The Money Club by Fiona Lowe

Author:Fiona Lowe
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin Enterprises (Australia) Pty Ltd
Published: 2023-03-27T00:00:00+00:00

Unlike Rigby, who could be cajoled, bribed or plain manhandled into the car, that afternoon Mike stubbornly refused to attend cardiac rehab.

‘Okay, fine,’ Birdie shouted. ‘But know this! Your heart attack might not have killed you, but you’re doing a bloody good job of killing yourself!’

He hadn’t looked away from the television. Birdie was tempted to take it out of the house, just like Mike had done once when the kids were teenagers and had refused to respond to him. But unlike those good old days when you could pick up a set, this television was sixty-five inches and mounted on the wall. But she was seriously close to hiding the remote.

With rage burning, Birdie stomped out of the house, got into the car and drove to the community health centre.

The receptionist directed her down the hall to a room with a circle of chairs. People were gathered around the urn, and Birdie saw a plate of heart-healthy muffins next to a stack of recipe sheets. She didn’t recognise the other attendees, but managed a tight smile for Charys, the community health nurse.

Birdie scrawled her name on a sticker, thrust it onto her blouse and sat down.

‘Lovely to see you, Birdie. Mike parking the car?’ Charys smiled at the joke. Parking was never an issue.

‘Just me today,’ Birdie said tightly.

Concern crossed the nurse’s face. ‘Is Mike unwell?’

Other people were taking their seats. As furious as Birdie was with Mike, and despite her threat to embarrass him in public, when it came to the crunch she didn’t want to air their private lives among strangers. Their financial life was already public—conversations stopped in the IGA, at the servo, in the library—everywhere she went.

‘He had another appointment,’ she said. ‘I’m here to take notes.’

‘You’re always welcome,’ Charys said. ‘We encourage partners to come to all the education talks. Have you tried any of the recipes from the nutrition talk?’

‘I’m making the muffins.’

‘That’s great.’

A woman with pink-tipped hair groaned. ‘But do you eat them? I find them bland and dry.’

‘I find banana helps,’ Birdie said.

‘If everyone can take a seat,’ Charys said, ‘we’ll make a start. As our guest speaker has another appointment, we’re tweaking the session and doing the medication talk first and our group session after the break. I’d like to introduce Gabrielle, our pharmacist, who will give you the good, the bad and the ugly about the drugs you’re on and answer any questions.’

Birdie opened her phone to type notes she knew would be read only by her and tried to relax her jaw.

An hour later, when the pharmacist had answered all the questions—most of them asked by Birdie—she left and everyone rose to make a drink.

Birdie slung her bag over her shoulder and was almost at the door when Charys said, ‘Birdie, it’s only intermission. We still have group.’

Irritation made her skin itch. ‘Mike had the heart attack, not me.’

‘True, but he’s not an island.’ Charys’s smile knew too much. ‘You’re very welcome to stay. A problem shared is a—’

‘I’m fine,’ Birdie said quickly.

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