Page 87 of The Sunrise Sisterhood

‘It wouldn’t be fair on us either,’ Clare replied. ‘I want to meet the man who’s got you all riled up.’

‘I’m not riled. Just confused. Patrick told me one thing and Viv gave me a completely different story.’ Liz took the butter dish from the fridge and slammed the door.

‘Shall I move the tripod and binoculars from the balcony in case he takes a look through and notices that they’re zoomed in on his house?’ Skye said innocently.

Clare smothered a snort.

Liz flushed. ‘Might be a good idea.’

‘Ask him about Viv,’ Skye suggested. ‘There might be a perfectly valid explanation as to why he hasn’t told you about her.’

‘I agree,’ said Clare.

A couple of weeks had gone by since then but Liz was still grouchy about it. The sooner they could get to the bottom of it, the better. ‘Although I’m surprised he hasn’t been in touch with you himself,’ She added.

‘He has been in touch,’ Liz admitted sheepishly. ‘He suggested going for a drink. I said no, of course.’

‘Why of course ?’ Skye asked. ‘That would have been the perfect opportunity to clear the air.’

‘I couldn’t,’ Liz murmured. She handed Skye the cutlery to add to the tea tray.

The slump in her godmother’s body language made Clare’s heart squeeze.

‘Because of the temptation to drink?’ she asked gently. ‘Was that why?’

Liz nodded. ‘I don’t think I’m strong enough to say no to a glass of wine yet. Especially on a date with a man. I can’t remember the last time I went to a bar and didn’t have an alcoholic drink.’

‘Ah, sorry,’ said Skye contritely. ‘I didn’t think.’

Liz smiled at her. ‘It’s fine. Anyway, I’ve decided to keep out of the way during afternoon tea. Clare, I wondered if you might sit with them, see if you can pick up any clues about him and Viv?’

‘Leave it with me.’ Clare narrowed her eyes. ‘I’ll give him my special head-teacher stern look.’

Skye laughed. ‘You had that down a long time before you became a head teacher. Remember when you thought I’d taken your iPod? I thought you were going to burn holes in my skin.’

Clare remembered it well. She’d taken her best Christmas present to Dad and Frankie’s on Boxing Day and had spent most of the day with her headphones plugged in. At bedtime, she’d stuffed the iPod in a sock, forgot she’d done it and blamed Skye, who’d been hovering over it enviously all day. She didn’t find it until she’d gone back home to her mum. ‘I did apologise.’

‘Actually, you didn’t at the time,’ Skye said airily. ‘But apology accepted.’

‘And perhaps don’t stare at him too hard,’ Liz teased. ‘He is a paying customer, after all.’

She dropped the oven gloves to the floor and Clare automatically bent down to pick them up for her. Her broken arm swung forward away from her body, and she felt the two parts of her fractured bone move independently of each other.

‘Oh God.’ She closed her eyes as nausea hit her. ‘I hate it when that happens. That’s karma for the iPod.’

‘Please sit down.’ Liz’s face was as pale as Clare’s felt. ‘You give me the dithers when you do that.’

‘Me too, to be honest,’ said Clare, clambering onto a stool at the island with Skye’s hand to steady her.

‘Can I get you some painkillers?’ Skye asked. ‘Are you allowed some?’

‘Please.’ Clare nodded.

She had finished her course of morphine. She’d been taking that at night and once she’d managed to get herself comfortable, she’d slept really well, better than she had since before her mum died. Ivy had started sleeping through the night too – a new development which had happened with perfect timing.

She was still in a lot of discomfort. The swelling in her arm hadn’t gone down much yet and the bruising was horrendous – she could hardly bear to look at it. Liz certainly couldn’t. Skye seemed to take everything in her stride, from adjusting Clare’s arm brace to helping her get dressed. There was no dignity and very little privacy, she had learned, when you’d broken a limb.

‘Can’t you give me a job?’ Clare said mournfully, watching Liz cut cucumber into thin slices. ‘Just something easy?’