‘I’m sorry.’
Zack took another step towards him. He was almost twice as big as Lewis. I wasn’t surprised Lewis had apologized so quickly. It was an appalling thing to say, assuming he had been referring to Zack and Miranda’s attempts to conceive. If I was Zack, I’d have been furious, too.
‘Don’t push your luck,’ he said, his voice a low growl.
‘Boys,’ Charles said, as if he’d found the whole thing amusing. ‘Play nicely.’
Lewis cleared his throat and moved away from Zack, lighting another cigarette to, I guessed, calm his nerves. But instead of acting sheepish, he said, ‘So, are you going to take Avril?’
Morag looked to Charles for a response, but before Charles could speak, Avril said, ‘Mum, I don’t want to go.’
‘But you can show Mr Grant how good you are with a gun.’
‘I’m sorry, Morag,’ Charles said, ‘but we’re going to talk about business. Young Avril here would be even more bored than she is at home.’
‘And it’s all confidential,’ Zack added, without looking at her. He was still glowering from Lewis’s remark and didn’t seem at all amused by the idea of being joined on his hunting trip by a teenage girl.
‘Okay, fine,’ Morag said. ‘Forget I asked. It was a stupid idea anyway.’
It was certainly, I thought, a strange idea. So much had happened since I’d come outside that I’d almost forgotten about Avril telling Lewis that she hated him. What had that been about? Was it somehow connected to Morag’s request? There was still so much about the relationships among these people that I didn’t understand.
Morag and Avril got into her Fiat and drove away, Charles and Zack both watching them go impassively. Then they put the rifles into the back of the Jeep and ushered Watson on to the back seat.
Before leaving, Charles went over to Lewis and eyed his cigarette.
‘Still smoking.’ He shook his head, disgusted. ‘You’re going to die before I do.’
11
After dinner, we all went into the living room, Miranda taking the sofa, with Jasmine beside her, Lewis in one armchair and me in the other. Holly sat on a beanbag near my feet. I had hoped the tension over Charles going hunting would have put everyone off having a games night, but they seemed keener than ever.
‘This is actually better,’ Miranda said before Jasmine came down. ‘We’ve got Jasmine on her own, without Dad to protect her. And my husband won’t be there to ruin it with his sour face.’
‘Are you two heading for divorce?’ Holly asked.
‘Of course not. You think I want two failed marriages?’
‘Let’s play,’ Lewis said now, shooting me a quick look, possibly seeking reassurance that I wasn’t going to tell Miranda what he had said to Zack. ‘It’s the truth game, but with a little twist. Two lies and one truth.’
‘That’s a bit weird,’ I said.
He smirked. ‘We like lies around here. All you have to do is tell us three statements about yourself, two of which are false. You’re just not allowed to make them too obvious.’
We were all drinking whisky except Jasmine, who had a bottle of red wine to herself. She seemed a little bewildered and groggy, as if the jet lag had really hit her.
‘Holly, do you want to start?’ Lewis asked.
‘Okay. Fine.’ Holly gave me a quick kiss, then spent a couple of minutes thinking of her statements before starting.
‘I have a third nipple, like a witch.’
‘Oh, come off it,’ Miranda said. ‘That’s way too easy. We’ve all seen you naked. I used to bathe you when you were little, remember.’
‘Also, there was that porn video you made,’ Lewis said.
She reached over and slapped him. ‘Fuck off.’
‘I shudder to think how many people actually have seen you naked,’ Miranda said, and Holly’s mouth dropped open. I think mine probably did, too. Her sister went on: ‘Don’t look so offended, Holly. Didn’t you use to work in a titty bar in Australia?’
