Page 14 of Good Sisters

‘We didn’t make them, Dolores did.’ Sophie rolled her eyes. ‘She called over this morning to drop them in. She’d have plonked herself down for the day too, if I hadn’t arrived and seen her off.’

‘That’s a lot of cooking. She’s one determined woman.’ I closed the fridge door.

Julie turned around holding the kettle. ‘I’ve been thinkingabout it. Maybe it’s good for Dad to have some female attention. He’s lonely in the house on his own. I called in last week and he was sitting in the dark drinking whiskey and crying. It was really sad. He’s struggling without Mum, so I think any company is good for him.’

Sophie glared at her. ‘Mum’s barely gone six weeks. Dolores needs to back the hell away.’

‘We’re all busy with our lives,’ Julie said. ‘Dolores is just cooking him nice things and chatting to him. It’s company, Sophie. She’s not moving in.’

‘How would you feel if Harry was having meringues with some younger woman when you were barely dead?’ Sophie asked.

‘As long as he wasn’t putting all the photos of me into drawers and shagging her, I think I’d be okay with it.’

‘Bullshit,’ Sophie muttered.

Julie sighed and handed us hot Irish coffees. I took a long sip of mine. God, it tasted good. I let the whiskey warm my insides while the caffeine gave me a hit of energy. I felt myself begin to relax a little bit. We sat in silence for a few minutes.

‘I just miss her,’ Sophie said. ‘She was my go-to person when everything went wrong with Jack and it was just me and Jess. She was really there for me, and she adored Jess and was so good to her.’

I remembered how good Mum and Dad had been to Sophie. They’d taken her in and let her live with them until I’d moved my tenants out and given her my apartment. Mum had been devastated when Jack and Sophie had broken up. She’d been so worried that Sophie would crumble, but my little sister had a lot more grit than any of us had given her credit for. Mum was thrilled when Sophie had got back together with Jack. She always saidthey were a good match. I was glad she’d lived to see that happen.

‘She was amazing with Clara too,’ I said. ‘Poor Clara misses her granny so much.’

‘Mum never showed any interest in my kids,’ Julie said, an edge to her voice.

‘Oh, come on now, that’s not true,’ Sophie defended Mum.

But Julie had a point. Mum couldn’t handle the triplets – to be fair, no one could. They were much easier now that they were older, but when they were young they were absolutely wild.

Julie put down her coffee, her cheeks flushed. ‘Yes, it is true, Sophie. While Mum was all over Jess, having her for sleepovers and taking her on shopping trips, she completely ignored the triplets. They were all born the same year and yet my boys had barely any relationship with Mum while your Jess was lavished with love and attention.’

‘It wasn’t that she didn’t love them, just that the triplets were a lot. Mum wasn’t able for them all at the same time,’ Sophie said.

Julie’s eyes flashed. ‘I know that, but it was hard. While she was brilliant with Jess, and later with Clara, she really didn’t show any interest in my boys and it hurt my bloody feelings. They’re my kids. I love them. And it would have been nice if my mother had cared a bit more about them.’

Wow. I’d never known Julie felt so wounded by Mum’s hands-off approach to the boys. It clearly bothered her. She’d mentioned once or twice how Mum and Dad sometimes pretended they had to be somewhere when they saw her arriving with the triplets, even one time that they hid behind the curtains and she pretended she didn’t see them and went away. I suppose I didn’t pay muchattention to it. I was living in London then, working twelve-hour days, and I didn’t have a child, so it kind of went over my head.

But looking at it now, from Julie’s point of view, I would have felt very hurt if Mum hadn’t embraced Clara. Mum’s interest, love and affection for Clara had saved me at a time when I was really struggling with her diagnosis and panicking about her future. I still did panic about it, but Mum had helped hugely in bringing Clara on – encouraging her to communicate more, to look people in the eye, to reply to questions, to go to school. Plus it was Mum who had bought her Luna, our little white cat and the love of Clara’s life. Mum had gently and ever so patiently helped Clara cope and manage in a world that confused and frightened her. That devotion was a lifeline to me and Clara, but also forged a very strong connection between me and Mum. I suddenly realized, for the first time, that Julie had missed out on that.

‘I’m sorry, Julie, I never realized how hard that was for you,’ I admitted.

‘Me neither,’ Sophie said.

Julie sighed. ‘Look, she was a great mum to me, just not the amazing grandmother you both experienced. And it was hard, especially when the boys were young and I was struggling to get through the days. Thank God for Marion. She saved me. But at least Dad is finally showing some interest in the triplets now that they’re good at rugby.’

‘As is Jess, by the way. She keeps asking me if they’ve been picked to play. I think it’ll give her big kudos with her friends that she has three cousins on the team. You know what teenage girls are like.’ Sophie rolled her eyes.

‘Well, now, I seem to remember you at fifteen, getting all tarted up and going to rugby matches to pick out thebest-looking guy to target as your next boyfriend,’ Julie reminded her.

Sophie laughed. ‘God, yes, I did do that.’

‘And you always got them because you were so bloody gorgeous,’ Julie added.

‘Were, being the operative word.’ Sophie tugged at her face. ‘Being surrounded every day by beautiful young models is not good for the ego.’

‘You look much better without all that stuff in your face,’ I said. Sophie had gone through a stage of doing far too much Botox and filler.

‘Yes, well, thanks to you telling me I looked like a bloated puffer fish, I’ve stopped getting it. I’m sticking to light Botox.’

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