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‘I got fired from my bartending job. Well, almost fired.’
‘Seriously? Why? What did you do?’
‘I was late. Again. My bus was delayed, and my boss made it very clear that was the end, so I walked out before he could fire me.’ Carmen threw the rock and watched as it once again plummeted straight into the water, disturbing the surface for a second as it sunk into the depths of the sea.
‘Oh, Carmen. I told you to borrow my car. I hardly use it now anyway, what with having the studio in the garden. And I can just use Stephen’s if I want to take the boys out. He works from home most days, anyway.’
Carmen used the toe of her trainer to search for another flat pebble. She knew Adele meant well, but with her offering her twin money and the use of her car, it just highlighted the clear differences between their lives. Adele was married to the love of her life, had two perfect boys, and had built up a personal training business from scratch with ease. Carmen shook her head. No, that wasn’t fair. She knew her sister worked hard, and she was pleased for her success. It just stung sometimes that Carmen always seemed to be the one of the two who struggled.
‘Sorry, I know you have your reasons for not accepting help, but I really think you need to sometimes. I would if I needed it and I know you’d offer if you could. There’s no shame in it.’
Carmen dropped the pebble where she’d found it before walking further along the beach towards a red and white lighthouse. ‘Thanks. I know you mean well.’
‘But you’re still not going to accept my help?’ Adele’s sigh was audible down the phone.
‘Nope.’ Carmen took a deep breath. She wasn’t going to live off handouts. ‘So, what’s the accommodation like? Are you close to the pool?’ Please let me change the subject.
Taking the hint, Adele’s tone lightened. ‘Great. Really nice, actually. The pool is...’
Chapter Four
‘Iwill. I’m sure I’mgoing to enjoy it. As I said, everyone’s been super friendly.’ Carmen shifted the phone from one ear to the other before pausing and looking around. She must have been walking for at least half an hour. She’d passed the lighthouse and could see a small harbour where the fishing boats were returning from their early morning catches.
‘I’m sure you will. Next year, though, you must come with us.’ Adele yelped in excitement.
‘What happened?’ Carmen frowned.
‘I just skimmed a pebble across the water. My best one yet. I beat my record.’
‘Oh yeah? How many skips did you do?’ Carmen paused and selected a flat pebble, threw it towards the water, flicking her wrist just as their dad had taught them. Sighing, she watched it plummet and disappear into the depths of the ocean, not a skim in sight.
‘Twelve bounces! Can you believe it?’ The excitement in Adele’s voice was clear.
‘Twelve? Are you kidding?’ Carmen turned away from the ocean and carried on walking along the beach. Adele had always been the best at skimming pebbles. The best at everything, really. She was the older one, three minutes older, and she’d hogged the success genes. If that were even a thing. Adele had always been the clever one, the one to excel at school, pass her exams with ease. Even now they were both adults, approaching thirty-five, and Adele was the one happily married, the one with the perfect children, a successful personal training business.
‘Ha, I’ll have to ring Dad and tell him!’ Adele laughed. ‘Anyway, like I said, you need to come next year. Lucy suggested we make it an annual trip. What do you think?’
