Isobel debated what to say. What was confidential and what was general information in the public domain? Reassuring herself that what Grace had shared with her was public and had come directly from Mr Banks, she said, “Anne’s neighbour told me that Anne is an alcoholic and has been to rehab. She and Mr Banks are getting a divorce and it seems that she’s not seeing Tommy at the moment until she has completely recovered.”
Sharon stopped her work on the nails and stared.
Isobel bit her lip. She realised that she had slipped up. If she really was a friend of Anne’s, she should have known all of this directly. She felt annoyed at herself for not planning her back story more thoroughly.
“I don’t believe it. I just don’t believe it.”
Isobel swallowed noisily but, before she could say anything, Sharon continued.
“No way. My mother was an alcoholic and, believe me, I know the signs and Anne didn’t have them.”
“It seems Anne was a secret drinker, when Tommy was at school. You don’t think that maybe she just fooled you, that she was clever?”
“No way.”
Isobel knew there was more than a grain of truth in what Sharon was saying. The hardest people to fool were the children of alcoholics because they’d seen it all before, experienced all the dodges. But, on the other hand, Sharon didn’t live with Anne and she couldn’t know all that went on. Hiding drinking was a skill most addicts developed.
“Anne loved Tommy,” Sharon said. “She wouldn’t do this to him. She just couldn’t and no matter what happened, no matter what she’d done, she would always want to spend as much time as possible with him.” Sharon’s hands were still, her eyes focused on the wall but seeing another time. “Mind you, she never mentioned her husband. She never said anything bad, but she never said anything good either. He just didn’t figure. I asked her about that once. All she said was that sometimes marriages were not all they seemed – and that was it. She never spoke about him again to me. She just changed the subject if I brought him up.”
Sharon studied the nails once again and continued with the painting and drying. There was silence now as they both thought about all that had been said.
As she finished, Sharon grasped Isobel’s hand. “When you see Anne, will you tell her I was asking for her? She helped me so much. If there is anything I can do to help her, I will.” Her eyes filled with tears. “She saved my life. She cared about me and Brandon. Tell her not to forget us.” She shook her head. “I find all of this so hard to believe.”
Isobel squeezed Sharon’s hand. “I’m sure Anne will be in touch when things settle down. I’m sorry if I upset you by telling you.”
Sharon shook her head and, with a sad smile, led Isobel to reception.
“I’ll give you my number,” Isobel said. “If you think of anything else that would help me understand, and help Anne, would you please let me know?”
Sharon nodded. “I will. And don’t forget to tell her I was asking for her.”
As Isobel walked out into the street, she wondered what Anne Banks would make of her mysterious friend Isobel McKenzie if she decided to reconnect with her old acquaintances. Thank God Peter hadn’t introduced her to the Banks by name in the office. Isobel glanced at her watch. It was six o’clock and she needed to collect her thoughts before she gave her report to Peter.
Chapter 6
Isobel arrived at Peter’s flat shortly before eight. He’d phoned her half an hour before to ask for her order of Indian food. Patricia arrived a few minutes later with the food. Peter had plates and cutlery laid on the coffee table in the sitting room so they could eat there.
Peter and Patricia tucked in enthusiastically, but Isobel felt tense and, despite having been hungry earlier, she had lost her appetite.
“Well, what do you think?” Peter asked. “Is there something going on?”
Isobel had spent nearly an hour making notes on the meeting with the Banks and the other people she had talked to and then summarising them, but she spoke from memory.
“I have two areas of concern.”
Peter stopped eating. “Go on.”
“My first concern is that Mr and Mrs Banks don’t have any emotional tension between them.”
“What does that mean?”
Isobel blew out through her lips. “Normally when people are in relationship, any relationship, there’s an atmosphere between them that you can feel. It’s also observable in how they relate to each other, or you can hear it in the tone of voice they use with one another.”
Peter frowned.
“Patricia and Mrs Brown work together – they have an atmosphere,” Isobel said.
Patricia laughed. “Yes, she disapproves of me.”
Isobel grinned. “You and Patricia work together and you have an atmosphere.”
Patricia blushed.
Isobel rubbed her hand on her forehead and hurried on. “Obviously, a marriage relationship has a very strong atmosphere, good or bad. So when a couple have reached the point where they’re going to divorce, they have a really palpable atmosphere. It could be anger, betrayal, hurt, hatred, indifference, fear. Whatever has brought them to the point of needing to divorce leaves an emotional charge, a residue, with the couple, and even if they have agreed equable terms there’s still that residual emotional charge that you can feel, or observe, or hear in how they relate to each other. My concern is that I couldn’t feel an emotional charge. Over time as people heal after a divorce it dissipates but initially it’s usually very strong. This divorce is happening now, a lot has gone on and I can’t feel any of that charge with this couple – it’s just not there.”
“I’ve never heard of this,” Peter said.
Isobel shifted in her seat. “You won’t have. This is my way of putting my impressions into words.”
“But what does this impression mean?”
Isobel could feel herself shrinking inside but he’d asked for her opinion and she was going to follow through. This is what she did with her clients, with the couples she worked with – she helped them understand what was between them and hopefully helped them heal it. She felt her shoulders tensing. This was what he had employed her for. Just because he mightn’t like what he was hearing, well, that wasn’t her problem.
Peter frowned at her then looked at Patricia and back to Isobel.
“The second thing I’m concerned about is that Tommy isn’t seeing his mother. When I talked to Anne today she seemed a bit distant from Tommy. Most people want to tell you about their children. She didn’t. Thomas talked more about kids and Tommy than she did. That could be because she’s in pain. All that Anne Banks is going through, alcoholism, divorcing, just getting out of rehab, moving out of her home, living in a new place, not living with her child, that’s a lot. Any, and all of these events, are hugely emotional and challenging. My previous experience with people just out of rehab, just starting a programme, is that they’re very vulnerable, upset, overwhelmed and emotional. I suppose I’m concerned that Mrs Banks isn’t more upset. Maybe she’s on tablets, maybe that’s dampening her mood, but I am concerned about this and how this might impact on her relationship with Tommy.”