‘So do you think you could convince Dad to let me go into town? There’s a bunch of people meeting there.’
‘I think my powers of persuasion with him might be pretty limited. Plus it’s his birthday – don’t you want to hang around?’
Elsie makes a face, making her look younger than fourteen, just as Ash comes back with a glass of Prosecco for Lissa, a bottle of Corona for him. ‘What’s up?’ he asks, handing her the glass.
‘Elsie is bored.’ Elsie gives her a look at that, and she wonders if she wasn’t supposed to divulge said boredom.
‘Well we can’t have that,’ Ash says. ‘We could play a game?’ Elsie gives him a cynical look that makes Lissa want to laugh.
‘Pictionary?’ Lissa suggests. Elsie huffs.
There’s a beat of quiet.
‘I’ve got it,’ Ash says, clicking his fingers. ‘We could build the Eiffel Tower out of beer bottles.’
Both Lissa and Elsie stare at him, making Lissa sure she’s not the only one wondering where the hell that came from. But Elsie shrugs. ‘Okay.’ And that, apparently, is as enthusiastic as they’re going to get.
Ash and Elsie hunt down empty beer bottles together, and Ash draws a diagram on a napkin – Lissa is sure that Mia, with her engineer brain, would have plenty to say about his efforts. She leaves them to it while they’re still on the planning phase, and goes to get herself a burger.
At the barbecue, her dad swings an arm around her in the way he only does when he’s had a few drinks. ‘It’s nice to see you and Elsie hanging out together.’
‘Yeah. It’s nice to hang out with her.’ He takes his arm away from her to slide a burger onto a plate. ‘Dad?’
‘Hmm?’
She hesitates. ‘Did you ever try to teach me to swim?’
He glances at her, something flickering over his face, gone too quickly to read. Then he shakes his head. ‘No. You were always too scared of the water to try.’
She nods slowly. Well, that would make sense, wouldn’t it?
‘Your mum tried to do those mother–baby swimming classes with you,’ he continues, ‘but you cried so much on the first one that she didn’t take you back. We tried a few times when you were older, but you still hated it. Then, after Chloe …’
‘Yeah,’ Lissa agrees, pulling a hand through her hair. After that, no one would have wanted to make her.
‘Dad, I’m …’ She doesn’t quite know what she’s going to say – sorry for bringing this up on your birthday? – but she doesn’t get to finish anyway, because there is the sound of glass smashing against the patio. Lissa turns just as the Eiffel Tower collapses. Elsie lets out a wail of despair. Ash swears, loudly. And Lissa sees it – a glint of red in the sun. Blood.
Her heart lurches, and she drops her burger, already running.
‘Who’s hurt?’ she demands when she reaches them. She scans Elsie first – her sister.
‘We’re fine,’ Elsie says with an easy wave. ‘Ash just …’
But Ash is holding out his hand, palm up, and she can see the cut now, deep, blood flowing far too quickly. Her head spins, nausea swells.
‘Lissa?’ Elsie asks. ‘You look a bit pale. Do you not like blood or something?’
‘I’m fine,’ Lissa says shortly. She breathes through it, grabs Ash’s hand to look at it. ‘You’re hurt.’
‘It’s only a—’
‘You’rehurt,’ she repeats.
‘I’ll get the first-aid kit.’ This from Nicole, somewhere nearby.
Lissa drags Ash into the kitchen and over to the sink, turning on the tap and thrusting his hand under it. The water turns from clear to murky pink. Blood coating the pavement. Only they’re not on the pavement, and there is not much blood, not any more.
Get a fucking grip, Lissa.
