Read Online My Husband's Wife by Amanda Prowse - Free Book Online Page A

chemicals and wood and reminded her of her childhood, bringing to mind the many projects her dad used to start in the kitchen and then abandon weeks later.
    ‘Is that you, Rosie?’ her father-in-law called from the back. ‘I thought I heard the car.’
    She ducked her head and spied him in his overalls, at the top of a ladder against the back wall. ‘Yep, only me, Keith. Don’t let me disturb you. Phil forgot his lunch!’ She held the box over her head and wiggled it.
    ‘Oh, you’re a good girl. Pop it on the desk and I’ll make sure he gets it.’ He waved from his perch.
    ‘Everything all right with you?’ she called.
    ‘Yes, thanks, love. Glad to get that bloody job in Mortehoe out the way.’
    ‘I heard she was a bit of a nightmare!’ Rosie laughed.
    ‘A bit? She was a right fussy madam. I had a full head of hair when we started the job.’
    They both laughed at his favourite joke as Keith ran his hand over his bald head.
    ‘Phil’s just finishing off up there, then we go to the new flats on the front. Should be a breeze by comparison.’
    ‘Oh lovely, I’ll walk that way home from school with the girls and then you can see them.’ She smiled at the idea.
    ‘I’ll hold you to that. Kettle’s on in the house, if you fancy a cup of tea? Mo’s in, I think.’
    ‘I just might.’
    As she walked around the front of the building to the main entrance, Rosie smiled in anticipation of seeing her mother-in-law. She rang the bell, then instantly regretted doing so as Kayleigh sauntered down the hall and let her in. It seemed that when Ross was up working for his uncle, she saw the need to accompany him, loitering at Highthorne, as if it was a day out. ‘Shit,’ she muttered under her breath.
    ‘All right, Rosie? How are you?’ Kayleigh smiled, her bright demeanour and upbeat mood as surprising as it was unnerving. ‘Everything all right with you, then?’
    ‘Yes. Good, thanks. How are you?’
    ‘Great!’ came the unexpected response.
    Rosie wished Mel were there to share this; the only possible explanation was that Kayleigh had been abducted by aliens and this imposter hadn’t been outed yet. This was, to her mind, far more likely than the fact that Kayleigh was simply happy.
    ‘Mo’s nipped out. Gone to get a few bits up at the farm shop,’ Kayleigh chirped.
    ‘Oh right, well don’t worry about putting the kettle on, Kayleigh. I wasn’t staying, just popped in to say hi.’
    She glanced around the spacious kitchen with its lidded china hens, raffia coasters, cluttered pinboard and trusty Kenwood Chef. It had been state of the art in the late nineties: blonde-wood cupboard doors with wrought-iron handles, a clunking great waste-disposal system and a heavy square wooden rack that hung on chains from the ceiling, dripping with copper pans that were only for show, and the whole contraption topped with fake plastic ivy. Mo and Keith didn’t seem to notice the wear and tear, or if they did, they simply didn’t care. And anyway, nearly all available wall space, cupboards included, was covered in their granddaughters’ artwork, along with a tea towel that bore the words: Only the best mums in the world get promoted to Grandma! This Mo had pinned to a wall, in pride of place. Rosie smiled to see the ever-growing collection.
    ‘Are you sure? I’m having one!’ Kayleigh grabbed a mug from the wooden mug tree by the kettle.
    ‘No, I can’t. I was only dropping off Phil’s lunch and I thought I might catch him.’
    ‘He’s up at Mortehoe,’ Kayleigh offered, unblinking.
    ‘Yeah, Keith said. Well, no matter, he’ll get it up to him. Right, Kayleigh, give Mo my love and I’ll see you later.’
    Rosie jumped into her old banger and laughed. She couldn’t wait to share this with Mel.
    Weaving her way along the country lane wet with residual rain, she smiled to see Mo, her diminutive mother-in-law, tootling towards home, her eye line only just above the steering wheel of her Renault. Both women