‘What do you think he’s been doing?’ said Eden, marching in properly. She was glad she was here; she was always the sister who could handle difficult situations.
‘You do know you’re supposed to be getting married in five hours, don’t you?’
‘What time is it?’ said her father. His eyes resembled two tiny currants in some unproven dough. His nose was red. His cheeks were red. The rest of him, though, was a deathly white colour, even despite the legendary Stu tan.
‘Why did you have to go on the piss again now, Dad?’ said Eden, aware that she was wailing.
‘I didn’t, I didn’t. I – I mean – I didn’t—’
‘Stu, man,’ said Ralphie, ‘there’s absolutely no point lying at this stage, none whatsoever.’
Ralphie went to make the strong coffee Eden had said they needed for her father, and she sat him down at the table for a serious talk.
‘Spill,’ she said fiercely.
Stu looked blearily down at the table.
‘I just felt so bad for everything I’d done to your mother and all of you. And Chloe. That was all my fault. It all came back to me. And I just – it just meant that I thought I’d need a drink.’
‘Yes, but a drink was going to make it worse,’ emphasised Eden, ‘not better.’
‘I know,’ said her father, putting his head on the table, putting his arms around his head. ‘I just felt so bad, about Savannah and that asshole, and Chloe and your mother and we can’t tell her this happened or she won’t marry me …’
‘Dad,’ Eden said, so he’d know she meant business. She, alone, always called him Pops. ‘Mum knows everything, which is great, because if she didn’t, none of us would stand by and let her remarry you. So, she knows about Chloe, and she has the biggest heart in the world, so that’s good. The fact that she is willing to marry you amazes me no end, but she is, and I love you. I say that with love. But she’s willing to marry you. So why the hell you went out and got trolleyed is beyond me—’ Eden stopped.
What had her father said? Something about Savannah …
She thought of her twin the night before and when she’d left because she was worried about Clary. Calum hadn’t been pleased.
And Eden had thought for a moment that his fingers were digging into Savannah’s slender arm. She was sure she’d been imagining it. But now, the more she thought about it, the more she thought she hadn’t been imagining it.
‘You didn’t gamble, did you?’
‘No, no.’
‘I don’t know if you can gamble late at night,’ said Ralphie innocently from the kitchen.
‘You can gamble at any time,’ Eden said. ‘You must know; we’re always trying to get anti-gambling legislation in. Did you lose any money?’
‘I didn’t gamble.’
‘OK, so it was just drink, a lot of drink.’
‘But I haven’t been drinking, you know, before now; I’ve been really good.’
Eden looked at him and suddenly she thought he wasn’t telling the truth.
‘That’s a lie,’ she said and he had the grace to look down.
‘It’s up to Mum now,’ Eden said.
Eden would get Pops delivered to the Sorrento and her mother could take over. But she needed to sort out Savannah too. Her father talking about how he’d taken Savannah’s arm roughly had suddenly clicked everything into place in her brain: Calum was an abuser. It was as clear as daylight. Eden was going to kill him.
Indy answered the phone on the first ring.
‘Hello, Eden, is everything OK?’
‘No,’ said Eden. ‘Ralphie and I are at Pop’s and he’s hungover, still drunk.’
