“That’s great, but you could get a little more in—”
“Oh, give it a rest, Rach,” Meghan cut in. “You’re always on her case.”
Rachel stiffened. “I don’t mean to nag, but this is a very important year—”
“And so was last year, and the year before that. Lily’s fine.”
“Of course you would say that,” Rachel answered with a sigh. Meghan had left school at sixteen with only a handful of barely passing marks. “Seriously, Lily,” she said, and she gently elbowed her sister out of the way. “Let me do this. You can get a half hour of revision in before tea.”
Lily hesitated. “I don’t actually have that much to do....”
“Lily, your exams begin in—” Rachel glanced at the calendar above the sink. “Seven weeks. You need to keep at it. You know that. It’s hard, I know, but it’s so worthwhile.”
“She can have a twenty-minute break, can’t she?” Meghan interjected, and tossed the Fate & Fortune magazine to Lily. “Here you go.”
“Meghan—”
“There’s biology in it,” Meghan answered, wide-eyed. “Animals and stuff.”
“The fox haunting someone’s fur stole?” Rachel said, rolling her eyes, but Lily had already hurried upstairs, the magazine clutched to her chest. Rachel turned back to the spaghetti Bolognese that was bubbling away on the stove, two tins of chopped tomatoes and half a kilo of beef mince mushed together, the beef only half cooked. Sighing, she reached for the oregano.
“So what’s got you in such a crap mood?” Meghan asked. Nathan had scrambled onto her lap and was now sucking his thumb, the other hand wrapped around a tendril of Meghan’s hair, which he tugged rhythmically.
“Who says I’m in a crap mood?”
“I do, but now that I think about it, it’s no more crap than usual. You just usually hide it better.”
“I’m fine. And you should watch your language,” Rachel said with a meaningful nod towards Nathan.
“Oh, Nath knows what crap means,” Meghan answered, and ruffled her son’s hair. “So? What’s bothering you?”
“You mean, besides coming home to the house an utter tip and dinner not made even though it’s gone half six?” Rachel answered, keeping her tone flippant. She and Meghan always bickered, but they tried not to draw blood.
“Is that really that unusual?” Meghan countered. “Anyway, the house isn’t that much of a tip. I actually hoovered, you know.”
“Mummy spilled her crisps,” Nathan volunteered, and she tapped his nose.
“That was meant to be our little secret, Nath.”
“So, what have you been doing today, Meghan?” Rachel asked conversationally. “Besides eating crisps and watching rubbish telly?”
“Real Housewives of Cheshire is not rubbish.”
Rachel shook her head, too tired to press her sister. As usual, she couldn’t tell if Meghan was being thoughtless or just taking the mick. Her sister walked a fine line between the two. “How’s Mum been getting on today?”
“Brilliantly. She loves Real Housewives of Cheshire.”
“Well, that’s a relief.” Rachel prodded the sauce without enthusiasm. “But she’s been all right?”
“As all right as she ever is.”
Rachel nodded, her mind already elsewhere. From upstairs she could hear Lily moving around, and then the tinny sound of techno music. Her sister was definitely not studying.
“Did you know Claire West is back in the village?” she asked abruptly.
“Claire West?” Meghan wrinkled her nose, uninterested. “Wasn’t she in Spain or something?”
“Portugal. The Algarve.”
