Read Online The Truth Club by Grace Wynne-Jones - Free Book Online

He kept checking up on me, but he was the one who was seeing someone else.’
    ‘For lunch,’ Erika points out. Even though I don’t think she particularly likes Diarmuid, she has a fair-minded streak that can, at times, be extremely annoying.
    ‘Anything can happen over lunch.’ My voice rises with emotion. ‘People can fall in love again over lunch. He’s always loved her – she’s the woman he wanted to marry, only she got engaged to someone in New Zealand, though she didn’t marry the guy in the end. His mother even has a photo of her in the sitting-room. She’s in a canoe.’
    ‘Calm down, Sally,’ Erika says. ‘He married you, didn’t he? Yes, put it over there. Where do I have to sign for it?’ I assume she is now talking to someone who has delivered something.
    ‘Erika?’ I say, after about thirty seconds. ‘Are you still there?’
    ‘Yes,’ she sighs. ‘Sorry about that. As I was saying, you mustn’t jump to conclusions. Anyway, what if he does still sort of like this woman? It wouldn’t be all that bad, would it? I mean… to be absolutely honest, Sally, you don’t seem all that thrilled about being married to him.’
    ‘I need time to think about it!’ I exclaim indignantly. ‘That’s all. I haven’t been seeing other people. So I told him that maybe, given the circumstances, he should take the opportunity to have a little think about things too.’
    ‘I suppose that’s only fair,’ Erika says. She disappears to take another call.
    As I wait, I wish Erika realised that sometimes I want her to be unfair. I want her to take my side and call Diarmuid a stupid bollocks – even though he isn’t, of course. It would be so much easier if he were.
    ‘He said he didn’t need time to think about things,’ I gabble, w hen Erika gets back on the line. ‘But then he said he would if I i nsisted, because we need to make a decision about the house.’
    ‘ The horse?’
    ‘The house. For God’s sake, Erika, why would we be making a decision about a horse? We don’t own one.’
    ‘You’re speaking so fast I can hardly keep up with you.’
    ‘I can’t stand it. He wouldn’t talk about Becky at all, apart from saying they were just friends. He doesn’t talk to me, not properly. There’s always been this distant look in his eyes – even on the day we married.’
    ‘It’s not gone yet.’
    ‘What… what’s not gone?’ I demand impatiently.
    ‘The post. Someone just asked me about it.’
    ‘So now this decision seems to be about whether to sell the house, when what I want to talk about is… is whether or not we love each other.’
    ‘Men aren’t very good at talking about emotions, are they?’ Erika sighs. ‘That’s why Alex is so special. He doesn’t mind talking about emotions.’
    I almost mention my worries about being pregnant, but I decide not to. I’m expecting my period soon, so I suppose it’s kind of unlikely – but I’d say Diarmuid’s sperm are a pretty determined bunch. ‘Thanks for talking to me, Erika,’ I say. ‘I’m sorry for interrupting you at work.’
    ‘I love being interrupted at work,’ Erika says. ‘Do you want to call round this evening?’
    ‘That would be lovely.’ I sigh. ‘But I’m meeting Fiona. We’re going for one of her hikes through the hills.’
    ‘Oh, dear God,’ Erika groans. ‘Is it going to be a ten-miler?’
    ‘ No. She’s promised we’ll take it gently. She’s going to give birth soon, after all.’
    ‘Oh, of course,’ Erika says. ‘I hope she doesn’t do it halfway up a mountain.’
    The thought of being an untrained midwife on some craggy promontory briefly distracts me from my worries about Diarmuid. ‘Bye, Erika. Talk to you soon.’
    ‘Byeee, sweetie,’ Erika says. Before she hangs up I hear the unmistakable sound of her cramming a chocolate biscuit into her mouth. Sitting at a reception desk, any reception desk, makes Erika want to eat lots of biscuits. She’s got very good at tucking them into