The Good Girl Read Online Free PDF Page A

have superpowers. You’re not omniscient. You can’t prevent disasters. Shit happens. It just does. And we all have to get on with it. You can’t inoculate us all against disaster.’
    ‘We need to work out a routine. So that one of us
checks on him every four or five days,’ Ailsa responded. ‘I can’t keep doing this on my own.’
    ‘You’re falling for his old tricks. Dad has always made everything about himself. That’s probably why Mum ended up having a heart attack.’
    I could say the same thing about you
, thought Ailsa. ‘He’s one of those larger-than-life figures –’
    ‘Which is shorthand for a recovered alcoholic with an overinflated sense of self,’ Rachel interrupted.
    ‘He’s drinking again, Rach. It’s been a really difficult time and it’s worse when you see his grief close up. He’s much more vulnerable than he used to be.’ Still nothing. Ailsa turned towards her. ‘The question is, what are we going to do, because doing nothing isn’t an option, is it?’
    Rachel’s wild eyebrows furrowed. Ailsa was gratified to know that finally she had got through. The great thing about having a difficult conversation in a car was that you had a captive audience. It was a tactic she had learned soon after having children. Ailsa affectionately patted her sister on the shoulder. They had been through so much together. They would get through this. Rachel remained silent.
    ‘Do you think I should be dating a man who is young enough to be my son?’ she suddenly asked. ‘I mean what are the real differences between my body and the body of a twenty-seven-year-old? Do you think people can tell if your internal organs are old?’
    Ailsa
gripped the steering wheel as hard as she could so she wouldn’t say anything she regretted.
    ‘I read somewhere that a woman in her early forties and a man in his twenties represent perfect sexual compatibility,’ said Rachel dreamily. ‘I’m in great shape for someone who is almost forty, don’t you think? He’s been so lovely to me about Mum. And he’s not married. I know you have a problem with that. I’m not totally insensitive. So what’s the verdict?’
    ‘You’ll probably get hurt,’ said Ailsa, revving the engine again.
    ‘Why?’ asked Rachel.
    ‘You’ll meet his friends and they’ll talk about things that you know nothing about.’
    ‘Like what?’
    ‘Music, apps you’ve never heard of. I don’t know – that’s the point.’
    ‘Age doesn’t exist any more. It’s all about shared interests and experiences.’
    ‘He’ll want to have children,’ warned Ailsa.
    ‘We’ve already talked about freezing my eggs,’ said Rachel. Ailsa pressed the accelerator. ‘And he wants to get to know my family better.’ This was why Rachel always ended up getting her own way. She just kept going until eventually the opposition capitulated. That’s why she would be so good with their father, if only Ailsa could get her on board.
    ‘Better?’
    ‘You’ve met him already.’
    ‘God,
he’s not one of your builders, is he?’
    Ailsa put the car into reverse and pressed the accelerator to persuade the wheels to get purchase on the slippery snow. For a moment the wheels spun, churning up the snow as high as the windows. She pushed the accelerator as far down as it would go. The car burst into life and shot into the car parked behind. The bronchial alarm of the people carrier belonging to Ailsa’s new next-door neighbours wheezed into action. Ailsa’s head thumped back against the headrest.
    ‘Shit,’ she said.
    ‘Shit indeed,’ said Rachel. ‘I’ve probably got whiplash. I might have the body of a thirty-year-old but I’ll develop the posture of an old lady.’
    In spite of herself, Ailsa couldn’t help giggling. Rachel annoyed her more than anyone else she knew but she also made her laugh the most. Loveday came out of her front door straight away and Ailsa knew that it was she who had been looking out of the upstairs window. She berated