A Home Like Ours Fiona Lowe (good novels to read .txt) 📖

her first whenever they wanted information about Corey. She hated that they assumed she knew what he was up to, not only because it meant they thought she’d broken the law too, but because it reinforced how little Corey told her about his life.

‘You’d be surprised how many seemingly random crimes are committed by people closest to the victim, Mrs Demetriou.’ The constable wrote something in his notepad. ‘Mrs Atallah, bring Amal to the station for a chat after school. Or if you prefer, we can visit him at home.’

‘You only want to talk to him because he is black!’

He stiffened. ‘I’m just doing my job, Mrs Atallah. I’ll be talking to Corey Noonan as well.’

‘Good luck with that,’ Jade muttered.

‘You say something, Jade?’

‘Thank you, Constable.’

He hesitated as if he was about to say more, then stuffed his notebook into his pocket. He pointed to the Hoopers sign. ‘Nothing’s ever random, ladies. Boolanga’s currently experiencing a petty crime spree and the hardware store’s a target. They sponsor the garden and now the garden’s been vandalised. The description of boys in hoodies seen running from the scene matches Hoopers’ CCTV. The fact the perps’ faces are never identified leads us to suspect they’re African.’

‘Or wearing balaclavas, fly nets or black stockings on their heads,’ Helen said drily.

He ignored the comment and handed Fiza a card with his name printed on it. ‘I’ll expect you and your son at three forty-five this afternoon.’

Despite old fear fluttering inside her, Jade reached out an unsteady hand and touched Fiza’s arm. ‘We’ll come with you to the station. Right, Helen?’

‘Absolutely. Wouldn’t miss it.’

CHAPTER

20

It was a pupil-free day and the kids were home. Usually Tara enjoyed these days without routine, but not today. All of her craved to run—to see Zac. Although Flynn and Clementine had no idea what was distracting her, they knew her attention wasn’t fully focused on them. As a result, they’d squabbled and played up all morning.

Their contrariness wasn’t helped by the fact the neighbours’ children had been outside all morning. During their tennis drill, Flynn and Clem threw so many longing glances towards the Atallah twins, they’d missed most of the balls. Now they were back inside and, in a moment of desperation, Tara had suggested they all play Monopoly. Between turns, she found herself glancing out the window too.

Fiza and her three children continued to work in their garden. The eldest, a tall and skinny young man, appeared to be doing whatever his mother told him. Tara had seen him shovelling dirt or mulch out of a wheelbarrow and now he was hammering in stakes. She reluctantly conceded that the loss of the weed-infested eyesore that had flourished under Lyle’s occupancy was welcome.

‘Daddy!’ Clementine leaped off her chair and threw her arms around her father as if it had been days since she’d last seen him instead of hours. ‘Play with us?!’

‘Daddy’s only home for lunch,’ Tara said.

‘Actually, I don’t think I’ll go back this afternoon.’ Jon sounded weary.

‘You okay?’ she asked automatically, sounding as if everything between them was normal.

Jon pulled his phone from his pocket. ‘Chris sent this.’

It was a photo of a smiling Hegarty family rugged up in coats and standing by a lake in Central Park. Toy yachts sailed in the background and the caption read Looking for Stuart Little.

A combination of delight and melancholy twisted inside her. ‘They look happy.’

‘Yeah.’ Sadness and meaning dripped from the word—like we used to be.

Fury blasted in, decimating melancholy. How dare Jon be sad? All year, she’d been trying different things to bring the joy back into their marriage. The intimacy. What had he done except blame her for their problems?

‘Maybe we should invite the gang over?’ he said.

This was Jon’s solution to everything. Tara wanted to yell, ‘That’s right. Fill the house with people so you don’t have to be alone with me. So you can talk to Rhianna about how awful I am. So you can fall into bed drunk and know I won’t bother you.’ But the children were in the room. At least they hadn’t reached the low point of arguing in front of them. And if she was honest, she just couldn’t be bothered having the same fight with him yet again.

‘Your dad was here last night, so can we have a night off and just do something as a family?’ She inclined her head towards the window and the shrieks of the twins. ‘We need to get away and do something. How about a bike ride?’

‘Dad’s giving me a hand building Clemmie’s playhouse,’ Jon said.

‘Yay!’ Clemmie cheered. ‘I want to help too.’

‘Me too.’ Flynn started packing up the Monopoly. ‘Grandpa said he’d let me hammer in nails.’

Tara should have been disappointed that her idea of a bike ride was nuked but she saw it as a get-out-of-jail-free card.

‘Sounds like you’ve got the afternoon sorted, so I’ll go into town for a couple of hours. Vivian wants to discuss window dressings.’

The lie slid off her tongue so fast it shocked her.

In the gym’s changeroom, Tara pulled on her brand-new compression running tights and crop top. The outfit had cost a bomb. Not only were both items made of high-tech fabric with moisturewicking qualities and open-mesh panels, they made her feel sexy. If Jon was no longer interested in making her feel that way, it was up to her to do it herself. She’d ordered the new outfit the night Shannon and Chris announced they were leaving. Then she’d gone on another night run with Zac.

They were texting each other daily now—a mix of logistics, motivation, advice and unrestrained flirting. After she ran a PB not too far outside Zac’s standard time, he’d messaged you blow me away. Tara had some very literal plans to do exactly that. Soon. Very soon.

Stowing her ordinary clothes into a locker, she picked up her water bottle and walked into the gym.

Zac let out a low whistle. ‘Is that the new range from Nike?’

‘Sure is.