The sun was shining through the trees, casting beautiful golden light on the back of the little barn where they took the pictures. When they’d started this years ago, the barn had been prettied up covered in twinkly lights and more of a cabana where Pops could serve drinks to people having parties outside. Now it looked faintly decaying like everything else about the Sorrento.
She took her place beside her sisters. Savannah was beaming into the camera. Eden loved seeing her twin happy. College had been the making of Savannah. She was blossoming under the business course, coming home at night to share new things with them. And talking about this idea that she had for a natural beauty company.
‘You’d need a lot of money for that,’ said Steve thoughtfully.
‘It’s all a load of rubbish, making women think they’re ugly and have to buy things to make them look better,’ Rory had said.
Rory, on the other hand, was going through a difficult time, Eden reflected. It was her place in the family; she didn’t know where she fitted in. It was, Eden kept telling their mother, absolutely nothing to do with her sexuality.
‘Rory’s perfectly happy being gay, Mum,’ Eden had said. ‘It’s us who are the problem. She’s suffering from being the last born. Indy’s the lovely one and I’m the minxy one.’ Eden had winced slightly as she said this. ‘Savannah is the dreamy but clever one. And where does Rory fit in? So far, the only role seems to be the irritable one. And she’s not irritable – well, she is a lot of the time, but she’ll get over that, it’s just being a teenager.’
‘I know,’ Mum had said. ‘But I worry, darling, I worry so much. I don’t want life to be hard on her and—’
‘Mum, stop. Life is hard on all of us.’
Eden thought of the secret she now carried. She should have told Mum from the beginning, but she didn’t because she felt so stupid and Mum would have done anything to support her, she thought, and yet she’d kept it to herself. Because she felt ashamed of being so stupid; such a cliché.
Eden hated being a cliché above all things. No, it was better the way she’d done it, easier. Easier not to upset Mum and Pops. He’d have gone out and drunk himself insensible with shock and misery. No point in telling Pops.
Eden had thought of telling Indy, but no. Indy would have been far too upset given her work; it was easier the way she’d done it.
Savannah? She and Savannah had once been so incredibly close, but even identical twins weren’t conjoined. Eden didn’t want to add to Savannah’s burdens. She was so happy now, seemed to have got over all the anxieties and self-doubt. How her sister had such low self-esteem, Eden didn’t know, but Savannah was a mass of insecurities.
Eden took her place in the line-up.
‘Your hair is nice,’ she said to Rory, who looked at her in surprise.
‘I don’t know,’ said Rory, ‘it’s just tricky getting it to sit properly.
Eden reached out a gentle hand that flattened the tendrils gently.
‘You are so good-looking you could model, you know.’
‘No,’ said Rory as if such an idea was crazy.
‘Course you could – you’re tall and slim, you’d be fabulous. And you’re skinny. Look at the legs on you.’
Rory was wearing her normal uniform of ultra-black jeans, flat boots and a woolly black jumper, even though it was late summer.
‘I couldn’t model,’ said Rory mulishly.
‘You can do anything you want to, you big moron,’ said Eden fondly. ‘Just need to believe in yourself a bit more.’
‘I do believe in myself,’ said Rory as if this were a competition.
Eden smiled inside. Once this was the sort of thing she’d have said. Trying to look tough. She knew that, inside, Rory was an old marshmallow putting on a stern exterior to help her cope with life.
‘Just saying you could,’ she said.
‘Are you all ready?’ said Steve.
Indy, who’d been looking at the first quick shots on Steve’s laptop, hopped back into place.
‘Ready,’ she said.
13
Thursday
