The Missing One by Lucy Atkins Read Free Book Online

it with her from America in the first place,’ I suggest. Finn is taking dirty cutlery out of the dishwasher and laying it out, quite neatly and slowly, on the tiled floor.
    â€˜You can’t become a British citizen without a birth certificate.’
    â€˜Was she ever a British citizen? Do we even know that she was?’
    Alice frowns. ‘I suppose not. I found their marriage certificate, though. Did you know they didn’t get married till you were eight months old?’
    I nod, surprised that I know something about my mother that Alice doesn’t. ‘They got married just before Dad brought us to England.’
    â€˜That’s quite cool of them, when you think about it,’ she says. ‘There must have been a lot of pressure to get married.’
    â€˜Well, it was California in the seventies, maybe not.’
    â€˜But from Dad’s parents?’
    â€˜Actually, that’s true … ’
    The phone buzzes in my jeans pocket.
    â€˜Kal!’ Alice cries.
    I follow her eyes to Finn. He is brandishing a Sabatier kitchen knife, feet apart like a warrior. The blade glints. I hurl myself across the kitchen and wrench it out of his hands. He looks up at me with startled eyes.
    â€˜Dangerous!’ I say, in a horrified voice, holding the knife high above us. ‘Dangerous! Knives are very, very dangerous!’ I put it in the sink. My hand is shaking.
    â€˜Mine!’ He holds out both hands, outraged. ‘Minamineamine!’
    â€˜No. Dangerous. It will cut you. Knives cut you. Ow!’
    â€˜No. Mine. Mine!’
    We wrangle for a bit, but eventually he settles for the soapy washing-up brush. I gather up the cutlery from the floor and close the dishwasher, aware of Alice behind me.
    â€˜They’re quite full-on, aren’t they?’ she says. ‘Toddlers.’
    I sit down again, and watch Finn scrub the kitchen cupboard.
    â€˜You’re not tempted then?’
    â€˜He’s gorgeous.’ She smiles. ‘But I’m quite glad he’s yours.’
    I don’t know why Alice is single. She is so kind and clever, and immensely beautiful. Maybe she is just too busy for boyfriends. Or maybe she has someone, but hasn’t told me. There is something so self-sufficient about Alice, though. I can’t imagine her as part of a couple, even though she has had boyfriends in the past. Now does not seem to be the right time to ask her about her love life. I look at my phone. There are voicemails and texts, probably all from Doug.
    I just want to be left alone.
    â€˜Listen.’ Alice glances at my phone then at me. ‘If you’d like to pick out some of her jewellery, before you go … ’
    â€˜No, it’s OK. I don’t want anything, I really don’t. You can have it.’
    â€˜What? Why? You should take something. I’m not having it all.’
    â€˜No, really, Alice. You deserve it. I don’t want her jewellery.’
    â€˜Well, you can choose things when you’re ready,’ she says.
    â€˜Look – how about you have the jewellery, and I’ll keep this box.’ I pull the blue box towards me. ‘It’s got her American things in it. I’m the American-born one, so I get this, OK? You have the jewellery.’
    She raises her eyes to the ceiling and sighs. Then she gathers the rest of the paperwork.
    â€˜So I have to go back to London around lunchtime … I’m going to finish up here and … ’ She walks to the door, pauses, then turns back to me. ‘Kal, whatever has happened with Doug, you two will work it out, won’t you? You have to.’
    I nod, but I can’t speak. I swig the last of the coffee with my eyes shut, then I get a cloth and kneel down and wipe the Marmite off Finn’s face. He squawks. I kiss him, push back my mess of hair and survey the carnage – milk and toast and smears on the floor by the dishwasher and all over the