Liverpool Annie by Maureen Lee

Author:Maureen Lee [Lee, Maureen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, General
ISBN: 9780752816982
Google: SHfe0fD-WXUC
Goodreads: 1523933
Publisher: Orion
Published: 1999-01-01T05:00:00+00:00

Valerie was leaning on the fence. She looked upset. 'They mustn't have any children.'

'Or relatives.'

'Or friends.'

'They didn't want friends,' Annie said. 'I tried talking to them over the years, but they always snubbed me.'

'I mean, I would have sent a wreath if I'd known.'

They stayed talking, anxious for company on a morning when death had cast its shadow over their comfortable and more or less contented lives.

'Just think, Annie,' Valerie said soberly. 'One of these days, we'll be as old as the Travers'. Either that, or we'll be dead.'

Annie shivered. 'I'm not sure which I'd prefer.'

They decided to call on Mrs Travers that night and offer their condolences. After a while, Valerie went indoors. She'd bought a new cookery book and wanted to make something nice for Kevin's tea.

Z59

The Cunninghams rarely rowed these days. They had sown their wild oats early and emerged unscathed, so Valerie claimed. Years ago, Kevin had confessed to an affair, 'It was when I was pregnant with Tracy,' she confided. 'He felt weighed down by the responsibility. It made him feel young again.' He refused to name the woman, said it was someone Valerie didn't know. 'I was so hopping mad, I had an affair myself with this nauseating chap from the TV rental shop. Kevin blew his top when he found out. But everything's all right now,' she added complacently. 'In fact, our marriage is stronger after all the ups and downs.'

When Valerie had gone, Annie sat on the patio and watched the children play. Sara was idly pushing herself to and fro on the swing Lauri had recently made, and Daniel was sitting in the plastic paddling pool playing with a blow-up boat, a bit half-heartedly, she thought. She hoped it was the heat and he wasn't coming down with something.

There'd been no ups and downs in the Menins' marriage, nothing to make it stronger. There was no way she could bring herself to be unfaithful to Lauri. It would show on her face, and she'd give the game away if she had to tell lies. She was no good at lies, apart from little white ones. Anyroad, not a single man had made anything remotely like a pass since she got married, so who would she have an affair with?

How could it be, she wondered, that you could love someone as thoroughly as she loved Lauri, yet be so . . . Annie searched in her mind for how she felt; not exactly fed up, not exactly bored, not really unhappy, maybe a bit of all these things. Last year, the Cunninghams had dumped their progeny on Valerie's mother and gone on holiday to Paris. Next month, they were off to Spain, this time taking the children with them. Other families in the close took holidays.

But when the children broke up last month and she suggested the Menins went away, Lauri protested they couldn't afford it. 'It could cost hundreds, love, and you know work's been dropping off.'

This was true. Inflation was soaring upwards in a dizzy spiral.

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