“Oh—” Lucy could not think what else to say. She pressed her fingers to her lips and felt how she was grinning. She felt as if she were glowing from the inside out.
Juliet turned to Alex, her expression severe. “I hope you’re going to be sensible about this.”
Alex looked discomfited; he was the one used to giving stern looks, Lucy supposed. “What do you mean?”
“I mean I won’t have you hurting my sister. You’d better be serious about her.”
Alex looked even more taken aback, but he nodded. “I am serious, Juliet. That’s why it took me so long to come around.”
“And you too, Lucy,” Juliet added, turning that schoolteacherish stare onto her. “Remember that there are two young girls involved—”
“Iknow, Juliet—”
“Does this mean you’re staying, then?”
“Yes—”
Alex turned to her. “I thought you’d already decided.”
“I had,” Lucy said quickly. “I just hadn’t told anyone yet.”
“Well, then.” Juliet nodded, her hands on her hips. “You’d better get in there and mark that ridiculous quiz.” The phone rang as she waved them towards the dining room. “I’ll get that. You go on.”
Lucy walked into the dining room; she felt as if she were floating. Alex reached for her hand and squeezed.
“About the girls—,” he began, but Bella was already half-rising from her seat.
“You’ve got together!” she cried, exultant. “I can see it in your faces!”
Everyone turned to look at them, scanning their expressions. Now Lucy was both blushing and grinning like a loon, and she didn’t even care.
“Together? Are you and Daddy going to get married?” Poppy asked, her hands clasped together.
“Don’t rush them, Poppy,” Bella muttered. “For heaven’s sake.”
“I think we’ll take it one step at a time,” Alex said as he sat down at the table. “Now what about this quiz?”
Lucy was just starting to read the answers out when Juliet came back into the dining room. She stood in the doorway, silent, and Lucy hadn’t even noticed her entrance until Peter rose from his chair, his forehead furrowed. “Juliet?”
Lucy turned, and saw how strange Juliet looked, all pinched and pale. Before she could ask if she was all right, Juliet spoke.
“The phone’s for you, Lucy,” she said flatly. “It’s Fiona.”
Chapter twenty-six
Juliet
Juliet didn’t wait for Lucy to reply. She certainly didn’t want to hear any of her conversation with Fiona. And she didn’t think she could stay in this warm, lit room, with everyone smiling and laughing, for another minute. Abruptly she turned on her heel and left the dining room, left the house. She walked blindly down the front path and then stood in the middle of the pavement, the night dark all around her, the still air cold and damp. She breathed in and out and tried to slow her thundering heart.
Fiona. Her mother had called, after five years—no, a lifetime—of silence. And their entire conversation had consisted of three sentences.
“Hello, Tarn House,” Juliet had announced cheerfully, still smiling at having caught Alex and Lucy kissing.
“Juliet . . . ?”
Juliet hadn’t recognized the husky yet feminine voice. It had never occurred to her that her mother would call her or reach out to her in any way.
“Yes . . . ,” she’d said, still in B&B mode.
