The Forgotten Sister by Caroline Bond

Author:Caroline Bond
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Atlantic Books

Chapter 30

TOM PULLED in as soon as he saw a space. There was no point driving into Flo’s cul-de-sac as he knew, from experience, that it would be blocked by cars, most of them looking like they’d been abandoned rather than parked.

They climbed out in silence. Of the four door slams, Cassie’s was the loudest. Tom and Grace had insisted that she come with them. It had not gone down well. It was as if Cassie was allergic to them at present. Tom carried the beer, Grace a big Tupperware box full of cakes, and Erin the gift. Cassie bore nothing, other than an air of studied martyrdom. Tom took a deep breath and promised himself that he would not rise to her silent provocation. They fell into step, Erin beside him, Cassie up ahead with her mum. Even from behind, it was obvious that they were mother and daughter. The sway of the hips, the lift of their feet, the deceptive speed: little traits that were identical. The irony of Cassie’s physical fit within their family seemed more of a taunt than a reassurance to Tom than ever before. Their daughter, but not. The past month had brought that home to Tom and Grace in no uncertain way.

Within a minute, Grace and Cassie were a good fifty metres ahead. Tom let them go – the more distance, the better. His renewed attempts to communicate with his eldest daughter had been met with stony resistance. He had tried, he really had, but Cassie had blocked him with a wall of monosyllabic answers and minuscule shoulder shrugs. He watched them turn the corner and disappear from sight, with something akin to relief. Feeling the need for kinder contact, he linked his arm through Erin’s. Her silence was companionable, free of sharp splinters. He squeezed her arm. ‘Byron’s going to be there,’ he teased her. Byron, Sharee’s youngest son, was back from university on a visit. Erin had always had a soft spot for her cousin.

‘Don’t you dare, Dad!’ Erin warned.

‘You could show him some of your drawings,’ Tom teased, aware of his own cheesiness. His reward was a thump on the arm.

The party was well under way by the time they arrived. It was Flo and Ray’s twenty-eighth wedding anniversary. Any excuse for a party was a good excuse for Flo. ‘Why wait,’ she’d laughed when she rang to invite them, ‘we’ll only be two years older and two stone fatter, if we leave it.’ There was already a landslide of food and booze on offer, but Tom and Grace added their contributions to the pile. Relieved of his beer barricade, Tom submitted to the obligatory round of welcoming hugs and kisses. Grace’s family were very tactile, their physical boundaries non-existent – and that was before they’d had a drink.

Flo appeared, resplendent in a red-and-purple dress that was just a little bit too tight and quite a lot too loud. ‘Hi. Come on through! Erin, your grandpa’s out in the back garden.

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