AllFreeNovel
Share Us
27
‘It’s not bad here, is it?’
Daisy knocked back the last of the lemonade they’d bought from the village grocery store and waved her arm vaguely at the view. She and Lettie had walked a little way over the cliffs from Driftwood House before settling down for their lunchtime picnic.
Lettie stopped replying to Kelly’s text and looked up from her phone. The pale blue sky was scudded with puffs of white cloud and the shining, shifting sea was sparkling as though it was scattered with diamonds. The view was absolutely breath-taking.
‘I can see the benefit of growing up somewhere like this, rather than the middle of London like we did,’ mused Daisy, opening a packet of crisps. ‘Though I don’t suppose they have many nightclubs around here. How would I have got through my late teens without Cinderella’s and The Top Club?’
‘I did. They’d gone before I reached clubbing age. One had been turned into a fitness centre and the other into a games store.’
‘Sacrilege.’ Daisy brushed crumbs from Rosie’s borrowed picnic rug, onto the grass. ‘I forget how much younger you are than me sometimes.’
‘Seven years.’
‘And almost ten years younger than Ed. Mum must have been blindsided when she found out she was expecting you in her forties.’
‘She was probably terrified. I was an unlucky accident.’
‘Not really. Not unlucky, anyway. You’re quite annoying, but we’d miss you if you weren’t there.’
Lettie blinked and shoved the last of the Battenberg into her mouth. Daisy saying she loved her when she was off her head on drink was one thing, but admitting, when she was stone cold sober, that she’d miss her was most unusual.
It hadn’t been plain sailing since Daisy had arrived four days ago. Treating Lettie as an unofficial tour guide, she’d dragged her around all the sights Lettie had already seen. Then she’d insisted on going to the beach and had taken the mick mercilessly when Lettie wouldn’t so much as put a toe in the water.
She’d also put Lettie’s teeth on edge by rattling on about ‘the sexy fisherman’ and ‘the perfect property guy’, although neither had been seen since the pub showdown. Lettie found herself looking out for Corey when she walked through the village, but he was busy elsewhere – or perhaps he was avoiding her. Either way, Daisy’s rehashing of the last time they’d met didn’t help to ease the disappointment she felt.
‘Is the flapjack good?’ Daisy prodded it with her finger and broke off a piece when Lettie nodded. ‘Ooh, it’s sticky! Do you remember when Mum made toffee and it was so sticky it pulled Dad’s false teeth out?’
‘I do. That’s an image that’s hard to forget.’
‘And it set so hard, he almost had to chip his teeth out with a chisel.’
When they both laughed, Lettie realised that, minor irritations aside, it had been nice to spend proper time with her sister. Daisy was back to claiming that her marriage was practically perfect. But they’d shared their concerns about their parents getting older and had bonded over how pompous Ed could be when he thought he had the moral high ground.
But they still hadn’t discussed Lettie’s job – or rather, lack of it – properly. Lettie always changed the subject when it was raised, but it would have to come out some time. And better here, one on one, than in the midst of a family gathering.
Lettie savoured the last crumbs of her cake before twisting on the rug to face her sister.
‘So do you want to know the real reason I no longer have a job?’
‘Whatever.’ Daisy shrugged as though she couldn’t care less, though the glint in her eye rather gave her away.
‘I was “let go” for being rude to someone who made a complaint.’
Daisy paused, a salt and vinegar crisp halfway to her mouth. ‘You were sacked?’
‘You say sacked. I say let go.’
‘You were sacked for being rude? Wow, it’s worse than I thought.’
‘Why, what did you think?’
‘Initially, when you went haring off to Heaven’s Cove and acting all peculiar I thought you might be pregnant.’
‘Pregnant?’ spluttered Lettie. ‘What on earth made you think that?’
Daisy gave Lettie’s stomach a searching look.
