Page 126 of The Sunrise Sisterhood

He batted her protests away with a casual shrug. ‘But remember that day? It was you I needed. I wanted your arms around me. You felt like home, Liz – you feel like home.’

‘Which day?’ She shook her head. ‘The day you married Jen?’

‘No, silly.’

Liz thought she heard a noise on the stairs. Her eyes flicked towards the door, but there was no one there.

Mike’s eyes were locked in hers. ‘I’m talking about the day of Clare’s graduation.’

‘Which clashed with Skye’s birthday treat in London,’ she sniffed. ‘You lied to both of your daughters, and you made them both feel they weren’t important to you. That’s unforgiveable.’

‘And that’s not the only thing that’s unforgiveable here, is it?’ came a sharp voice from the doorway. ‘Look at the two of you. It’s disgusting.’

Liz and Mike whirled round as one to see Clare in the doorway. Standing next to her was Skye. Liz felt faint with dread and guilt, and she stepped forwards until her hands could grip the edge of the sink.

Mike shook his head, staring down at the floor, hands on his hips. ‘Oh God.’

‘I don’t think he is going to be much help with this one, Dad,’ said Clare.

Liz looked at the girls, sisters united in their contempt for her and Mike.

Clare’s eyes were narrowed, chin held at a defiant angle, but despite the bravado, Liz knew just how much she’d be hurting inside. Skye clung to her sister, tears threatening to fall. In that second, she’d never hated herself more. Whatever happened next, her priority was them, not their father, not this time.

Chapter Thirty-Four

Clare

‘Girls!’ Liz gasped. ‘How long have you been standing there?’

‘Too long,’ said Skye, in a wobbly voice.

‘So, can I get this straight?’ Clare’s lungs felt so tight she could scarcely breathe; she couldn’t drag her eyes away from Liz. Her beloved Liz. How could this be happening? She’d loved Liz all her life. In tough times, it had been Liz she’d turned to. She’d always been there for her, unconditionally on her side, no matter what. Clare hadn’t felt this devastated since her mum died. ‘The man you told Patrick about, the man you’ve been hung up on for more than forty years, is my dad?’

Liz didn’t answer. Not that she needed to, the rabbit-caught-in-headlights expression she was wearing did it for her.

Mike frowned. ‘We were having a private conversation. At your age, I shouldn’t have to either answer to you or remind you to respect someone’s privacy.’

‘Respect?’ Skye virtually spat at him. ‘That’s rich.’

‘Did Mum know?’ Clare demanded. ‘About the two of you. On her wedding day?’

Despite Clare’s turmoil, the presence of her sister comforted her. Skye was a far stronger character than Clare had given her credit for. Upstairs just now, while she’d been changing Ivy’s nappy, she’d started humming a song by Katy Perry. It had taken Clare a while to catch on; in the end, Skye had had to sing loudly in her face that she’d kissed a girl and she’d liked it. Then the whole story had come out. They’d hugged and laughed quietly so as not to upset Jesse. The cloud which had been hanging over her sister had gone. Only now, coming downstairs into this shitshow, the cloud was back and over both of them.

‘And the big lie,’ Skye said in a low voice, folding her arms. ‘The double-booked graduation-slash-birthday weekend. I’m really looking forward to hearing the truth behind that.’

Liz looked at Mike, waiting for him to speak, but he had shielded his eyes with his hand under the pretence of rubbing his forehead.

‘Will one of you do the decent thing and own this mess, please?’ Clare said, exasperated at their lack of action.

‘There’s nothing to tell.’ Liz looked at Mike, panic written all over her face. ‘Tell them.’

‘So there is something to tell?’ Clare looked from Liz to Mike and back again. ‘Or nothing?’

‘Make your mind up,’ Skye added.

Mike beckoned Clare and her sister into the kitchen. ‘Can we all sit?’

Clare exchanged looks with Skye. They’d have to be quick. They’d left Jesse reading books to Ivy in the upstairs lounge; neither of them looked particularly comfortable with the situation.