Lucy Springer Gets Even by Lisa Heidke

Author:Lisa Heidke
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: FIC044000
ISBN: 9781741765380
Publisher: Allen & Unwin Pty Ltd
Published: 2008-12-31T23:00:00+00:00

Day 43

It’s 1.15 am and I’m lying awake in bed. Did I really expect Max to turn up last night and tell me that the nightmare of the past six weeks was over? To beg me to take him back? To tell me he’s sorry for making the worst mistake of his life? Sadly, yes. Part of me - the part that’s been hoping against hope for the sake of the way we used to love each other, for our children - wants him to tell me he can’t live without me, that he’ll say goodbye to Alana forever and spend the rest of his days making it up to me, to us, till death do us part.

But if he did say all those things - and, let’s face it, it’s unlikely - could I really forgive the lies, the betrayal, the humiliation . . . again? Am I really so wretched that I’d accept him back into my life on his terms?

The sudden ring of the telephone shocks me.

It’s not Max, it’s Mum. I nearly fall off the bed in surprise. She’s hysterical; almost incoherent. My first thought is that something’s happened to one of the children, then reason kicks in. My second thought is that Dad’s had a heart attack. My panic escalates when I can’t decipher what she’s saying through her sobs.

My dad comes on the line. ‘Lucy, is that you?’ I want to say, ‘Who else would it be?’ but can tell this isn’t the time. ‘There’s been a terrible accident,’ he goes on. ‘A bomb in Bali.’

‘No, there hasn’t,’ I say, thinking my parents have finally scooted over the edge into madness.

‘You’re safe - you, Bella and Sam?’

‘Of course. We’re fine.’ Except for the fact that my husband and their father is living it up with his nineteen-year-old floozy.

‘That’s a relief. I don’t want to spoil your holiday but it’s not safe there. You have to come home.’

I can hear Mum still sobbing in the background.

‘A bomb? Are you sure?’

‘Happened a few hours ago - Jimbaran Bay, I think -’

‘Jimbaran, did you say?’

‘That’s right,

I -’ I cut him off. ‘Everything’s fine here. But the kids have woken up so I should go,’ I lie. I need to get off the phone. Get my head straight. Find out if what he’s saying is true. ‘I’ll call you first thing in the morning, I promise.’

I hang up. Fingers shaking, I dial Max’s number. My heart’s pounding so loudly it feels like it’s jumping out of my chest. We were at Jimbaran Bay only a few hours ago.

Max’s phone is turned off and fear overwhelms me. I sit rigid, unable to move. I’m sure Max is fine, I tell myself. He has to be. Dad’s just making it sound worse than it actually is. That’s what parents do. It’s their job to terrify you into looking at the world their way.

I turn on the television and flick to CNN. It’s headline news, with video footage of the bomb sites - one at Jimbaran and another at Kuta.

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