Page 23 of The Sunrise Sisterhood

‘Nobody needs to leave.’ Liz rubbed a hand across her forehead. This was not quite the bonding experience she had envisaged. Bloody Mike. Why had she trusted him with such a sensitive job?

Because he’d reeled her in, that’s why. Because no matter how many times he let her down, she still fell for his charms. How many things would she let him ruin before she finally gave up on him?

She was a bloody fool.

‘OK, how about this as a suggestion. I’ll work for you as agreed,’ said Skye, ‘but I’ll move out and rent somewhere close by. Then Clare can have her own room.’

‘You’re not being paid enough to live anywhere else. That’s not part of the deal,’ Liz cried. ‘And you’re welcome here.’

‘Why isn’t she being paid enough?’ Clare frowned. ‘I thought you were super busy?’

Skye scowled at her half-sister. ‘What has it got to do with you how much my wages are? We all know I was never going to be earning as much as clever Clare.’

‘SHUT UP.’ Liz slammed her hand down on the kitchen island, making everyone jump. ‘Stop arguing! What about what I want? Anyone thought about that? Just for once will someone stop to consider me? I’ve been stuck in the middle of this family for years and I’m sick of it.’

A moment of silence followed; even Ivy stopped banging a wooden hammer into the skirting board. Liz burst into tears.

‘What’s going on? Tell me,’ Clare said softly, moving closer to her. ‘I don’t think I’ve ever heard you yell that loud. Let me help.’

‘Tell us,’ Skye corrected. ‘And then we can both help.’

Clare let out a faint sigh at her half-sister’s comment.

Liz mopped her tears with the sleeve of her cardigan. ‘It’s your dad. He gave us some money when we started the business. But now he wants it back and I haven’t got it.’

‘Dad?’ both women exclaimed.

‘I didn’t know he’d lent you money.’ Clare looked put out.

Me neither, thought Liz, but she was reluctant to tell the girls the details. It was between her and Mike.

‘We needed help at the time, and borrowing from Mike was the quickest and cheapest way to get us up and running.’ She said. ‘Now he needs the cash for something and I’ve got six weeks to find twenty thousand pounds.’

‘I can’t believe he’d do such a thing,’ Clare whispered, pressing a hand to her mouth.

‘I had no idea he was short of cash.’ Skye looked bewildered.

‘He told me in confidence,’ Liz said, realising her mistake. ‘You mustn’t let on that you know.’

‘OK.’ Clare inhaled a deep breath. ‘How much money have you got right now?’

Liz’s stomach flipped; time to face the music. ‘The business bank account is at its overdraft limit, but if we ignore that, zero pounds.’

‘Oh dear.’ Skye winced. ‘That is bad.’

‘To put it mildly,’ Clare snorted. ‘Does Dad know you can’t pay it back?’

‘He knows he’s set me a challenge, but he sees this as the kick-start I need to get my mojo back.’ She blew out a breath, thinking that her mojo had probably gone for good.

‘And you don’t want to fail him,’ Clare murmured almost under her breath. ‘That sounds familiar.’

‘Surely if you explained the situation, Dad would back off,’ Skye said. ‘He isn’t a monster.’

‘Maybe not,’ Liz replied, remembering his off-the-cuff comment about solicitors. ‘But I do owe him, and he generally gets what he wants.’

‘Yep, that’s Dad all right,’ Clare quipped.

Liz felt like such a fool. ‘The awful thing is that I haven’t catered for any party greater than four since Jen died.’