She finished her lashes and put the mascara back in her makeup bag. He saw more than most men would, but still not all of it.
“Didn’t you see Rosie’s face? She really believed that Becky was in love with Declan.” And it explained why Rosie had been behaving strangely. They’d had a fight about something. Or hit a rough patch. Something that had made Rosie question Declan’s feelings for her. “That’s why Becky said what she said. I don’t believe she intended to say it, but having said it she decided to keep it going to make it easier for them. For Rosie and Becky, I mean.”
He pulled on the shirt. “Easier? You don’t really believe Becky is in love with Declan, do you?” He watched her face and raised his eyebrows. “Youdobelieve that.”
“I think she probably believes it, and that’s what matters right now. And Rosie believes it.” Her heart broke for her daughter. For both her daughters because she knew how hard the emotional upset would be for Becky to handle. She probably wanted to hide behind the Christmas tree and never come out.
“You don’t think Rosie saw through Becky’s sudden declaration?”
“I think she was shocked, as were we all, but Becky’s response was instantaneous. She blurted it out as if it was a secret she’d been keeping. I thought she was convincing.”
“Yes.” He fastened the buttons of his shirt. “Funny really. I never thought our Becky was much of an actress.Remember her clomping around the stage inAlice in Wonderlandwhen she was nine?”
“It was a ridiculous production, and they never should have forced her to take part.” Jenny frowned. “I should have gone into school and insisted she be allowed to work behind the scenes or something. It’s a regret of mine.”
“You have regrets?”
“Plenty, but mostly about Rosie. I regret not looking carefully at alternative schools, when it became obvious that it wasn’t the right place for her. The school should accommodate the child, shouldn’t it, not the other way round. Individuality should be encouraged, not stamped out.”
“We thought the girls would do better in the same school. Support each other.”
“And to some extent that was true, but Rosie still compares herself to her sister and feels less somehow. The school played a part in that. They didn’t really value the arts the way they did science and technology.”
“We made the decisions we felt were right at the time, and that’s all anyone can do. You can’t be sure something else would have been better. It might not have been. Unfortunately you can’t take two paths at the same time.”
“I know.”
“She has done well. Made a good life for herself. Your mother is floating round in the dress Rosie made her telling everyone her granddaughter is a genius.”
Jenny felt a rush of love for her mother. “She has always made them feel valued. Treated them as individuals.”
“So did we.”
“I know. But Rosie doesn’t have Becky’s confidence.”
“Socially, she has far more confidence.” He tucked his shirt in and checked his reflection in the mirror. “And I don’t understand what any of this has to do with Declan and Rosie?”
“I’m not sure.” Jenny stood up. “But you know Becky isn’tas comfortable with strangers as Rosie is. She probably wouldn’t even have talked to Declan if she hadn’t worked side by side with him for all those years. She got to know him by default. She grew comfortable with him. And then along comes Rosie with her chat and her charm.”
She thought back to their childhood, to the countless times she’d taken the twins to parties and watched with relief as Rosie had played the role of both friend and bodyguard to her more socially awkward sister.
And the support hadn’t been one-sided. When Rosie had struggled with physics, maths and chemistry it had been Becky who had helped her, spending hours patiently explaining equations and probabilities as Rosie sat there getting more and more upset by her inability to understand any of the concepts.
Martin reached for his shoes. “So you’re saying Becky realised she was in love with him after he started dating Rosie.”
“I don’t know for sure, but I think it’s possible.”
“But she didn’t say anything.”
“This is Becky,” Jenny said. “Of course she wouldn’t say anything.”
“So when did Rosie figure all this out?”
“Today, I think, judging from her reaction. When Becky walked through the door. Although I would guess that maybe it had been playing on her mind for a little longer than that. And she was right about the wedding. Becky did disappear for an hour.”
“And you don’t think it was shellfish?”
“At the time I didn’t question that explanation, but now? I don’t think it was shellfish. I was caught up with wedding madness, but I remember Will went to check on her and they were gone for ages.”
