“Long enough,” says Paige.
Rachel throws her a warning glance, and Paige looks at her as if to say, “What?”
This is going to be harder than Rachel thought and she bitterly regrets telling her anything. It’s hard enough keeping a lid on it herself without having to worry about Paige, who, it has to be said, is far more unpredictable. It had seemed like a good idea at the time—she’d probably done it in the hope that Paige was going to talk her out of the downward spiral she’d gotten herself in, except she’d somehow fanned the flames. It wasn’t her fault—she was only doing what a good friend would naturally do—but Rachel wishes she’d kept her suspicions to herself, at least until she’d worked out exactly what she was going to do about them.
“I’m married to Will’s brother Jack,” Rachel says to Chrissy, whose confused expression suggests she’s waiting for Paige to elaborate.
“Oh,” says Chrissy, visibly relaxing. “So you and Ali are now sisters-in-law.”
Rachel nods, unable to comprehend how any kind of sister could do what she’s doing. “Yes, I suppose we are.”
“Cool,” says Chrissy. “You’re going to have so much fun. She’s such a great girl.”
Rachel and Paige snatch a glance at each other.
“So, you’ve known each other forever,” says Paige.
Chrissy smiles. “Since primary school. We met when we were nine and have been as thick as thieves ever since.”
“What was she like when she was younger?” asks Paige. “I assume not the same as she is now.”
The line of questioning is making Rachel feel uncomfortable and she wonders how far Paige is going to go.
A perplexed expression crosses Chrissy’s face as she mulls it over. “I guess not, but so much has changed between then and now that I suppose it’s impossible to stay the same. But for Ali, it’s all been for the good—mostly.”
“Mostly?” presses Paige.
“Well, compared to what she was like back then, she’s definitely come out of her shell.” Chrissy smiles, as if remembering fondly. “We were so similar when we were growing up—I think that’s what drew us together.”
“I can’t imagine you ever being similar,” says Paige disparagingly.
Chrissy, in her floor-length maxi dress, seems to shrink into the ground. Her knees bend, her shoulders round even more than they do already and her head dips, as if she’s trying to make herself invisible.
“We wouldn’t say boo to a goose,” she says quietly. “She was even shyer than I was.”
Paige laughs falsely. “And now look at her.”
They all turn to where the most noise is coming from, knowing that that’s most likely where Ali will be—right in the middle of it.
“Oh my God,” she shrieks, as her family circles around her. “I honestly thought I was going to pass out. When the registrar said, ‘Do you, Alison Foley, take Will…’ I could feel myself swaying and thought, I’m gonna go! I don’t know how I didn’t.”
Will walks over to the group and they all cheer and crowd round for hugs and celebratory pats on the back. “Please may I introduce my husband,” shrieks Ali, holding a glass of champagne in the air. “Woo-hoo!”
“I’ve never seen her so happy,” says Chrissy, smiling reflectively. “It’s so wonderful to see.”
“Especially after everything…” says Paige, leaving it hanging there.
Rachel looks at her, dumbfounded, wondering where the hell she’s going with this. She can suddenly visualize Paige in her wig and gown, commanding a court room in a criminal trial. If she followed this line of questioning at work, she’s sure the judge would accuse her of leading the witness. For a moment, it feels like Chrissy isn’t going to take the bait, and Rachel breathes a sigh of relief, but a part of her hopes that she might, even if it’s just to give her a tiny window into Ali’s world, and the slightest explanation as to why she would do what she’s doing with another woman’s husband. With her husband’s brother.
“Exactly,” says Chrissy. “The accident hit her really hard.”
“Her mum’s, you mean?” asks Rachel.
Chrissy nods. “She still blames herself, no matter how many times Maria tells her not to.”
Rachel desperately tries to claw back any nuggets of conversation that she’d had with Ali on the subject, but there’s little to glean. Either Ali hadn’t divulged the details, or Rachel hadn’t bothered to listen.
“That must be an awful burden to carry,” offers Paige.
“It doesn’t help that she came out of it unscathed, of course,” says Chrissy. “I honestly think she would have coped better if she’d been injured in some way. Because at least then she would have gotten what she thought she deserved.”
Rachel audibly gasps and instinctively goes to put her hand to her mouth, but Paige stops it in mid-flow, discreetly taking hold of her wrist and lowering it, as if a show of emotion might detrimentally affect whatever Chrissy says next.
Whatever Ali may have told Rachel about the accident, she’d certainly not confessed to being the driver and causing it. Who would?
Had she momentarily lost her concentration? Been going too fast and lost control? Rachel shudders at the thought that she might have been drunk, having convinced her mother that she was fine. But then she would have been arrested and would no doubt be carrying a criminal record. Rachel looks to Paige, wondering if she’s thinking the same thing.
“She should be thankful,” says Paige, taking a gamble. “It’s a miracle that she was able to walk away from the wreck that was left. Not many people would have survived it, let alone come away unhurt.”
Chrissy looks at Paige for a moment, as if wondering how much she knows and how far she can trust her.
“Well, it was thought that her weight cushioned her from much of the impact,” says Chrissy.
“Her weight?” repeats Rachel, unable to see how someone so slight could be protected against the ravaged metal of a stricken car.
Chrissy half-laughs as she looks down at herself. “Yes, apparently there are some advantages to being morbidly obese.”
Rachel’s mouth drops open as her brain struggles to compute what Chrissy’s suggesting. Morbidly obese? Ali? That just wasn’t possible. She’d always been slim, hadn’t she? “I guess I’m one of the lucky ones,” she’d said just yesterday.
“I don’t understand…” she starts, before Paige cuts her off by saying, “She’s done so well to lose it all.”
“Yes,” agrees Chrissy.
“Have you got a picture of you two?” asks Paige, as casually as she can. “It’d be great to see you as teenagers together.”
Chrissy’s hand instinctively goes to the bag that’s hanging across her, as if creating a barrier. “Erm, I don’t think Ali would be too happy about me showing pictures of her past to all and sundry,” she says, shifting from one foot to another.
“Ah, no worries,” says Paige. “It’s just that she’s already told us about what she went through back then. In fact, she mentioned her weight just the other day, didn’t she, Rach?”
Rachel nods, but she and Paige both know that it wasn’t in the way that Chrissy might imagine.
“I’d love to be able to put it into context,” Paige goes on. “But I’m sure she’ll show me when she’s got a minute, once she’s back from honeymoon and all that business.”
Chrissy looks around furtively, as if she’s about to give out class-A drugs in a school playground.
Rachel hopes that she’s not going to get her phone out, because there’s nothing to be gained from either her or Paige seeing the photos.
“I’ll just show you one quickly,” says Chrissy as she flicks a finger over the screen. “If Ali has already spoken to you.” She looks directly at Rachel.
Rachel wants to shake her head and tell her to put it away. She doesn’t want Ali’s lifelong friend to get into trouble for revealing something she hasn’t chosen to herself. But then she wonders if it’s not Ali that’s let Chrissy down, by pretending to remove any semblance of the person she once was.
19