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That was a bare-faced lie. I cooked every day. Where were their dinners going? I wasn’t that damn crazy yet. A niggle tugged my mind, and I shrugged it off. No, I know I wasn’t that insane or had lost that much touch with reality.
“I made spaghetti yesterday. Where did it go?” I demanded.
Harper and Isla glanced at each other.
“No, Mommy, Lin made that,” Harper said.
Anger rose inside; something was seriously wrong, and for a moment, I had a moment’s clarity. I stormed back to the kitchen and looked through the bin. There was no sign of my previous day’s meal prep or cooking. But I wasn’t giving up. I marched outside and searched the bin there and let out a small cry.
“What’s this if Mommy didn’t cook yesterday?” I asked, showing them the remains of the cooking ingredients.
“Don’t know, Mommy,” Harper responded, looking worried.
“I baked chicken two nights ago. Did you get that?”
“No, Lin gave us chicken,” Isla answered.
I dug a little deeper and hauled out a carcass. “Then why is this in our bin?”
Lin was feeding the girls the meals I cooked, but how was she taking them? Was I completely unaware of what was happening?
I heard Garry’s car pull up, and Harper and Isla stared at me in fear. Jeez, I must look like a crazy person.
“Go wash up,” I said. “I’ll be up soon to read your stories.”
The girls scarpered, and Garry came around the house.
“Grace, what the hell are you doing?” he exclaimed.
“Proving I’m not insane. The girls say that you’ve been paying Lin because I’ve not been feeding them?” I snapped.
Guilt crossed Garry’s face.
“Babe, it’s your illness,” he soothed, his hands reaching out for me.
I sidestepped him, my gut telling me everything I believed was wrong.
“Bullshit,” I spat, and Garry looked shocked.
“Grace!”
“Fuck that, Garry. I cooked spaghetti yesterday, and Lin gave it to the girls. I made their favourite chicken two nights ago, and Lin served it,” I screeched.
Garry gazed at me with such concern I almost broke, but I knew what was in that bin.
“Grace, honey—”
“No! If I’m insane, then what’s this Garry?” I yelled, throwing the remains of the two meals at his feet. “If I dig deeper, am I going to find the remainder of the Mexican from three nights ago, the Chinese from four nights ago? But I bet if I ask the girls, they’ll say Lin made them that!”
Garry looked completely confused as he took in the waste in front of him.
“Who’s fucking crazy, Garry? Why is Lin sabotaging me?” I wailed.
“I don’t know, baby. Come inside, get cleaned up. Let’s get this meal over and done with, and then we’ll talk.”
“That’s something else. I got the lamb out this morning. The girls saw me, and yet it was returned to the freezer,” I snapped.
Garry’s face turned black.
