The Back Road by Rachel Abbott Read Free Book Online Page A

derisive snort at Max’s antics, pinched the straighteners from the dressing table, and made a swift exit.
    * * *
    Max watched Ellie carefully in the mirror for a few seconds. Her head had dropped back down and she was gazing at the floor as if transfixed by the pile of the pale cream carpet. He could see she wasn’t impressed by his little performance. Normally she would have shrugged off his silliness, or laughed with him. But not any more. A pang of guilt struck him hard in the chest. He knew what he’d been doing to her for the past couple of months, but he couldn’t help himself. Every morning he gave himself a good talking to, and every night he acknowledged that he had failed once again to stick to his resolutions.
    Max walked over to the bed and sat down beside Ellie. Fully recovered from his earlier hangover he was now looking forward to tonight, and he could see that Ellie was tired and very down. This was so out of character for her, and he had to blame himself. He put his arm around her shoulders and gave her a squeeze.
    ‘What’s up, Ellie? Why are you so down tonight? You were looking forward to showing off the new house to everybody. But it doesn’t seem to be giving you the pleasure that you expected. What is it, sweetheart?’
    Ellie bit her bottom lip.
    ‘Work was pretty awful today. A young kid - it nearly broke my heart.’
    ‘Ellie, your patients nearly break your heart every day of the week. So it has to be more than that. Come on. Tell me.’
    ‘I’ve got nothing to wear, I haven’t got time to straighten my hair, and couldn’t now because Leo has pinched the straighteners, and that all sounds so pathetic and self-indulgent in relation to other people’s problems.’
    Max rubbed her shoulder and gave her another squeeze.
    ‘Sometimes it’s the little things that get to you, because you don’t want to think about the big things, so let’s deal with those points in order, shall we?’ he said. ‘Why haven’t you got anything to wear, hmm? You’ve spent money on everything else, why not yourself?’
    ‘You know why not.’
    ‘No, I don’t know why not.’
    Ellie’s head dropped even further onto her chest, and she mumbled her response under her breath.
    ‘Because I was waiting until I was thinner to buy new stuff. You know that. I’ve been waiting for three years and that’s why I never buy any clothes.’
    Max did, of course, know this. They’d had this conversation so many times, and it never got any easier to convince her. But he would try again. Anything to get that lovely smile back.
    ‘Sweetheart, you know I think you’re beautiful just as you are, so why not go with the flow? You are what you are, and to me that’s voluptuous and sexy.’
    He put his other arm round her and hugged her tight. She pushed his arm away.
    ‘Bollocks, Max. You don’t think that, or you wouldn’t always be trying to make me exercise. You want me to be thinner.’
    He swallowed a sigh, knowing that it wouldn’t help.
    ‘No, I don’t want you to be thinner, I want you to be fitter, because then you would be healthier. I don’t care about your size. And you’re not fat. You’re not a stick insect, but thank God for that I say.’
    ‘We all know that nowadays men only find skinny girls attractive - girls like Leo and that PE teacher at your school.’
    Max paused. He needed to get this right, and the best bet would probably be to ignore the last part of that comment.
    ‘Now you really are talking rubbish. Look at Nigella Lawson - arse the size of a small bungalow, but men still think she’s sexy. And you’re about a third of the size.’
    ‘She’s lost a load of weight, actually - so obviously even she didn’t think it was very attractive.’
    Realising that once more he wasn’t going to win this argument, Max got up from the bed and made his way to the wardrobe.
    ‘What about this black dress. You look sexy in that.’
    ‘I wear that every single time we go anywhere, and