The illustrations and stories in her head were like a film that wouldn’t stop. It was as if the book held hypnotic powers over her. Memories were beginning to trickle back, of her stories and the atmosphere in the Storm household that influenced her to write them.
Trying to sleep last night had been hopeless. She tossed and turned and, when she was awake, her concentration flitted away from the tasks she’d assigned herself. Will’s trousers remained unfinished and she’d tripped over a box of Branda’s chandeliers. The Chinese dragon’s eyes seemed to follow her around the room.
She usually hoped that all the reading group members would turn up, but today she wished that no one would. Feeling frazzled, she just wanted to go home and wait for Owen’s call.
Branda was already waiting outside the library. She waved a violet-taloned hand. “Enchanté. What book are we reviewing today?”
Martha stifled a sigh. The group were supposed to have read Lucinda Lovell’s latest, in preparation for the Valentine’s Day event that didn’t happen. “Distant Desire,” she said as she unlocked the door. She pushed her trolley into the corridor and walked with Branda into the main room.
“Oh. I didn’t read it. Not noir enough for my liking,” Branda said.
Covering a yawn with her hand, Martha took her Wonder Woman notepad from her pocket. She examined the green ticks and amber stars, but her weary eyes made them look fuzzy. Not able to concentrate properly, she put her pad away and began to rearrange chairs around the table. She took out copies of her new spreadsheet, ready to hand out to the group.
Branda smoothed down her orange skirt with a graffiti design on the front and didn’t help. “We should read a thriller next,” she said. “A dark Scandi one.”
When a dragging noise sounded from the hallway, Martha paused in mid-spreadsheet distribution. Nora entered, pulling two overstuffed black bin bags.
She had been single for a few years, since her husband died in a car accident, and was now on the lookout for Husband Number Two. Even though she was almost as wide as she was tall, and dressed in jewel-colored velour tracksuits, Nora wasn’t short of male attention on the numerous dating sites she’d started to frequent. However, she expected her suitors to look like the bare-chested men on the covers of the racy novels she devoured, so was always disappointed when she met them in person.
“I honestly do not know where all the washing machine engineers have vanished to,” she huffed as she deposited her bags in the middle of the floor. “Can I leave these with you, Martha, love? Just another bit of laundry, to add to the stuff you’re doing for me.”
Martha had already laundered numerous loads for Nora and received little thanks in return. She pressed the tip of her tongue against the back of her teeth, trying to form the word no. But she couldn’t let it out of her mouth. Like a smoker trying to quit who finds their fingers reaching for a cigarette, she found a weary smile. “Of course,” she said.
“Cheers, my dear.”
Horatio was next to arrive. He wore his captain’s hat and a navy suit with gold buttons. He ran a small aquarium from his garage, charging ￡2 for adults and ￡1 for children to enter the gloomy space during the summer season. His wife often accused him of loving his fish more than her, and he was slow to deny it. Setting his hat down on the table, he ran a finger over his white brush of a mustache. “Did you bring my fish food back for me?”
Martha nodded and handed over two shopping bags. “And some of your potted plants, too. Don’t forget that you still need to collect your fish.”
“That’s grand.” Horatio reached into his pocket, took out a two-pound coin and pressed it into her palm. He curled her hand around it and patted. “Treat yourself to something nice.”
Martha unfurled her fingers. It had cost her several times that amount for the extra fish food she’d bought, but it seemed churlish to mention it. “Thanks,” she said. “That’s very kind of you.”
Siegfried entered the room and sat down. He took off his gray hat and held it on his lap with both hands. He didn’t say hello to anyone but muttered something about Clive being late and to start without him.
Martha waited for the group to settle down, take off their coats, shuffle in their chairs and take things from their pockets and bags. Clearing her throat, she picked up Lucinda’s book. “Let’s make a start,” she said, trying to inject brightness into her voice to mask her exhaustion. The quicker she could get the session going, the sooner she could get home to check for messages on her answering machine. “We’ve all been reading Distant Desire, so who wants to kick-start our conversation? You’ll find new sheets in front of you, to help organize your thoughts.”
Branda unzipped her handbag and took out a pair of oversized round sunglasses. She set them on top of her bluey-black hair. “I hoped to see Lucinda at the event. She’s awfully filtered in her photo and I wanted a closer look, you know, to see if she’s had anything done to her face.”
“Oh yes.” Nora circled a finger around her own forehead and mimed an injection. “It was a shame she had to cancel.”
“I’ve been reading a book about a prison officer,” Horatio said. “Very insightful. One of the inmates was a murderer but cared for a goldfish in the prison.”
Martha was surprised to find that her usual patience was evading her. The group members often got sidetracked with their conversations and she could handle it, but today it needled her. “That’s lovely about the fish,” she said, shortly. “Now, let’s get back to Distant Desire. I have some discussion questions...”
Horatio, Branda and Nora didn’t look remotely interested. Siegfried played with a piece of loose wool on his hat and Martha felt her neck flushing from frustration. “Or, perhaps you’d like to read a passage from the book, Branda?”
Branda used her hand as a shield and whispered into Nora’s ear. Nora gasped in reply.
Martha stared at the two women and wondered if she had actually turned invisible. If she pulled a silly face, or did a waltz, would anyone even notice?
She stood for a few moments and looked down at Distant Desire, but instead she pictured Zelda’s book and the blackbird illustration. She shook her head and the image vanished. The sound of Branda and Nora talking persisted as a loud buzz. “Siegfried,” she tried. “Perhaps you’d like to read for us?”
Siegfried’s eyes shifted to the right, as if checking that the front doors were still open.
Horatio held up his palms. “I didn’t read the book,” he said. “Too busy cleaning out the aquarium.”
Martha’s felt her temples begin to throb. She wrapped her fingers tightly around Lucinda’s book. When anyone in the group wanted her to do things, she did them. It would be nice if they returned her favors, occasionally.
She didn’t want to read aloud, not having done it since Will and Rose were small. Being a focus of any attention made her cheeks go blotchy. “Anyone?” she asked again, to blank faces.
Trying to fight off feelings of resentment, she opened the book. She ran her finger down the page but her eyes were sore and wouldn’t focus properly. She hastily selected a paragraph, any passage, to win back their attention, and began to read. “‘She reared up in front of him,’” she started.
Nora and Branda stopped talking.
Martha took a breath. At last, this seemed to be working. Everyone was looking at her. “‘She reared up in front of him. Her breath was heavy, like a cheetah who’d run across a semiarid desert. She was tall, and her red silk dress clung to her body, emphasizing the swell of her’...um...”
Her eyes widened as she read the next words to herself, and then out loud. She didn’t recall them being this passionate. “‘Of her,’ um, ‘large, heaving...’ Apologies, that part doesn’t seem very, um, suitable...” She coughed and tried to find another section to read instead.