Page 75 of The Sunrise Sisterhood

‘Where do I start?’ Clare scoffed. ‘Your own pony?’

Skye winced. ‘This is going to sound ungrateful, but I didn’t ever want a pony. I wanted a BMX bike like you had.’

‘That was a great bike.’ Clare smirked. ‘I bought it off my friend’s brother for five pounds. Sold it a few years later for ten.’

‘I was terrified of horses,’ Skye recalled. ‘Mum had this idea of belonging to the horsey set, owning a Range Rover and a pair of Dubarry leather boots and rubbing shoulders with all the other horsey mothers. It was a part she wanted to play. I had two winters of mucking out a pony before finally putting my foot down and refusing to take any more lessons.’

‘OK, fine. But your birthday parties were off the scale. Mine were pizza, films and sleepovers, you had entertainers and caterers and DJs at proper venues.’

‘Which gave me nightmares. I used to beg to have just my best friend over for pizza, but Mum said that would look cheap and people would stop inviting me to their parties if I didn’t reciprocate. I argued that that would suit me just fine. But with Mum and Dad it was always about how things looked. Your parties sounded so much more fun.’

‘Well, there you go,’ Clare marvelled. ‘The grass is always greener. It’s a shame we’re only talking about this now, we could have set each other straight.’

‘Or swapped parties,’ Skye suggested.

Clare shook her head. ‘In all honestly, I loved my parties and my BMX. Mum always made sure I had fun. I suppose what I resented more was being the daughter that Dad forgot.’

‘He never forgot you,’ Skye assured her. ‘I was the one who played second fiddle. Like my birthday weekend in London, he bailed last minute when he remembered it was your graduation. I was gutted. I would have understood if he’d told us in good time. Birthdays come around every year, but Mum and I had already checked into the hotel when he told us he wasn’t coming.’

‘What?’ Clare sat up a little straighter. ‘He didn’t turn up to my graduation. He said he’d double-booked, and he had to be at a work thing. I’ve never forgiven him for that.’

‘The lying rat!’ Skye gritted her teeth.

‘So where was he then?’ Clare fumed. ‘I can’t believe he lied to both of us.’

‘And if he was working, why not tell me and Mum the truth?’ Skye remembered that weekend so vividly. It had cut her to the quick when she’d discovered he’d skipped her birthday to be with Clare. It had felt like the ultimate desertion on his part. ‘Actually, I know why. Mum would have hit the roof if he’d bailed because of work. Dad knew she wouldn’t make such a fuss if it was to attend your graduation.’

‘Either way, he was dishonest,’ Clare said. ‘One person will always get priority and that’s Mike Marriott.’

Liz sprang up off her chair and returned to making her canapés. ‘I’m sure he has his reasons. And it’s water under the bridge now.’

Skye raised an eyebrow at Clare as they watched Liz go.

‘Bless her.’ Clare smiled fondly. ‘She sees the good in everyone. Whereas I can harbour a grudge for decades.’

‘I’d noticed,’ Skye replied.

‘I still get cross when I think about that brand-new car you had for your eighteenth, while he and Mum went halves on an old rust bucket for me.’

‘Understandable.’ Skye had always felt bad about that. ‘Again, I know this might not help, but the pressure of owning a new car at that age was awful. I pranged it in the first week and Mum and Dad were furious and told me that I didn’t deserve it. On top of that, everyone at college demanded lifts to McDonald’s at lunchtime and I couldn’t say no. I’d much rather have had an old car.’

‘Poor you,’ said Clare drily.

‘He’s not perfect, your father, but he loves you both, I promise you,’ Liz piped up. ‘And he always tried to treat you fairly.’

‘I guess at least on Clare’s graduation he let us both down equally,’ Skye yielded.

‘Yay, go Dad!’ Clare punched the air weakly with her good hand. ‘Still doesn’t excuse the car.’

‘I don’t know if I should tell you this,’ Liz began hesitantly.

‘You should,’ Skye and Clare said together.

Liz bit her lip. ‘OK. Well. He offered to buy you a new car, Clare, but Jen wouldn’t have any of it. She thought it was ridiculous to give a teenager something so valuable when it would no doubt get covered in dents and scratches.’

Skye felt a pang of envy; she wished her mum could have been as practical. ‘And she was right.’

‘But also,’ Liz continued, ‘Jen wanted the present to be from her and Mike and that was all she could afford. Mike respected that, hence less money was spent on the car.’