‘How about I leave you to talk now?’
‘You might as well hear the rest. Hadn’t he, Ophelia?’ Evelyn murmured. ‘Your side and mine.’ Shoulders straight again, she patted her sister’s hand and sucked in a breath. ‘I was twenty-three and newly married. Dizzy with love, and excited about my first job at the school. Ophelia still lived at home with our parents, but she visited Sam and me a lot. It made me happy they got on so well.’ Her expression hardened. ‘One day I came home from work and saw her kissing Sam in the kitchen. Next thing,he pushed her away and shouted for her to leave him alone. He said it was sick, that he thought of her as a sister.’ A sob caught in her raspy throat. ‘She spun a story about Sam trying to force himself on her.’ She shook her head. ‘I do admit that later I discovered a different side to Sam, but at that time he was crazy about me, so—’
‘You chose to believe him.’ Regret laced Ophelia’s words. ‘He’d been making suggestions to me for weeks, every time he got me alone. It’s why I never came to visit unless I knew you’d be there, but that day you were late. He cornered me in the kitchen and started trying to kiss me. When I tried to push him off, Sam smirked and said he’d spin the story so you’d believeIcame on tohim. You were like a mum to me, Evelyn. Who explained what was happening when I got my period? Whose shoulder did I cry on when Joe Wilson dumped me for that awful Blewett girl? For sixteen years we were the closest of sisters, and you wouldn’t even hear what I had to say. You told Mum and Dad that if they didn’t throw me out, you and Sam would leave the village and move away. You even threatened if you had children, they’d never see me. I saved them the anguish of deciding between us and I left.’
Evelyn exhaled loudly with a shudder. ‘I’ve been so stupid.’ When she glanced back up, her eyes shimmered with tears. ‘Can you ever forgive me, or is it too late?’
Now he really did need to leave. Gage stood. ‘You’ll be okay now.’
Evelyn’s hand found Ophelia’s again. ‘We’ve a lot to talk about.’
‘We certainly do. For a start I want to hear more about Quinten and why you’ve been so terrible to the poor man.’
He slipped out, leaving them bickering companionably like normal sisters.
* * *
Acting was so not Tamara’s forte. Evelyn ambushed them all as soon as they arrived for book club and announced she had something to tell them. It was sure to be about Ophelia, so she would have to act surprised. She’d been absolutely shocked when Gage had told her everything that had happened when he’d visited Evelyn. The sisters sat side by side on the sofa, and an eerily pale Ophelia listened silently as Evelyn calmly recited the whole story of their estrangement and her sister’s health troubles. A collective gasp ran around the group before the sympathetic questions and offers of support started. They weren’t women to hold grudges, so nobody held Ophelia’s previous haughty attitude against her now.
‘So, that’s it.’ A flush tinged Evelyn’s gaunt cheeks. ‘I’m sorry for being so close-mouthed before, but nowhere near as sorry as I am for letting Ophelia down.’ She squeezed her sister’s hand. ‘We do seem to be finding out an awful lot of each other’s secrets recently. It’s far healthier, isn’t it?’
Becky sneaked Tamara a wry smile, as if to say it might be healthy but that didn’t make it easy. Despite it being common knowledge that she and Gage were half-siblings, Becky was still close-mouthed when it came to talking about their tentative relationship. Neither seemed sure what to expect or hope for from the other.
‘Right, now let’s get down to the book,’ Evelyn said firmly and picked up her copy. ‘What did we all think ofBridget Jones’s Diary? Tamara, why don’t you start us off?’
This reminded her of being at school when teachers always picked on her when Tamara either didn’t know the answer or was reluctant to give one. Being completely truthful meant exposing herself in a way that made her uneasy, even with her best friends. Melissa’s encouraging smile helped and she took a deep breath.
‘I was only twelve when the book came out so Mum wouldn’t let me read it, but when the film was released five years later I went to see it with friends. I left the cinema wanting to smack Bridget because I was seventeen and pregnant, married to a man who didn’t give a shit about me or our baby, and there she was, a self-absorbed thirty-something with a glamorous job, and two hot men literally fighting over her. All I could think was what the hell did she have to whine about?’
