Page 164 of Good Sisters

‘That sounds amazing, Sophie,’ Julie said. ‘Brilliant idea.’

‘It would be a big drop in salary,’ Louise, the ever practical sister, observed.

Sophie nodded. ‘Don’t worry, I’ve thought about that. I’ve been able to save a good bit of money since Jack and I got back together and, thanks to your advice, I’ve invested it wisely. I think I can do this without too much risk, and it’ll make a huge difference to our family life.’

‘Good girl, Sophie. That’s absolutely fantastic. The poor little fellow needs a proper mother in his life. God knows he’s had a useless one,’ Dad said.

‘Yes, but it is a big decision,’ Julie said. ‘It’s a lot of sacrifice from Sophie for Jack’s child.’

Sophie agreed with her sister. But she wasn’t just doing this for Robert. She was tired of the modelling game, and after finding out that Sebastian had been in their house in the afternoon while she was at work, she realized that Jess had too much unsupervised time after school to get into mischief. She needed to be around more, needed to get on top of things.

‘It’s a big change but I’ve made a commitment to be with Jack, and Robert is part of the package. If I’ve learned anything this year, it’s that you can’t fight what you can’t control. Jack has full custody now, so we’re a family of four. I also want to be around to help the transition for Jess too. And, to be honest, the modelling world has lost its shine. It’s time to move on.’

Julie was proud of her sister: she had changed so much in the last ten years. She had grown into a selfless, caring,sensible and strong person. Ten years ago she would have thought Sophie as a special-needs assistant was a crazy idea, but it made sense for her sister now and the person she had become.

‘Your mother would be very proud of you, Sophie, and of you, Louise, making brave decisions for your children’s sake,’ Dad said.

‘What about me and Julie?’ Gavin said.

‘He’s already praised you,’ Julie pointed out. ‘And you have the part-time working and parenting thing sorted out. I’m the one who seems to be standing still.’

‘You’ve had a crazy year too,’ Louise said.

‘Yes, but the triplets will be gone soon, and Tom will be off with his friends, and where does that leave me? I don’t have anything but motherhood on my CV.’

‘Well, you’re in the lucky position of being financially able to do anything you want,’ Sophie said.

‘I know, but who wants to hire a woman who hasn’t worked outside the home in sixteen years?’

‘Retrain like Sophie or go back to college.’ Louise was blunt.

Julie felt uncomfortable, she didn’t know what she wanted to do or was good at or could offer the world. She could make a mean chicken piri-piri and do three batches of laundry a day, but who wanted that?

‘What about writing again? You loved doing your blog and your column on parenting,’ Gavin suggested.

Louise sat up. ‘Yes! You could do an MA in creative writing. It would give you the time and space to figure out your next move. You’re brilliant with words – I bet you’d love it.’

Julie hadn’t thought about writing in so long. After her column had dried up, she’d kind of got lost in motherhoodagain. She had loved writing, Gavin was right. She’d forgotten how much. But would she be able for an MA? ‘I’m only used to doing a piddly little column, not writing literary prose.’

‘You’d be well able. In fact, I’ll do it with you,’ Dad said. ‘I’ve always wanted to do a writing course. Your mother always said she loved my letters to her. It’d keep me busy and who knows what might come out of it? Sure, we’d have fun anyway and be learning, and we could critique each other’s work.’

‘That would so fantastic,’ Sophie said, laughing. ‘Unexpected, I grant you, but fantastic.’

Hang on a minute. Did Julie want to go back to college, and with her dad? Was that going to be fun or a total nightmare? She looked at her father’s excited face. This was all a bit mad and quick, but what the hell? At her age, she had nothing to lose. Why not just go for it? And she did love writing, and she did miss it, and with her dad by her side she’d be less nervous.

‘Okay.’ She smiled at her father. ‘Let’s see which college will take in two very mature students with very little experience.’

Dad stuck out his hand. ‘Deal.’

Julie and her dad shook hands, while the others whooped.

The footballers, sweaty and dusty after their game, came over and plonked themselves down.

‘What have you Devlins been chatting about?’ Harry asked.

The Devlins laughed.

‘We’ve just been setting the world to rights,’ Julie told him.

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