9
‘Who’s your dad gone on holiday with?’
Stella hoped her question would sound innocent, but Lily’s eyes narrowed suspiciously.
‘Why d’you want to know?’
‘No reason,’ Stella replied nonchalantly, popping a spoonful of thick Greek yoghurt drizzled with honey in her mouth. It was delicious. ‘I just wondered, that’s all. He said he probably wouldn’t be able to call as there’d be no signal. He must be somewhere remote.’
‘He’s inCornwall,’ Lily said crossly. She seemed to think her mother had no right to ask anything about Al now they were separated.
‘How nice!’
Lily poured herself some orange juice. There was only a little left in the carton, which she scrunched up and pushed irritably away.
‘We need to do a shop,’ Stella observed. ‘Maybe you and Amelia and Will could pick up some things when you go into town?’
‘Yeah,’ Lily replied, before swigging back the inch or so of juice in one go.
The pair were having breakfast together in the garden, having woken up earlier than the others. It was a relief for Stella to spend time alone with her daughter, who usually managed to lift her mood.
The row with Louise the previous night had deeply unsettled her. What had been said couldn’t be unsaid, and she feared their relationship would never be the same again.
She’d resolved to do her best to be as amicable as possible for now, so as not to let a hostile atmosphere spoil things for everyone else. But she was resigned to the bitter fact that for her, the holiday wasn’t going to be the relaxing break she’d hoped for, but a painful ordeal instead.
She and Lily talked about all manner of things, including Lily’s hair, which she mentioned often.
‘D’you think I should get a fringe?’ Lily asked, pulling some hair over her forehead to show what it might look like.
A few days earlier, she and Amelia had discussed having bobs, or choppy layers.
Stella smiled. She loved these chats and knew how important hairstyles were to girls of that age, as well as nail polish, boys and whether or not to have their ears pierced.
‘Maybe,’ she replied, cocking her head to one side to prove she was giving the matter serious thought. ‘It’s lovely as it is, but it’s up to you. The only problem is, if you don’t like it, it’ll take a long time to grow out.’
Lily pondered this for a moment with a frown. ‘Mm. You’re right.’ Her eyes lit up. ‘Maybe I could get just a bit cut off, like half a fringe. To about here.’
She indicated to a point just below her cheekbones.
‘Good plan. It needs to be long enough to tuck behind your ears, though. Otherwise it could get in your eyes and be quite annoying.’
‘But then it wouldn’t be like having a fringe at all,’ Lily retorted. ‘I want it to lookdifferent.’
After this, Stella couldn’t help steering the subject back on to her husband.
‘Haveyoumanaged to get hold of Dad?’ she ventured, crossing her fingers under the table. She knew she was pushing it but couldn’t seem to stop herself. She hoped Lily wouldn’t blow.
‘Yes.’
‘Oh! That’s good. How is he?’
‘He’s fine, Mum. Stop talking about him. He’s just going on lots of long walks, like he does.’
‘On his own?’
Lily glared at her mother across the table. ‘None of your business.’
‘Sorry.’ Stella leaned back, hands raised and flattened palms facing out. ‘What do you want to buy today, other than a straw hat?’ she said, quickly changing tack. ‘I saw some nice little sun dresses hanging up in one of the stalls.’
