Page 6 of The Sunrise Sisterhood

‘A catering business in prosperous Salcombe?’ He eyed her sceptically. ‘Come off it, you must be sitting on a gold mine.’

‘I’m really not.’ She’d woken up feeling awful, now she felt even worse.

‘If you say so.’ Mike winked, as if he was humouring her. He forked up the last of his salad leaves and wiped his mouth on the napkin. ‘In other news, I’ve got a new project in the offing. Harriet suggested we take them out for lunch. But I thought I’d book my favourite caterers to do lunch for the big meeting. If you can fit us in of course?’

‘I’m sorry, but no I can’t.’ Liz picked up her glass, but somehow it was empty, and she set it down again. ‘I can’t run The Seaside Gourmet Girls without Jen. I don’t have it in me.’

‘Of course you do.’ He stared at her, bemused. ‘You could run it standing on your head.’

‘I couldn’t, I can’t,’ she retorted fiercely. ‘The business worked because we had complementary skills. Jen was the “seal the deal” girl, the one with the big, sunny smile to smooth over any client wobbles. I was the back-room girl, the slicer and dicer, and happy to be so.’

‘Who also has a big, sunny smile,’ Mike countered. ‘Not to mention you’re a talented cook and a brilliant business brain. Of course it’s different without Jen, but you can do it, I have every faith. Really.’

She held his gaze. He’d always managed to make her feel good about herself, that the world was hers for the taking.

Except the one thing that had mattered most to her, that was.

Liz shook her head, annoyed with her mind for going there.

‘Our website is full of pictures of Jen, she even recorded the greeting on the answer phone, which I can’t bring myself to delete. Jen runs through every strand of the business, always has, right from day one. I can’t do it without her, and even if I could, I’m not sure I want to.’ She blinked hard to keep her tears at bay. ‘My only option is to cease trading.’

‘You can’t do that. At least not until you’ve paid me,’ Mike spluttered, before clearing his throat. ‘I need that money back, Liz.’

Her heart thumped; he was serious about this. Where was she going to get that sort of money from in such a short space of time? Even the thought of getting the business back up and running made her feel exhausted.

‘I can’t do it by myself,’ she murmured, looking up at him.

‘Which leads me nicely into why I asked you to meet me for lunch.’ A satisfied smile spread across Mike’s face.

‘You mean as well as it being Jen’s birthday, and asking me for money?’ Liz gave him a stern look.

He shrugged sheepishly.

‘Out with it then.’ A combination of wine and sunshine and the emotional load of the day had given her a headache. She’d had enough of Mike’s relentless energy; she was ready to go home.

‘It’s Skye,’ said Mike, his face softening.

Liz frowned, wondering where Mike was going with this. Skye had arrived back in the UK unexpectedly a couple of weeks ago after working for a charity in Africa for the last five years.

‘Since she came back from Uganda, she seems a bit lost,’ he continued.

‘I’m sorry to hear that, poor love. I must give her a ring.’ Liz registered a flash of guilt for not getting in touch with her god-daughter before now. ‘Is she back for good?’

Mike held his palms out. ‘I’m not sure that even she knows the answer to that one. She’s been very evasive whenever I’ve tried to talk to her. But you know what she’s like; she’s never really managed to stick at anything.’

‘That’s not very fair,’ Liz retorted. ‘She stuck at this job for a long time.’

‘Hardly a career, was it?’ he growled. ‘And now she’s no further forward in her life than she was when she left home. Not like Clare. Jen did such a good job with Clare.’

‘She was a great mum,’ Liz agreed. She felt a pang remembering the last conversation she’d had with her. Jen had been marvelling at how well Clare was doing and how much she was looking forward to a spa day with her.

‘Frankie and I were never as good at parenting as she was,’ Mike admitted. ‘I’ve contacted Frankie to see if Skye could stay with her for a while. But she said she hasn’t got the room or the time.’

‘I see.’ Liz just about managed not to roll her eyes. Mike had cheated on Jen with Frankie, so, unsurprisingly, Liz had never thought very highly of the woman, but not having time for her own daughter? Unbelievable.

‘I think what Skye needs is to spend time with you,’ said Mike. ‘You’d be such a good influence on her.’

‘Me?’ She hadn’t been expecting that. ‘Do you really think that, or does Nilla not want Skye back living at home?’