Page 63 of Good Sisters

Marion had been with me since nine a.m. It was her weekend to stay with us, thankfully, and she had been a life-saver. Louise and Sophie had come early as well, to help with the salads and desserts.

Sophie put her Prada clutch carefully to one side, away from any food. She chopped cucumber while Louise filled pavlova bases with cream and strawberries.

‘I just don’t get it,’ Louise said. ‘Are we living in the dark ages that people presume mothers have time to host huge parties for teams? That’s what venues and caterers are for.’

‘I agree with you, Louise,’ Marion said, ‘and the posh fuckers in this school are loaded. They could well afford a restaurant.’

‘It’s part of the whole ra-ra team-bonding, I get it,’ Sophiesaid. ‘Tradition is a good thing. It’s a community coming together to celebrate their sons. It’s lovely.’

I wiped my sweaty brow. ‘Look, I agree it should be outsourced to the local pub, but the triplets are so excited to be on the team and part of the whole hoopla around it that I’m doing it for them.’

‘You are a bit of a martyr, though,’ Louise said bluntly. ‘You didn’t have to do it all yourself. You could have ordered the food in.’

‘I know, but I want to show that it can be done without breaking the bank. I’m trying to keep it low-key.’

Marion snorted. ‘Low-key would be chicken nuggets and a swiss roll.’

‘Mid-key, then.’ I laughed.

‘Did you contact that shop?’ Sophie asked.

She had given me the name of a shop in Kerry that sold wool hats and scarves made by local women with wool sourced from Irish sheep. They weren’t cashmere but they were lovely Irish wool and they’d assured me they could dye the wool to match the special burgundy colour of the rugby jerseys.

‘Yes, they were so nice and a quarter of the price of the ones from Atelier de stupid Cashmere.’

‘What a load of bolloxology. For Oscar’s football team we all packed bags in the local supermarket to make money to pay for their jerseys.’

Sophie ignored Marion. ‘I’m glad it worked out. What did Victoria say?’

I grinned. ‘I haven’t told her. I just went ahead and ordered them. I’ve already paid for them. I’ll hand them out next week before the first game and then tell everyone to let me have the money.’

‘Good for you. No point in getting into a wholeWhatsApp pile-on about it. I’ll be dying to hear how Victoria reacts.’ Sophie chuckled.

‘I’ll keep you posted.’ I grinned.

‘How was Dad yesterday?’ Louise asked Sophie. ‘He was so emotional at dinner the other night. Was he all right?’

‘He was better, actually. I think being honest about how he was feeling was good for him. He seems less down in the dumps. Besides, he had plans. He was going to some golf dinner, so I only saw him for a few minutes.’

‘Was he going with that Dolores one?’ Marion asked. ‘Are they having sex yet?’

I elbowed Marion.

‘What? You should be happy for him. A man who is having sex is a happy man.’

‘Marion, please do not talk about our father like that,’ Sophie snapped.

‘No wonder Harry’s so grumpy.’ I giggled.

‘I need sex badly,’ Louise said. ‘It’s been ages.’

‘Me too. Vibrators are just not the same,’ Marion agreed.

‘Handy, though,’ Louise said.

‘Yeah, but I like the weight of a man on top of me banging away.’ Marion grinned.

Sophie bristled. ‘Can we please change the subject?’

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