‘Say again?’ Rose said, appearing from the bathroom. ‘Sorry, I didn’t hear you.’
‘Nothing,’ she said, shuffling over to face Rose as she slotted herself neatly between the covers.
‘I know you well enough to know it isn’t nothing, Maddy. Your eyebrows are doing that thing.’
‘What “thing”?’ Madeleine wasn’t aware her eyebrows did anything out of the ordinary.
‘One of them kinks up when you’re unhappy about something.’
‘Does it?’
Rose tied a loose band around her curls, then nodded. She slid fully beneath the covers.
‘I was just thinking that I’ve eaten too much this week. Thinking I should perhaps rein it in a little.’ She patted her stomach under the covers. ‘You know, to maintain the sculpted quality of my body.’
Rose grinned. ‘That’s the trouble with the mountain air. Makes everyone super-hungry.’
‘Doesn’t seem to make Tania overly hungry. Or Clara. Just me.’
‘And me. Stop pouting, Maddy. It doesn’t suit you.’ Rose shuffled further, settling in. ‘And anyway, Clara’s far too preoccupied to notice anything much, let alone food. At least, that’s what I thought. But I wanted to talk to you about that.’
‘Clara’s eating habits?’
‘No, dimwit. Although it’s not totally unrelated. No. Her and Tom.’
‘I think it’s nice that she’s getting on so well with him. Don’t you? I mean, surely it’s a sign she’s beginning to feel better about … things?’
‘Do you really think so?’
Madeleine frowned. She didn’t feel qualified to hold an opinion on how Clara was behaving. Or feeling. ‘I don’t know. I don’t suppose it can be a smooth path, can it? Learning to live with the loss will take as long as it takes, don’t you think? And I’m not sure how anyone ever learns to live with losing a child. Do you?’
Rose sighed. ‘No. I don’t.’
They lay quietly for a while, then Madeleine said, ‘How long were Clara and Mike together?’
‘Forever. I can’t remember exactly, but she might even have met him before she met Tania. They got married the summer after she finished art school and got her first contract to illustrate children’s books. He never came to the lodge, though.’
‘Why not?’
‘He didn’t fancy learning to ski.’
Madeleine stretched out her legs. At least they were no longer full-on painful, but they were firmly lodged high up on the scale of aches. ‘I don’t blame him, it’s not exactly a walk in the park.’
‘You’re doing brilliantly.’
‘Hmm.’ Closing her eyes, she allowed herself to enjoy the pocket of warm air forming around her. ‘I think it has to be a good thing,’ she said, her voice muffled by the pillow. ‘Clara liking Tom, I mean.’
‘Are you playing fairy godmother again?’ Rose said, her voice equally muffled.
‘Not really. I mean, just because they like one another, it doesn’t mean anything’s going to happen, does it?’
‘No. I suppose not.’ Rose sighed. ‘It’s just that … I hope Tom doesn’t take advantage of her. I don’t think she’s really thinking straight, and I can’t believe she’s looking for someone new. So, I suppose what I’m saying is I hope he doesn’t get the wrong idea.’
‘Or maybe she’s found someone to have an uncomplicated chat with. Someone who doesn’t have the same closeness to her situation that you and Tania have. Maybe it’s as simple as that.’
‘Maybe.’
At some point, Rose clicked off the bedside light, plunging the room into almost complete darkness. She shuffled herself into Madeleine’s warm air, running a cool arm around her neck as she drew in close. Smiling in the darkness, Madeleine allowed her fingers to track across the silky smoothness of Rose’s camisole shorts. ‘Will you tell me?’
