The Marriage Betrayal by Shalini Boland

Author:Shalini Boland
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781786817358
Publisher: Bookouture

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Hours later, after another day of searching, Lainy, Tom and I decide to call it a day, pick up the girls, and head back to the house. We get into the sun-warmed car, all of us exhausted and lost in our own thoughts. As Tom starts up the engine a message pings on Lainy’s mobile.

‘It’s Cath. She says the kids are on the bouncy castle and then they’re going to have a barbecue on the beach so she’s dropping the girls home in a couple of hours. Says they’re tired but happy.’

‘That’s good,’ Tom replies.

I’m grateful that he doesn’t add anything about our fruitless day. That he doesn’t say how it will soon be dark and with another day over there’s less chance of a positive outcome. That he doesn’t try to be chirpy and offer up platitudes. We’ve all had enough of those from the well-meaning volunteers. Instead, we travel back to the house in a dark fog of silence. I check my phone for the umpteenth time, but there are no messages.

‘Actually,’ Lainy says a few minutes later as we drive down Scar Point, ‘do you think we could keep going and get Poppy and Annabel now?’

‘I was thinking the same thing,’ Tom replies.

‘Oh good. It’s been a long day for them and I’m missing them like crazy already.’

Tom nudges Lainy. She turns around to where I’m sitting in the back seat, her face a picture of remorse. ‘Faye, I’m sorry. That was so insensitive of me.’ She reaches out a hand and briefly squeezes my leg.

‘Don’t be silly.’ I gulp down a wave of emotion. ‘Of course you’re missing them. Like you said, it’s been a long day.’

Down in the town, the traffic is bumper to bumper as all the holidaymakers head home. Even so, as we crawl along the coast road we can see that the beach is still really busy. People swimming, packing up, or having picnic teas. There are even some people just arriving. Families deciding to have early evening barbeques, and sprawling groups of teenagers meeting their friends.

‘Do you want to text Cath?’ Tom says. ‘Find out where they’re sitting.’

‘She said the kids are on the bouncy castle.’ Lainy gazes out of the window, scanning the beach.

‘There it is.’ I point to a spot on the beach ahead where a giant yellow and blue inflatable structure rises up from the sand like a weird mirage.

It takes us another ten minutes to turn around, find a parking space and get a parking ticket, by which time I feel completely exhausted and spaced out. Nevertheless, I get out of the car with my in-laws, wincing against the heat of the late-afternoon sun.

We walk along the promenade, weaving through the bright crowds towards the squeals and screams of delight coming off the bouncy castle up ahead.

‘There’s Cath.’ Tom points at a red-faced woman wearing a pink swimming costume and matching sarong.

Lainy stops dead, her body stiffening, her mouth falling open, then immediately clamping shut.

‘What is it?’ I ask, the back of my neck prickling.

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