‘All the Dr Ali stuff was a lie, wasn’t it?’ said Lou.
Lillian’s lips tautened as much as they could with all the filler. ‘You just hate that I have an active sex life,’ she hissed at her daughter.
Peadar paled and fled to the kitchen to get away from all this family drama.
‘I don’t care about your sex life,’ Lou shouted fiercely. At this, Lillian finally backed away. ‘You can have men coming out your ears for all I care. Women have just as much right to enjoy sex as men. But what I do hate is your lying, your manipulation, how you twist everything so that I’ve been running around after you for years! And what do I get for that?’
Lillian said nothing.
‘I get you ruining my birthday party because you’re a spoiled cow. You have to be the centre of attention, always. Well, it’s over now.’
‘I suppose Gloria told you about it,’ said Lillian savagely.
‘Neither she nor Angelo told me,’ said Lou. ‘They protected you. But I found out another way.’
She didn’t want to talk about Gloria’s precious painting. That was too private to share with Lillian.
‘Oh by the way, I’ve got two dogs now. So I won’t be cleaning your house anymore because I’d have to bring them with me and you’re frightened of dogs, aren’t you?’
‘Not really,’ said Lillian warily.
‘Don’t you mean “No”.’
‘Fine. No!’
‘Why did you lie so much?’
‘I don’t lie,’ began Lillian. ‘I just embellish. I mean, dogs are messy. Oh sweetie, you like looking after me. All great artists have people who do things for them—’
‘Great artists, maybe,’ snapped Lou, ‘but your greatest act of creation is the invention of yourself: the fabulous Lillian Cooper, glamorous and sexy. Be as glam and sexy as you want, Mother, but you can buy your own lipliner on the internet from now on. Or get Peadar to do it for you.
‘You can move in, Peadar,’ she yelled in the direction of the kitchen. ‘As long as you’re good at cleaning. Mother doesn’t like scrubbing the bath, changing sheets or washing clothes, so if you can do that, you’ve a place to stay. Otherwise, welcome to squalor.’
‘I don’t want Peadar staying!’ hissed Lillian.
‘I heard that,’ he said, appearing at the door and looking aggrieved. ‘I’m off.’
They heard him stomping upstairs.
‘Now look what you’ve done!’ said Lillian petulantly.
‘You’ve lots of male friends,’ said Lou. ‘Phone someone else.’
All of a sudden, the fight went out of her.
She was tired of it. She wanted to be Lou, the real gentle Lou. Fighting with her mother was not the way to honour who she really was.
‘I’ll talk to you during the week,’ she said, and turned to leave.
‘That’s it?’ said Lillian, standing forlorn in her negligee. ‘You’ve insulted me and now Peadar’s going, and the place is a tip!’
‘There are dusters in the drawer under the sink and cleaning products in that cupboard beside the freezer. You’re a survivor, Mother. You’ll be fine. I’m going home to my family.’
Chapter Twenty-four
Lou had got into the habit of walking along Whitehaven Beach in the mornings.
She had a new watch which tracked her steps and she was enjoying hitting ten thousand every day. Boo and Lola adored their morning walks and Lou wondered how she’d ever lived without dogs as she watched her beloved pooches racing around in the sand. A few times a week, she took Sugar for Gloria and brought the little dog back to her aunt in a state of exhaustion.