There was silence and a few uneasy glances flickered between her friends.
‘I would say you make a very valid point,’ Evelyn said staunchly. ‘As someone from a very different generation, Bridget and her friends often struck me as incredibly annoying but also terribly sad. There’s a comment Bridget makes along the lines of older people not reading self-help books, but simply getting on with life. Does anyone else wonder if the more you fret and try to analyse whether or not you’re “happy”, whatever that is, the less content you are?’
A trace of satisfaction settled inside Tamara as the arguments ping-ponged around the room.
‘But surely you can sympathise with Bridget’s body-image obsession?’ Amy aimed the question straight at Tamara. ‘You’re always complaining about your latest failed diet, even though you’re incredibly fit, healthy and strong. Didn’t you connect with the part when Bridget finally managed to lose weight, but her friend Tom declared she looked better before? She felt she’d wasted all those years of counting calories and deprivation for nothing.’
‘Well, yes. Maybe.’ And leaving the room backwards so no man would see Bridget’s wobbly bum? Been there, done that. There was no need for a mirror to know an ugly flush mottled her face.
‘Just as she is. That’s the toast they make to Bridget. That’s the theme of the book and it comes out even more prominently in the film.’ Amy’s colour heightened. ‘I was thirty before I had the courage to come out and stop hiding my sexuality. Penworthal was very old-fashioned and traditional when I was growing up, which is the main reason I went to uni in London and stayed away for years. I wasn’t sure how we’d be received when Tessa and I came back to live, but it’s been fine — most of the time anyway.’
This was certainly turning into a night for revelations. Amy had never spoken with such deep honesty before.
‘So what are our thoughts on the book in comparison to the film?’ Evelyn nudged them back to the discussion. ‘The parallels withPride and Prejudiceare far more obvious in the book. The film cut out the part about Mark Darcy tracking down Bridget’s mother’s boyfriend and recovering the money he’d stolen from their friends. That storyline was clearly taken from the book, when Mr Darcy pursues the despicable George Wickham, ensures he marries Lydia to save her reputation and settles Wickham’s debts.’
‘I know I’m shallow,’ Melissa’s laughter was completely unashamed, ‘but is anyone else not surprised that Bridget was under Daniel Cleaver’s spell? There’s something about a bad boy that attracts women, despite themselves.’
‘Does anyone mind me joining in?’ There was no trace of a French accent in Ophelia’s quiet voice.
‘Of course not.’ Becky beamed. ‘You’ve experienced so much, dear, living abroad and that. Paul’s been my man since I were a girl, see, so all this is foreign to me.’
‘You’re too kind. All of you.’ Ophelia’s gaze darted around. ‘I only came here because I didn’t know where else to go, and there was a faint chance of putting things right with my sister before it was too late. The last thing I expected, or quite honestly evenwanted, a few weeks ago, was to be brought into your fold. I was incredibly rude at first and I’m terribly sorry.’
‘We’re sorry you’re having a hard time, my love, but we live by the Cornish motto — One and All — and you’re one of us now,’ Becky said kindly.
Ophelia’s thin throat worked as if holding back tears. ‘Thank you.’ She straightened and blinked rapidly. ‘Back to Melissa’s comment.’ Tamara heard echoes of Evelyn in her firmer tone of voice. ‘In my experience, those of us who’ve been tempted by so-called bad boys live to regret it. They made the film version of Daniel Cleaver much less awful than the book character, but he was still untrustworthy and rotten at the core. I spent far too many years involved with a French version of Daniel. He was a handsome charmer called Lucien, who totally had me wrapped around his little finger, always dangling promises that he never kept. I didn’t have the courage to break things off with him for good until I got sick. So I’ve ended up alone.’
Evelyn grasped her sister’s hand. ‘You’re not alone. You’ve got me.’
