Page 60 of Good Sisters

‘Who I am is your son’s stepmother and, frankly, the person who’s looked after him eighty per cent of the time lately. This has got to stop, Pippa. You can’t keep dropping him off unannounced. It’s not fair on him or us.’

Her unfocused eyes narrowed. ‘Jack’s his father and he’s always banging on about how he wants to spend more time with him. He wanted full custody, remember.’

‘Jack’s not here. He’s in Germany for work.’

She shrugged. ‘You took him back. You knew he had a kid, so suck it up.’

The bitch. ‘You need to take Robert home.’

She laughed. ‘Not happening. I’m going now.’

Her pupils were dilated, and I suspected she’d taken more than drink. It looked like Quentin’s gossip about her was spot-on. I tried to keep my voice calm, but my blood was at boiling point. ‘Regardless of the fact that you don’t give a toss about me or Jack or our work and demands, at least think about Robert. He needs a stable environment and a proper routine. All of this chopping and changing of plans is very unsettling for him.’

Her face darkened. ‘Don’t you dare tell me how to raisemy son. What the hell would you know about parenting anyway? I saw a boy sneaking out of your house as I was coming in. Tall, handsome guy in rugby gear. Gorgeous blue eyes. A confident swagger. Jess is clearly a lot more fun than you are.’

What? What boy? Did Jess have Sebastian over while I was at work? I couldn’t process the thoughts fast enough.

Pippa grinned at me. ‘Surprised, are you? Didn’t know your precious Jessica was entertaining boys,’ she sneered. ‘You’re not exactly great mother material yourself, are you, Sophie?’

I was so tempted to punch her in the middle of her smug face. Using every single bit of self-control I had, I said, ‘This isn’t about Jess, this is about Robert, and it’s about you not sticking to the joint custody arrangement.’

Pippa shoved me out of the way. ‘I’m late. Move.’

‘Pippa, come on, be reasonable. Robert needs you.’

She stopped and spun around. ‘I need a life, Sophie. I deserve to have fun. I’m not old and miserable like you.’

‘Oh, I can see you’re having fun, Pippa. Lots of it. But you seem to be forgetting that you have a son who needs his mother. Any idea when you’ll be back to pick Robert up?’

‘A couple of days. I’ll text Jack. I don’t have to deal with you.’ She swept out of the house, slamming the front door and leaving the smell of perfume and booze in her wake.

Using buckets of willpower, I managed somehow to wait until Robert was in bed to talk to Jess. I willed myself not to scream,What the hell do you think you’re doing? You are grounded for life. You will never leave this house again.

I took three deep breaths and knocked on her bedroom door. She was lying on her bed in leggings and a crop top, on the phone as usual.

‘What?’

‘I need to talk to you.’

‘Can it wait?’

‘Absolutely not. Not even for one second.’

She frowned. ‘Is this about Pippa? What happened? Is she coming back for Robert?’

‘Hang up the phone, Jess.’

She held it up and waved into it. ‘Gotta go, family drama.’

‘Okay, later,’ a boy’s voice said.

She put her phone down and sat up. ‘What’s going on?’

I leaned against her chest of drawers.

‘You tell me, Jess. What’s going on in your life?’ I stared at her.

I could tell by her face that she was wary of my tone and body language. ‘Nothing.’

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