We Were Sisters by Wendy Clarke

Author:Wendy Clarke [Clarke, Wendy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781786819420
Publisher: Bookouture
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

32

Kelly Now

There are eight of us seated around the large table in Maddie’s kitchen, the detritus of the meal we’ve just eaten littering the waxed cloth with its print of bright red strawberries. A box of After Eights is being passed around the table, but I don’t take one – it’s a reminder of the truffles we should have brought. The ones Charlie ate.

My own dessert lies barely touched in the bowl in front of me, the meringue and lemon curd congealing, the pastry turning soft. I stare at it, wondering how long it will be before we can collect Noah, who’s asleep in his pram in the living room, and go home. For the first time since I’ve had him, he’s slept longer than three hours and it’s also the first time that I wish he hadn’t. Leaning back in my chair, I strain to hear the slightest sound from him, but there’s nothing. Maybe I can use our neighbour, Stephanie, as an excuse to leave – she kindly offered to babysit which meant we didn’t have to bring the girls. Sneaking a quick look at my watch, I see it’s not yet eleven and the dinner party shows no signs of winding down. I expect the night is still young for the others seated around the table, but on a Saturday, I’m usually in bed by ten. Exhausted from a day of keeping the twins entertained, trying to settle Noah and keeping on top of the housework while Mitch is at the site.

The kitchen is warm, hot even – the shiny blue Aga, where Maddie cooked our vegetable lasagne, still pumping out its heat. It’s noisy too. Voices talking over each other in a bid to be heard. The other guests are all people Mitch knew from his life before he met me. Part of his old gang who he hasn’t seen in a while. There’s also a thin young man, with a goatee beard, who I gather is Maddie’s latest interest. I’ve forgotten his name already, but I remember she said he was a musician. During the meal he’s said almost as little as me, preferring to look at his phone.

Maddie sits at the head of the table, looking beautiful in a vintage velvet dress, its emerald colour setting off her blonde hair perfectly. Self-consciously, I raise my hand to my own lank hair. I was going to wash it before we came out, but just as I’d turned on the shower, Noah had decided it was time for another feed. There’s a stain of baby milk on my shoulder that I hadn’t noticed before we came out. I bristle. Why hadn’t Mitch told me?

I hear his laughter from the other end of the table. He’s seated on Maddie’s left-hand side and has clearly found something she’s said hilarious. I can’t take my eyes off them, and as she bends her head to him and whispers something, eliciting another bark of laughter, my insides twist. They look so comfortable together.

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