Keeping Sam Read Online Free Page B

although he’d yet to speak.
    The argument had started, like they so often seemed to these days, during breakfast. She knew it was partly her fault – waiting until this morning to tell him about their daughter’s visit had been unfair. He had reacted exactly as she’d predicted, proving she’d been right not to tell him any earlier.
    ‘I should have been here,’ he had thundered, throwing his paper down onto the polished table as he pushed himself to his feet. ‘I can’t believe you arranged it all behind my back.’
    ‘It wasn’t intentional,’ Barbara had countered. ‘She came with that social worker – I didn’t have much say over the date. And you always play golf on Fridays. I didn’t think you’d want your routine to be disrupted.’
    He stood behind her now, but Barbara didn’t turn around. Let him be the first one to speak. It had been a long time since he’d lost his temper like that. So long she’d almost forgotten. The kettle clicked off. She poured water into the cups, then stood and watched the teabags steeping, not wanting to cross the kitchen to get the milk, not wanting to move past her husband.
    ‘You know, I hardly recognised her yesterday,’ Barbara said. ‘I thought about the girl we raised, that sweet little girl, and then I thought about the last time we saw her, lying in hospital, dead to the world.’
    ‘I want to see her.’ David was standing closer now; she could feel his breath on her neck. ‘There are things I need to say.’
    Barbara closed her eyes. ‘You realise that she wants to take Samuel away from us, don’t you? That’s what she’s here for, David. That’s all she’s here for. She hasn’t come to make things right, to say sorry for all the lies she told about you the day she left home. There were no signs of remorse, or regret, or sadness. Not for us, anyway.’
    She turned to him. His skin was mottled red, with white patches around his mouth. Anger. Or something else. She hoped it was anger.
    ‘You do remember, don’t you?’ she pressed. ‘You remember the lies she told? How much she hurt you? Hurt us?’
    ‘Stop it. I don’t want to rake over old ground anymore. The next time Kate visits, I want to be here. Understand?’ He picked up his cup and poured the contents into the sink. Then he grabbed his keys from the counter and headed for the door.
    ‘David – wait.’ She half ran after him, catching his sleeve as he pulled on his jacket. ‘Where are you going?’
    ‘Out.’
    ‘She won’t want to see you. She hates you.’
    Her hand flew up to her mouth involuntarily, and she took a step away from him. But David only regarded her sadly.
    ‘I know what you’re thinking,’ he said, ‘but it won’t work.’
    She squared her shoulders. ‘What am I thinking?’
    ‘Barbara, you brought the boy here, it was your decision and I supported you in it. But now our daughter is well again and she is here, on our own doorstep, and you can’t ... I won’t … You should give Sam back to her. Like you said, he’s her son.’
    ‘Give him back? Are you mad?’ Barbara paled. She steadied herself against a console table. ‘What are you saying?’
    ‘I’m saying that we were only ever looking after him until she got better, and now she’s better.’
    ‘He’s not a toy we borrowed, David! He’s a little boy.’ Her voice was edging close to hysteria; her husband stopped her with a frown, but then he swallowed and looked away. She noticed his eyes, the pinkness around them. Wavery, not quite focused. She should stop him driving, but she knew from experience it would only lead to another row. She didn’t have the energy for another row.
    Barbara glared at her husband’s departing back with something close to hatred. Give Samuel back to Kate? How could he even suggest such a thing? She closed the door softly behind him, then held her hands over her eyes to cool them. No matter what happened, whatever her daughter said or did – whatever David said