Page 48 of The Sunrise Sisterhood

Skye stared at Liz, hoping that the intensity of the look she was giving her would make its way through the fog clouding Liz’s thoughts.

‘We did!’ Liz cried after a pause. ‘No oysters were harmed in the making of this dish, I can assure you. Haha!’

‘You had us going there, Liz,’ Marta laughed. ‘Good one.’

‘I make my own vegan oyster sauce,’ Angel said. ‘Mushrooms and seaweed. Takes ages but tastes so good.’

‘You’ve got too much time on your hands,’ Adam said, bemused.

‘Can I have a word, in the kitchen?’ Skye whispered to Liz.

‘Of course,’ Liz replied, in a small voice. ‘Excuse me, everyone, duty calls.’

It took her two attempts to set her glass on the table. Skye followed close behind as she stumbled inside.

‘Oh no. Oh no. Oh bloody hell.’ Liz clapped a hand over her mouth. ‘I’ve fed oysters to vegans. What are we going to do?’

‘What can we do, they’ve eaten it now?’ Skye hissed. She ran over the recipe in her head; she was sure she’d crossed out oyster sauce.

‘What if someone is allergic to seafood and their insides swell up and they die? I’ll never forgive myself,’ worried Liz.

‘If anyone was going to have a violent reaction, they’d have had it by now.’ Skye scanned the guests through the French doors. ‘No one has been sick yet. Luckily.’

‘This is bad, this is really bad.’ Liz shook her head. ‘I’m such an idiot. This would never have happened if—’

‘If you hadn’t been drinking?’ Skye said flatly.

Liz flinched as if she’d been struck. ‘If Jen had been here, I was going to say. I knew something would happen like this. I just can’t do it without her. I just can’t.’

She grabbed the vodka bottle and took a swig before Skye could wrestle it out of her hands.

‘You can do it and you have,’ said Skye, she needs to take the bottle back off Liz here first tipping the rest of the vodka down the sink. ‘OK, you’ve made one small mistake.’

Liz shook her head and flopped down onto a chair. ‘Two mistakes. There was fish sauce in one of the dressings, I remember now. I’m sorry, Skye.’

There’d been three mistakes if you counted drinking too much. Skye rubbed a weary hand over her face. Why would Liz jeopardise this event when allegedly it was important to her? What should she say to Angel about the compromised vegan food? And, most pressing of all, how could they finish their catering job when fifty per cent of the team could barely stand?

‘Liz?’ Skye began, but Liz hiccoughed loudly and slithered to the floor.

Chapter Thirteen

Skye

Skye got Liz back in a chair and forced her to drink some water before any of the party guests noticed anything was amiss.

‘I don’t suppose there’s any chance of a coffee, is there?’ Adam asked from the doorway.

‘I bet he’s VWE,’ Liz sniggered, trying to nudge Skye.

‘VWE?’ he repeated, confused.

‘Vegans with exceptions,’ said Skye hurriedly. ‘Coffee! What a good idea! One pot of coffee coming right up. I’ll bring it out.’

‘Is she OK?’ Adam inclined his head towards Liz.

‘Liz? Oh, she’s fine,’ Skye said lightly, stepping between them, as Liz seemed to be building up to a big burp.

‘I feel a bit funny,’ Liz moaned. ‘I might just get some fresh air.’