The Good Girl Read Online Free PDF

herself for not making more effort with their new neighbours because it would have made everything easier now that she had crashed into the only car within a mile of the house.
    She remembered how six weeks earlier, just after she had moved in, Loveday had come to the front door and Ailsa had ignored her and ducked down beneath the picture window in the sitting room. Loveday wanted to invite them over for a drink. Ailsa knew this because she had told Harry over the garden fence. As the doorbell
rang more and more insistently, Ailsa had imagined a future where their lives were seamlessly integrated like honeycomb. A hole would be cut in the fence between the two gardens and a gate erected so that the children could go in and out of each other’s gardens as they pleased. The gate would never be shut. Crockery from one house would appear in the cupboard of the other. Books would be shared. Clothes would migrate. She instantly knew that this was not what she wanted. Eventually she would need new friends. But right now she didn’t want the burden of absorbing anyone else’s lives. They needed to rebuild their own. In the end Loveday had gone. But she had stayed long enough for Ailsa to know she was a woman who was used to getting her own way.
    Loveday’s arms were folded, probably against the cold, decided Ailsa as she opened the electric window to speak to her.
    ‘I am so sorry,’ said Ailsa. ‘So sorry.’ She wanted to get out of the car to assess the damage but Loveday’s arms blocked her way.
    ‘Are you all right?’ asked Loveday. She smelled of patchouli oil and the musty aroma made Ailsa feel queasy.
    ‘We’re fine, aren’t we, Rachel?’
    Rachel nodded. Loveday leaned over and rested her forearms on the edge of the window so that Ailsa could see two sets of surprisingly long painted nails. She was wearing a big chunky necklace that banged against the car’s paintwork. It was a silver eagle’s skull, and the
beak nestled between her breasts. Loveday noticed her looking.
    ‘My talisman is an eagle,’ she said.
    ‘Sorry?’
    ‘We all have an animal spirit that protects us. Mine is the eagle,’ Loveday explained. She touched the necklace and lifted it towards Ailsa. ‘The wings represent the balance between male and female. It denotes protection and survival.’ Ailsa stumbled for a response. ‘My husband is a bear,’ said Loveday, filling in the silence.
    ‘Polar or grizzly?’ asked Rachel.
    ‘How interesting,’ said Ailsa, trying not to giggle.
    ‘He’s curious, secretive and fierce. All at the same time. It’s a great combination. Bears and eagles are very compatible.’
    ‘Unfortunately I don’t have a talisman,’ said Ailsa, stumbling over the unfamiliar concept in an effort to sound interested.
    ‘Maybe if you did, this wouldn’t have happened. Maybe that’s what’s been missing from our life,’ said Rachel from the back of the car. ‘Hi, I’m Ailsa’s sister,’ she explained to Loveday when it became apparent that Ailsa wasn’t going to introduce her. ‘Not the most auspicious way to meet, is it?’
    ‘Really, it doesn’t matter as long as both of you are fine,’ said Loveday. ‘It’s your car that’s taken the hit.’
    ‘We were trying to get my father home. He’s desperate to visit my mother’s grave. She died earlier this year. But he’ll just have to stay here until the snow clears. None of
us will be going anywhere. The older children were meant to be going to a party. New Year’s Eve is going to be a bit of a damp squib.’ Ailsa listened to herself babble, trying to work out if she was in shock or trying to compensate for her previous indifference.
    ‘It’s settled,’ said Loveday firmly as Ailsa stopped. ‘You must come to us. Our friends can’t get here and I’ve cooked enough food for a whole ashram. The children can hang out together.’
    ‘What a lovely idea,’ said Rachel before Ailsa could answer.
    ‘It will be nice for everyone to meet