Page 108 of Good Sisters

‘Jeez, Louise, no need to be so snappy. I’m just asking, seeing as I wasn’t involved in the trip.’

‘He is lovely and his mother is a sweetheart. The farmhouse is gorgeous and the setting is like something from a movie,’ I said.

‘Nice. Maybe I can come with Lemon next time, when I’ve got a better handle on the whole baby thing, although I am getting much better at settling her and she is sleeping for much longer at night. But I’m not gonna lie, it’s harder than I thought.’

‘Welcome to parenthood,’ I said.

‘We might not go back to Italy. Clara hates travelling so I’m not sure we’ll be going to visit. Marco will have to fly to Dublin to see Clara. For the moment anyway. Actually, he told me on one of our calls that his ex-wife had a late miscarriage and it’s one of the reasons they broke up. She refused to try again because she was so traumatized and he was desperate to have a child.’

‘Oh, my God, poor Marco and his ex,’ I gasped. ‘That’s awful, but it must make Clara all the more special. She must be like a miracle for him.’

‘Yes, he’s used the wordmiracoloa few times all right,’ Louise said drily.

‘Wow, kids … Whether you want them, don’t want them, have them, don’t have them, raise them alone, with an ex or with a partner, it’s never straightforward,’ Sophie said, shaking her head.

Louise bit her lower lip. ‘It sure isn’t.’

‘Well, I’ll give you my honest opinion of Marco when I meet him next week. I’ll pin him down and put the hard questions to him, don’t you worry,’ Gavin said.

Louise snorted. ‘What is it with men? Dad acted like some kind of Mafia boss when we were in Italy and now you’re puffing out your chest and declaring you’re going to put Marco through his paces. Thanks for the support, Tarzan, but, believe me, I’ve asked Marco all of the hard questions.’

‘He seems very patient and chilled out, which is good,’ I said.

‘He is the yin to Louise’s yang,’ Sophie added.

‘It was his yin yang that got her into trouble,’ I said, giggling.

We all cracked up and even Louise laughed. The respite was brief, though, because Louise looked at her watch. ‘Where the hell is Dad? We’re here for him – he could at least be on time.’

‘Why don’t we order?’ I suggested. Maybe food would help to calm my elder sister.

Louise called the waitress over. She had a way of commanding people so they jumped to attention. We ordered our food just as Dad and Dolores arrived in.

‘Well, she certainly got dressed up for us,’ I muttered.

‘It’s a lot.’ Sophie’s eyes widened as she took in the sight.

Dolores was dressed from head to toe in a bright blue trouser suità laHillary Clinton. She had a big, puffy, fussy pink shirt underneath. It was an onslaught of colour.

‘She looks like a Liquorice Allsort,’ Louise grumbled. ‘And what the hell is Dad wearing?’

Dad was wearing a bright green jumper with a big golf ball in the middle of it. He looked ridiculous. Mum had always made sure he dressed smartly in navy and dove grey. He looked like he was wearing a novelty jumper.

Sophie stood up and greeted them warmly. ‘Hi, Dad, hello, Dolores.’

‘Well, helloooooo, Sophie. How kind of you to invite us out to brunch. We were delighted, weren’t we, Georgie?’

Georgie? Did she just say Georgie? I felt my stomach flip.

‘Nice jumper, Dad. Where did you get it? The joke shop?’ Gavin asked.

Dad looked uncomfortable. ‘No, ah, Dolores here bought it for me.’

‘I think bright colours suit him. He was always in verysombre colours. Wearing bright colours lifts your mood, I always think.’

‘You must be ecstatically happy then,’ Louise said, as I stifled a giggle.

‘So, Georgie, how have you been? We haven’t seen you since we got back from Italy two weeks ago,’ I said pointedly.

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