Page 101 of Did My Love Life Shrink in the Wash?
‘All my friends have ears.’
‘His are a little like trophy handles though. Tongues?’
‘No.’ I try and shrug off the memory.
‘You don’t fancy Sean, do you?’ she says, grimacing.
‘He’s alright, Sean. But no, I don’t fancy him. And I know why it happened.’
‘To get back at Will?’ Grace says it calmly, not with the anger and judgement that would have radiated off Emma and Lucy. And what she says is true. I was desperate for the affection. It was a reaction. Maybe I needed to know what kissing someone else felt like too.
‘Heck, that’s what good friends are for, to snog in stressful situations,’ she says.
‘You have a friend you snog in stressful situations? Actually, Lucy tells me you did a lot on your travels that you need to tell us about.’
‘Lucy got me very drunk in Amsterdam and I divulged far too much. I snogged a friend in New York on my travels. I went to a rave. I wore a fishnet jumpsuit thing.’
I laugh a little too loudly and she gives me evils. Grace usually only wears monochrome but there’s a flash of colour now, a yellow bracelet on her hand, and a smile she’s not worn for the longest time.
‘Was he a good kisser?’ she asks.
‘Bit fishy?’
‘What? His breath?’
I snigger. ‘No, the lip action. It didn’t last long.’
She shrugs. By that measure, it’s basically a non-event then and she’s right. Cleo wriggles in her sleep and comes to rest her head on Grace’s lap. I watch as my sister strokes her head to settle her down again.
‘Sean also looks like the sort of man who wears bad shorts in summer. Am I right?’
‘Cargo, knee-length. Sometimes the ones with the zips so he can add some length if the weather gets cooler.’
‘If you married that, I’d voice my objections at your wedding, just so you know.’
I chuckle through mouthfuls of potato but she can read me like a book. She knows that it made me realise I was in love with someone else. I don’t need to say that out loud so focus on the chips. I should have got a kebab.
‘The things you miss when you travel. No other country in the world does cheesy chips,’ she says.
‘The Americans have chips.’
‘Nope, they have French fries and the melted cheese is moussey and bright yellow. If you ask for mayo with your chips too, they think you’re posh and continental like that’s a bad thing.’
‘I hoped you missed me as much as you missed chips.’
‘I missed you the most,’ she says.
‘Do you say that to everyone?’
‘Of course.’
It is an absolute joy to have her back here in the family fold, to see a new side to her, renewed and accepting of a future without her Tom. The old Grace was always sensible, cautious, guarded even. We never knew how everything would change her. But I see a sister scoffing chips and dangling stringy bits of Cheddar over her mouth and realise the bits I loved about her are still there.
‘You’re stopping here tonight, yeah? Mum bought the mini Kellogg’s selection boxes so you must,’ she says.
‘Of course, I’ll wrestle you for the Coco Pops.’
‘Bring it.’
