‘I didn’t do it,’ says Hannah.
‘Who did? Was it Chloe?’ I press. Hannah sticks out her bottom lip and shakes her head. ‘Well, someone knows what’s happened.’ I leave the room to get rid of the glass in the bin.
Mum is in the kitchen washing up. ‘Oh, dear, what a shame,’ she says when I show her. ‘You can easily get another piece of glass, though. Don’t get yourself upset about it.’
‘That’s not the point,’ I say. ‘I just wish someone had told me.’
‘Actually, I didn’t want to say anything in front of the girls, but …’
I look around as Alice comes into the room. ‘But what?’ I say.
‘The girls were already in the living room when I went in and Hannah was over by the photographs,’ says Alice, then adds quickly. ‘I’m not saying she did it, but she did look, well, you know, kinda guilty.’
‘Okay, thanks,’ I say, although I don’t really mean it. I’m embarrassed that Hannah may have lied to me. I look down at the photograph, now removed from the frame. It has an indent and a crease from whatever pressure was applied. I can’t help but feel it might not have been an accident.
Chapter 13
Later that evening, when I put Hannah to bed, she’s still a little subdued.
‘Shall we look at the other photographs now?’ I ask, waving the camera that I had picked up from the kitchen.
‘If you want.’ She may be in her cute kitty pyjamas and her hair brushed, her skin all clean and her teeth sparkly, looking every inch the seven years she is, but she has an attitude of a grumpy teenager. It’s not that she’s being rude or bad-tempered, but she’s treating me with an indifference, as if she’s just putting up with me.
I sit beside her on the bed and switch on the camera, reminding myself not to react adversely to any of the pictures with Luke and Alice in them. I begin to scroll through, asking Hannah questions about each photo and, little by little, the tension eases from her and she talks more enthusiastically the further through the collection we go. Oddly, I don’t come across the picture of Luke and Alice in the Sea Life Centre. I was sure it was one of the first ones when Hannah showed me earlier. I don’t voice my surprise – I don’t want to spoil Hannah’s now-upbeat mood.
When we come to the end of the shots, I’m glad I took the time to sit and look through them with her. Luke had warned me there were a lot, but I honestly don’t mind as it’s lifted Hannah’s mood.
I pull the duvet up to her chin and give her a kiss on the forehead. ‘Goodnight, darling,’ I say. ‘I love you very much. You do know that, don’t you?’
She smiles. ‘I love you to the moon and back.’
‘To the moon and back and back again,’ I say.
‘To the moon and back and back and back again,’ replies Hannah. I smile and give her a cuddle.
‘Now, go to sleep. You have school in the morning.’
I flick the light off and am about to close the door when Hannah speaks. ‘I didn’t break the photo frame,’ she says. Her little voice comes through crystal clear in the darkness.
I switch the light back on and sit on the edge of the bed. I stroke Hannah’s hair and look at her face. ‘I know, darling,’ I say. ‘It’s all forgotten about now. Don’t be worrying.’
‘It was already broken. Alice said not to tell you. That you’d be cross.’
I feel my eyebrows involuntarily rise and although I want to abide by the best mother’s handbook and ignore the remark, I can’t help grilling my daughter a little further. ‘She did, did she? What else did she say?’
Hannah shrugs. ‘Nothing. Just said to leave it.’
‘Okay, well don’t be worrying about it now. It’s just a piece of glass that can easily be replaced.’ I settle Hannah back down. ‘Ooh, I just remembered. I asked Daisy’s mummy about her coming for a sleepover and she said yes.’
Hannah’s face lights up. ‘Yay! Can we paint our nails? What about watching a film?’
‘Of course. And popcorn.’
‘Thanks, Mum, you’re the best.’ Hannah snuggles down under her duvet and I’m relieved to be sending her off to sleep with happier thoughts. I just wish it was so easy to lift my own.
When Luke comes up to bed eventually later, I’m sitting up reading a book, or at least pretending I am.
‘All right?’ He says, going into the en suite. He doesn’t close the door and I watch him brush his teeth and splash water over his face. He runs his wet hands through his hair and I can’t help feel a surge of love for this man. I hate it when we’re on edge with each other. Luke doesn’t go in for big showdown arguments; he prefers to let things blow over and then talk about it when everyone is calm and more rational. He strips off down to his boxer shorts and climbs into bed next to me, reaches over and takes the book out of my hands. ‘Now, do you want to tell me what’s going on up there?’ He taps my head gently with his forefinger.
‘I don’t want us to fall out about all this,’ I say.