Page 110 of The Sunrise Sisterhood

‘I know, I know.’ Skye had felt awful for misleading her sister, just when they’d started to develop a proper sibling relationship. ‘I wanted to say more but I couldn’t.’

Clare had held her gaze and nodded. ‘OK, but I’m here if you want to talk.’

Those words came back to Skye now as she lay in bed. Gently, she peeled back the covers and slid out of bed. She tiptoed along the corridor to Clare and Ivy’s room and listened at the door. All she could hear was the distant squeal of seagulls. She turned the doorknob and poked her head into her sister’s room. Clare was sitting up in bed, her left arm resting on a cushion. Skye could just make out the shape of her niece pressed against the mesh side of the travel cot.

‘Can I talk to you?’ Skye whispered.

‘Thought you’d never ask.’ Clare nodded to the empty half of the double bed.

‘I used to fantasise about us having midnight chats when I was younger.’ Skye confessed as she climbed in next to her sister. ‘I used to peer into your room when you stayed over to see if you were awake. You never were.’

Clare pulled a mock-guilty face. ‘I was. I just didn’t want you in my room.’

‘You cow.’ Skye gave a soft laugh.

‘I know,’ she replied with a snort. ‘But, hey, here we are. I’m beginning to realise that keeping myself at arm’s-length from other people isn’t fully living. I thought I was protecting myself from getting hurt and being let down, but I was also preventing myself from enjoying other things. Important things like sisterhood.’

‘That’s very deep for this time in the morning.’ Skye’s throat felt thick with emotion. ‘But also the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.’

‘I know,’ Clare grumbled. ‘I must have bumped my head when I broke my arm. I don’t recognise myself. So what’s the story with Mr Muscles? Why didn’t you tell us about him?’

‘Because … because he’s a lovely guy: kind, gorgeous, fun, hard-working. On paper he’s a great catch.’

‘Ah,’ Clare nodded. ‘The old “on paper” situation. Still doesn’t explain why you couldn’t speak about him.’

Skye chewed the edge of her thumbnail. ‘Because I couldn’t risk Mum and Dad finding out and them trying to convince me to marry him.’

Clare shuffled up the bed, wincing with pain as she made herself more comfortable. ‘Let me get this straight. You kept his proposal a secret because you know they’re going to approve?’

Skye’s lips twitched. ‘Sounds mad when you say it like that. But I needed to make my own mind up and not be influenced by what they think. Correction, what Dad thinks. I’m pretty sure, as far as Mum is concerned, I’m an adult and no longer her problem. The thing is, unlike you, I’ve never achieved anything noteworthy. I’ve never had a proper career or passed exams or stuck at anything.’

‘Well, that can’t be true,’ Clare scoffed.

‘’Fraid so – as far as Dad is concerned, anyway. And although he rolled his eyes when I went travelling, since then, I’ve held down a job and been in a stable relationship. Getting married will be the first time I’ve ever actually surprised him by doing something well.’

‘Marriage isn’t some sort of gold-medal situation,’ said Clare, tutting. ‘And if there’s one thing Mike Marriott should pipe down about, it’s other people’s marriages. He’s hardly an advert for matrimony, is he?’

‘Maybe not, but when he called to talk to Liz about today’s business lunch, he told me that a good man could be the making of me.’

‘Idiot,’ said Clare.

‘Agreed. So I knew if I told Dad that Jesse wanted to marry me he’d try to persuade me that I should. The safest thing to do was to keep everyone in the dark, make my decision and then let Jesse know as soon as I could.’

Clare gave her a gentle smile. ‘And you’ve been trying to get hold of him, so that must mean you’ve made your decision?’

‘Yes.’ Skye stared at her hands. ‘I do love him, but I’m not in love with him, I can’t marry him.’

‘I could tell that straight away.’

Skye glanced at her sister. ‘Really?’

‘When you turned up with him yesterday, I thought he must be someone you’d met while travelling.’ Clare laughed softly. ‘It was quite a shock when he said he was your fiancé. There was something missing between you – a spark.’

Skye nodded. ‘I’ve always thought so too, but we get on so well that I told myself it didn’t matter, that sparks go out over time anyway.’

‘So what changed?’

‘He proposed in front of all our friends and colleagues and the new volunteers. Even if the answer had been an easy yes, he should have known me well enough to know that that sort of thing was my worst nightmare.’