Page 85 of Good Sisters

Clara ate her snack and asked a few more questions about her weekend schedule, then seemed quiet and relatively content. I thanked my lucky stars that she loved and trusted Gavin and was used to being minded by him. I thought the addition of Lemon would throw her off, but she seemed open to the idea of helping Gavin mind the baby. It gave me hope that she could manage life in the future.

And what would her future hold? I felt almost sick at the idea of opening a can of worms with Marco. I had to control this situation from the very first moment, to suss himout and then, if we got as far as talking, to ensure he couldn’t mess up our lives in any way. There was no way some random man was going to undo all the hard work I had put in, with Mum, to make Clara as able for the world as possible. I had prepared airtight legal documents that set out the parameters of any future contact. If he didn’t agree to all my conditions, he was out. There was nothing I wouldn’t do to protect Clara.

‘Wish me luck, Mum,’ I whispered.

Dad was standing at the gate with a small, neat suitcase beside him. He popped it into the boot and climbed into the passenger seat.

‘Thanks for being ready.’

‘I’ve been up all night, worried the alarm wouldn’t go off. I wanted to be sure to be on time for you.’

‘I appreciate it. I’m nervous, Dad.’

‘Of course you are, pet. It’s a serious business, but I’ll be right behind you and if this fella steps out of line or seems a bit fishy, we’ll just walk away.’

I exhaled deeply. ‘I hope I’m doing the right thing.’

‘You’re doing the best for Clara. That’s all you can do. I’m glad you asked me along, I’m happy to help in any way I can.’

‘Thanks, Dad.’ I was glad we’d asked him. He had been really touched and chuffed when I’d said it to him. It had been the right thing to do. Sophie had been right to push me. It felt nice having my dad by my side.

We arrived at Julie’s. I pressed the doorbell and banged on the door with my fist. I couldn’t handle Julie’s tardiness today. Like Dad, Sophie had been standing at her garden gate, immaculately dressed and made-up with a small, neat suitcase packed and ready to go when we’d arrived at her place. Here, there was no sign of Julie.

Finally, Julie yanked open the door. She was in a tracksuit and her hair was soaking wet.

‘Jesus, Julie! You swore you’d be ready!’

‘I was all set to be ready and then Tom forgot his project, so I had to whizz back to the school. I’ll be with you in two minutes.’

I was not letting her wander off. I followed her up to her bedroom. Her suitcase was open and there were clothes all over the bed. My blood pressure spiked.

‘You’re not even packed?’

‘I wasn’t sure what to wear to meet my niece’s biological father in a village outside Rome.’

Sophie came up the stairs behind us. ‘You left the front door open.’ Seeing the mess and my clenched fists, she took charge.

Glancing over Julie’s mound of clothes, Sophie pulled out a dress, a pair of jeans, a skirt, one T-shirt, two blouses, two pairs of shoes, a cardigan, a light jacket and two scarves. She rolled them up and packed them neatly into the case. She handed Julie a pair of cargo pants, a long-sleeved T-shirt, a light wool jumper and a pair of trainers to wear. While Julie got dressed, Sophie went into the bathroom and packed her make-up and beauty products.

‘Passport?’ I barked.

Julie said it was in her bedside locker. I opened the locker drawer. It was crammed with junk. I rifled through it and found her passport.

Within five minutes we were in the car.

‘I have to say, Sophie, that was impressive,’ I said.

‘Thanks. Neat packing is a tip I got from my heyday as a guest on luxury yachts where you can only bring small bags on board.’

‘Are you sure I have everything I need?’ Julie asked. ‘I usually bring a massive case when I go away.’

‘Julie, it’s a two-day trip. You probably won’t even wear everything I packed for you.’

I slammed on the brakes just before I hit the car in front of me.

‘Steady on, Louise, do you want me to drive?’ Dad asked.

‘I’m fine, just a bit tense.’

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