday night, Catherine, party night, like you said,' Tom reminded her. ‘No one wants to hear about work.'

‘Oh, but I do,' she gushed.

‘You never want to hear about my work,' said Martin.

‘Because yours is boring.'

‘So is mine,' Tom assured her, returning to his seat.

‘Is your firm affected by this economic downturn as well?' Catherine asked. ‘That's all Martin can talk about.'

Tom looked at him. ‘You guys are US-owned, aren't you? Things must be a little precarious right now.'

Martin nodded, leaning forwards. ‘It looks like we may not have any choice but to close our Australia-Pacific operations altogether.'

‘What?' said Catherine. ‘You never mentioned that.'

‘Because any time I bring it up you cut me off.'

‘But if they close, what happens to you?'

‘There'll probably be a position for me somewhere. Not in the UK or the US, they're shedding staff over there. But it's probably worth keeping a presence in China, so we might open an office there.'

Catherine snorted. ‘I'm not going to China.'

‘What will you do, Martin?' Rachel asked.

‘Probably join the office in China,' he said squarely.

‘Dessert everyone,' said Lexie as she planted an enormous platter in the centre of the table. It was some kind of layered cream confection, covered in berry fruits.

‘Wow, look at this,' said Tom.

‘It's fantastic, Lexie,' Rachel added.

‘To my wife,' said Scott, raising his beer bottle as he gave her backside a slap. ‘Is there anything she can't do?'

Lexie's face was turning red with barely suppressed rage; it looked like she just might blow. But before she could come out with anything the doorbell rang. She frowned. ‘Who could that be at this time of night? Scott, maybe you should go.'

He sighed loudly and got to his feet. ‘Excuse me everyone. Apparently I am useful for something after all.'

Tom and Rachel exchanged a glance across the table. Straight after dessert she was going to call it a night – she would apologise that she was tired, she'd been on her feet all day – then Tom would offer to give her a lift home. Hopefully that would give Catherine and Martin the hint and they would leave Lexie and Scott to what was surely going to be a mighty reckoning. Rachel didn't think she could stand much more of this. Especially when she could have Tom all to herself, for the whole night. This ‘coming out' thing was feeling vastly overrated right now.

Scott came back down the hall, an odd expression on his face. ‘Tom, Catherine,' he said.

Tom rose from his seat. ‘What is it?'

Just then Alice and Sophie stepped forwards into the room, along with a woman Rachel didn't know.

‘What's going on?' said Catherine, standing up.

‘Hello,' said the woman, ‘I'm Olivia's mother, Carolyn. I don't think we've met.'

Tom came around the table. ‘Sophie, what's wrong?'

Rachel noticed then that Sophie was quite pale, almost green actually, and she was squinting at the light. Tom held her by the shoulders. ‘Have you been drinking, Soph?'

Catherine strode over. ‘Alice, what have you done?'

‘Nothing!' she protested.

‘Hello, Carolyn, I'm Catherine,' she said, shaking the woman's hand.

‘And I'm Tom, Sophie's dad,' he added. ‘Thanks for bringing them home. Do you know what happened?'

‘Can I sit down, please?' Sophie said weakly.

Scott grabbed a chair from the table and turned it around for Sophie to sit on. ‘Would you like a seat?' he asked Carolyn. ‘Can I get you anything?'

‘No, thank you,' she said. ‘Olivia and her friend are out in the car. I can't stay, I just felt I shouldn't leave them on their own. We tried Alice's house first, but there was no one home.'

‘You knew we were out, Alice,' said Catherine. ‘Why did you make Olivia's mother take you home when you knew there'd be no one there?'

‘I think that was probably the idea,' said Carolyn. ‘We tried Sophie's place next, then they finally admitted you were all here next door.'

‘You shouldn't have had to run around like that, Carolyn,' said Tom. ‘I would have come and got them.'

‘I was picking them up at the end of the night anyway,' Carolyn explained. ‘Apparently Olivia and the others got separated from Alice and Sophie, then Alice messaged her that they were outside and couldn't get back in. There are no pass-outs after nine pm at these events, they were going to have to wait around till it was over. Olivia was worried after a while and that's when she called me. When I got there, we couldn't find them at first, and they weren't answering their phones. Eventually they came out from the toilets, Sophie had been sick, I'm afraid.'

Tom sighed, rubbing his forehead. ‘I can't tell you how sorry I am you had to be involved in this, Carolyn.'

‘Look, it's fine, it happens,' she said. ‘I'm just glad security didn't pick them up first. They're very strict about alcohol consumption on the beach, not to mention they're under-age. You might have had to collect them from the local police station.'

‘Hmm, and I might have been tempted to leave Alice there,' Catherine grunted.

Tom shook his head. ‘Well, we're very grateful to you, Carolyn.'

‘No problem,' she said. ‘I'll leave you to it.'

‘Thanks again,' said Catherine.

‘I'll see you out,' Scott said, walking Carolyn up the hall.

‘Okay, miss.' Catherine turned around to face Alice. ‘You've got some explaining to do. Where did you get the alcohol?'

‘Where do you think? The house is full of it.'

‘Don't you get smart with me, young lady,' Catherine snapped back. ‘I'm mortified, Tom. I should never have trusted her. I thought she'd learned a lesson from being grounded so long, but obviously not. You just couldn't wait to get out and do the wrong thing again, could you, Alice?'

Tom crouched down in front of Sophie. ‘I don't understand, Sophie. What's going on? Why did you do this?'

Her head was bent, her eyes downcast. ‘I don't want to talk about it,' she muttered.

