‘Maybe after this, we’ll be ready to live in nature,’ Keera says suddenly, grinning. ‘We could live in a commune in the middle of nowhere with a shaman and some sheep. We could make our own soft cheese and wear only clothes we’ve made from their wool.’
‘Can we have alpacas? I like alpacas,’ says India.
‘We’d have to have dogs,’ says Keera. ‘And those big cats that look like baby lions – Maine Coons. I bet they’re very cuddly. Or the ones with no fur at all. Naked cats. Sphinxes. Someone could make them little sweaters. Not us, obviously. I can’t knit. Can you?’
‘No!’ says India, laughing.
They both stare out at the shimmering Ionian Sea.
‘No matter what Rose does, it’s got to help,’ Keera says. ‘I do like her. She’s got something really kind about her. She wouldn’t hurt us. But she looks so different now than she looked on TV.’
‘Right,’ agrees India. ‘She was very lady CEO onThe Talisman Effectbut now she’s sort of hippie-ish. It’s cool though, right?’
‘She can totally carry it off,’ Keera says. ‘Suits her better, to be honest. I like the floaty clothes and the hair …’
‘Yeah, the hair!’ says India. ‘Silver really suits her. She looks beautiful but I would never have recognised her if I hadn’t heard her voice.’
‘Wouldn’t it be lovely if we could lock ourselves in a room with Rose and get the high-speed fixing done on us first and then we can sunbathe the rest of the week while the rest of them get sorted.’
‘I like that plan!’
They look at each other and laugh again.
My mother loved him. Adored him. When I brought him home that first time, it was as if I’d found a prince among men.
‘I’m so delighted to meet you,’ he said, practically bowing to her. He took her hand and kissed it and my mother adored that.
Who the hell kisses hands? Nobody, that’s who.
Except for people like him, people who instinctively know which buttons to press. Even with my mother who was the supreme button-pusher.
‘It’s so lovely to meet you. Finally,’ my mother said in her phone voice, which was a bit pretend-posh to make our family seem better than it was. The dig about her finally meeting him was very her. Always a dig. A little bit of poison on the knife.
‘I can see where your daughter gets her good looks,’ he said, beaming at her.
She was beaming right back. Preening. Glad she’d worn lipstick and her frosted eyeshadow. She’d put in her overnight hair rollers too. A lot of work for a man.
‘Oh stop,’ she said, and she actually patted his arm with the hand that wasn’t holding her half-smoked cigarette.
My mother was not a toucher.
Affection was weaponised in our house.
Smiles and, sometimes, hugs in public. No real affection.
I should have let them have each other. Not that it would have lasted. Two raging narcissists.
Of course, I didn’t know what they were then.
I was naive.
There were four-year-olds out there with more awareness than I had.
I thought I was seeing my new man being happy to meet my mother, and I thought she was glad I had found someone to love me. I was so wrong.
Chapter Twelve
Dianne pulls off her trainers as soon as she gets back to her room. She wants to find her thongs so her feet can breathe.
