The Wife's Baby by Daniel Hurst

Author:Daniel Hurst [Hurst, Daniel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-03-16T00:00:00+00:00

22

I leave Cameron’s terraced home and make my way along the icy streets of Stirling. As I go, the houses on either side of the roads I walk down become bigger and more prestigious until I eventually make it to the grandest street of them all.

Pausing by the sign for Buckingham Place that sits on the corner of the road, I linger behind a hedge, out of view of Raquel if she was to come to her window and look out. But there’s no sign of her at any of the windows, so I quickly move closer until I am on her driveway. Then I rush down the side of her house, opening the gate before closing it behind me so that everything looks as it should. Hopefully, nobody saw me sneak down here, especially the homeowner.

There’s a window on the side of the house but it’s made of frosted glass, so I’m guessing it’s a downstairs bathroom. I duck under it just in case Raquel is in there and sees my shadow go past before I reach the back garden. Any outdoor furniture that is used here in summer is currently under wraps to protect it from the winter frost, and there isn’t much to see. But I’m hoping I’ll see a lot more when I take a peek through the window a few yards away from me and after cautiously approaching it, I peer inside.

I see a kitchen, and it’s a very luxurious one at that, all marble worktops and shiny pots and pans. I also see a highchair by the breakfast bar, as well as the messy remnants of what appears to have been a child’s meal. Raquel’s daughter, Lexi, must be just over a year and a half old, as she was practically the same age as Tuppence, so that means proper food for her these days, not just the bottles of milk the two babies were enjoying the last time I saw this woman.

But as I stare at the highchair, I wonder – is it just Lexi who has sat in there? Or has Tuppence been in there too? Fuelled by the memory of the way Raquel seemed enamoured with my child when we met in the pub, I am desperate to get inside this house and find out if somehow, the woman who lives here has orchestrated a scenario where she has the two babies she should have had instead of just one. But I can’t just walk in if she’s in there. I have to be smart and wait until she goes out, so I sneak back around to the front of the house and linger by the side gate.

It’s fifteen minutes later when I hear a noise inside the house. It’s the sound of a baby crying, and two minutes later, I hear a front door open, and the crying gets louder. Standing on a plant pot, I use the extra height to peer over the top of the gate and when I do, I see Raquel pushing a pram out of her house.

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