‘You don't have a choice,' he said firmly. ‘This is unacceptable, Sophie. You know better.'

‘Don't be too hard on her, Tom,' said Catherine. ‘I'm sure she would never have done something like this without Alice putting her up to it.'

‘Why do you always think the worst of me?' Alice cried. ‘What have I ever done that's so bad?'

‘That's enough, Alice,' said Catherine.

‘No, really, Mum,' she persisted. ‘What have I done?'

‘Isn't this enough?' she snapped. ‘Tom entrusted Sophie into your care, and look at how you repay that trust. By stealing alcohol from the house, dragging Sophie away from the dance and making her sick.'

‘It was her idea,' Alice blurted.

‘What?' said Tom.

‘Don't make Sophie take the blame,' Catherine shrilled.

‘Sophie,' said Tom. ‘Is it true what Alice is saying, this was your idea?'

She was slumped forwards, her hair hanging over her face.

‘Sophie, answer me!'

She looked up then. ‘I don't have to answer to you.'

‘I beg your pardon?'

‘You don't tell us anything that's going on. You keep stuff from us all the time.'

Rachel suddenly felt nervous.

‘What are you talking about?' he asked.

No, don't ask her. Not here. Take her home. Rachel had a bad feeling about this.

Sophie lifted her face to look her father in the eye. ‘I know about you and Rachel.'

Tom stared at her, dumbstruck.

‘You've been sneaking around, lying about where you're going and what you're doing, but I'm not stupid, Dad. You're sleeping with one of Mum's best friends,' Sophie accused, her voice breaking. ‘It's sick.'

Rachel froze. She couldn't breathe, her eyes blurred, she couldn't see anyone, but she could feel Lexie staring at her.

‘Rachel?' she said in a small voice.

‘You slimy, cheating snake,' said Catherine. What did it have to do with her?

‘Catherine, don't,' Tom said, straightening up and turning to face her.

Rachel blinked a couple of times, willing her eyes to focus again. Catherine was standing right in front of him. ‘You fucking player,' she was saying.

‘Don't do this, Catherine. Not here, not in front of the girls.'

‘Don't do what? Out you for what you really are?' she said. ‘What, were you going to try Lexie next?'

‘Stop it, Catherine.'

Rachel felt sick in the stomach.

‘What's she talking about, Dad?' Sophie asked nervously.

‘Let's just say your father certainly gets around,' said Catherine. ‘He and I –'

‘It was one night,' Tom interrupted loudly. ‘Once only. We were very drunk. It was a mistake.'

Sophie got to her feet, glaring at her father, shaking her head. ‘When was this?'

Oh my God. The conference. Tom was the guy Catherine met at the conference. But that was before Annie . . .

‘Sophie . . .' Tom put his hands on her shoulders.

She shook them off violently. ‘No!' She pushed him away and fled up the hall. Tom followed straight after her and a moment later there was a loud slam of the door. An eerie quiet descended on the room.

‘So there was no Matthew, I take it, Rachel?' Catherine said finally, her voice twisted with bitterness. ‘How long has this been going on with Tom?'

Rachel wasn't going to be put through an inquisition, especially not by Catherine. She still felt sick in the stomach, and now she was finding it hard to breathe. She had to get out of here. She went on automatic pilot, crossing the room to pick up her bag. There were other things, a salad bowl, a cooler bag, but she didn't care about them right now. She knew all eyes were fixed on her, watching her, following her.

‘Rachel?' Catherine persisted as she walked past her.

She ignored her, pausing in front of Lexie and Scott, but she couldn't meet their eyes. ‘I'm sorry.' She tried to think of something else to say, but nothing came. So she just said it again. ‘I'm sorry.'

She felt Martin at her side. ‘I'm leaving now, Rachel, can I give you a lift?'

‘No . . . thank you.' She walked up the hall, numb. Her hand was shaking as she opened the door and stepped out, closing it quietly behind her. The air was cooler outside. She breathed it in and it hurt her lungs. She could hear voices, and she glanced over towards Tom's place. The door was open. She felt compelled, her legs carried her down the path and over to his front door. She stood on the front step; she couldn't see them, but she could hear them clearly now.

‘Of course I loved your mother,' Tom was saying. ‘I did a bad thing, a terrible thing, but it was a mistake. I was really drunk. Come on, Sophie, look at you tonight, surely you can understand people do stupid things when they're drunk? It never happened again.'

‘What about Rachel?'

‘That didn't start until after . . . a while after.'

‘I don't understand.' She was crying. ‘How could you replace Mum like that, so soon?'

‘Oh, Soph, I could never replace your mother.'

Rachel could hear her sobbing. ‘I've been so scared. I didn't know why you were being so secretive. I thought you were going to run away with her.'

‘What?' Tom sounded shocked. ‘Why would you think that? You and Hannah are more important to me than anything in the world. You're my family.'

‘But I'm not.'

‘Sophie, you are my daughter every bit as much as Hannah is. Don't you know that? Don't you think of me as your father?'

‘Yes.' She was still sobbing. ‘But I started thinking, maybe with Mum gone, you might try and find my real father, so you wouldn't have to be responsible for me any more.'

‘Oh, my God, Sophie.' The shock and distress in his voice was palpable. ‘I wouldn't give you up for anything, don't you know that? You think because your mum's gone that could change? That it could ever change?' There was a long pause, and eventually Sophie was quiet. Tom was hugging her, Rachel imagined, soothing away her tears. After a while he spoke again and his voice was calmer.