The Single Mums' Book Club by Victoria Cooke

Author:Victoria Cooke [Cooke, Victoria]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2021-03-22T17:00:00+00:00

Chapter 29

‘Cream cake, anyone?’ Janey chirps.

I stare at the three cream horns on the kitchen table and almost retch.

‘Don’t you like them?’ Janey frowns.

All I can see is the image of Stacy licking one seductively as she holds them in front of her chest à la Madonna circa 1990 whilst Edward looks on and … just … no. ‘Think I’m in the mood for something savoury. Thank you though – I’ll have mine later.’

Janey shrugs and she and Amanda each take one. The kids are in bed and we’ve met to talk about Pet Sematary. As they bite into their horns, thick cream oozes out.

‘I think I heard Henry cry out. I’ll just go and check on him,’ I say and run upstairs to the bathroom where I stand staring at myself in the mirror.

‘Get a grip, you silly woman,’ I say to my reflection. I look older than I picture myself looking. My eye bags are puffier than they feel like they should be and the fine lines on my forehead now cease to disappear when I relax my muscles. It’s funny how your brain doesn’t seem to age at the same rate as your skin and hair.

‘It’s just a bloody cream cake,’ I say, remembering I’ve come in here to pull myself together. What two grown people do with their baked goods is none of my business. I check on the kids who are all fast asleep and then go back downstairs. Janey and Amanda have cracked open a bottle of grapefruit-flavoured gin and Amanda is just adding the tonic. I’m pleased to see their cream horns have been reduced to just a few meagre crumbs.

‘Everything okay?’ Janey asks, popping some ice from the tray and dropping it into the three highball tumblers she’s lined up.

‘Yes. False alarm.’

‘Get this down your neck,’ Janey says.

We start discussing the book and whilst Janey and Amanda agree it wasn’t as scary as they thought, I remain silent.

‘Creepy yes, atmospheric, certainly but scary? Nah. I never once looked at my kids warily,’ Janey says.

‘I must admit, I enjoyed it far more than I thought I would,’ Amanda replies. ‘What about you, Stephanie?’

I start to feel quite hot. ‘I don’t know where to start,’ I say, not sure how to confess I didn’t read it.

‘Did you like the writing?’ Amanda prompts.

‘Well, it is King.’ I laugh but I can tell by how hot my face is that it must be bright red. ‘Listen. There’s something I have to tell you both.’

‘You didn’t read it?’ Janey rolls her eyes.

‘No, but … I couldn’t.’

Janey’s eyes travel to the side table, where my copy of the book is. She frowns.

‘I couldn’t bring myself to, I mean.’ My hands ball up in my lap, each word on the tip of my tongue a circus clown; ridiculous and silly. ‘I’m terrified of the night.’

Amanda and Janey don’t say anything. I’m not sure how much time passes before Janey speaks up. ‘Oh, Steph? Why didn’t you say you didn’t want to read it? You must know we’d understand.

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