“I thought I’d surprise them.” Her sunny smile was just a disguise.
“You have till the end of tonight to tell me what’s going on, else I’ll bring it up at breakfast tomorrow.”
Libbie had finagled her way to the door, hanging half off Jez in the blink of an eye.
Jerrica nodded. “Fine. After they’ve gone to bed. Can I get into your wine?”
“Tonight, yes. But when you’re on duty with the girls – no.” I gave her a look I hoped was stern. I’d been trying to practice it for when Libbie was older, so it was good I had a while yet before I needed to use it.
Jez gave me a smile that I’d seen her use to get out of lots of things that she shouldn’t when we were growing up. “Thank you. And Jerrica-the-au-pair will be on duty tomorrow.”
“We’ll see.” Although we both knew the answer would be yes, because I’d never said no to my sister in all of her twenty-seven years.
My parents were not night owls and enjoyed using the excuse that they needed to be up early so I could have a lie-in and they could look after the girls for their own early night. By the time ten o’clock struck, my mum had been back down for a cup of hot milk to help her sleep and my dad had visited the bathroom twice, then finally started snoring.
Jerrica was on her third glass of wine and pretending to read a book on her Kindle.
“Spit it out; the anticipation’s killing me.”
She put her Kindle down. “I’ve sold my business.”
I wanted to be surprised, but I wasn’t. This wasn’t unusual. “Okay. Why?”
She took a large mouthful of wine. “Because I had an offer from a competing planning company that I couldn’t refuse. If I’d refused it, I would’ve needed to have put twice as much effort into it because they’d just try to run me into the ground, and I didn’t have the energy for that.”
Which meant she’d lost interest.
“How much did you get?” The business was relatively young, but she had enjoyed success with it already.
“Fifty K. Enough to keep me going for a couple of years if I wanted to, or start something up. I just don’t know what. So I thought you might need a nanny.” She put the glass down. “I can live in. I have no other commitments. I don’t want to be near to mum and dad because they will be breathing down my neck and on at me to do something meaningful – like join a convent.”
That had once been suggested to her by our grandmother, who was a staunch Catholic.
“What do you want to do?” Because my sister was desperate for a vocation, but she hadn’t found it yet.
“Clear my head and have a think. Six months and I’ll have to have a plan. I have some ideas, but I need to think them through properly.” She picked up her wine glass again. “And I can help you out. I know Megs has been doing tons for you, but it’s not the same as having someone living in.”
I nodded because she was right. Chan’s mum had moved in with us when we got Chan’s diagnosis and knew it was terminal. There was no way I’d have managed without her, until I had to. Jez being here would actually be useful, as long as she didn’t start causing havoc.
“It’s a deal. But you tell mum and dad when I take the girls out tomorrow. I don’t need to dig you out of the hole they’re going to try and stick you in.” I also didn’t need to witness their disappointment, because that would make me feel bad for everyone, especially if our mum started on thelook at poor Nate carrying on after his wife died and you can’t even hold down a job, which wasn’t fair on either of us. I hated their pity and Jez didn’t deserve to be compared, which could sometimes be my parents’ default position when it came to us.
She nodded. “Agreed. It’s easier if you’re not there, then I don’t have any witnesses to their inevitable disappointment, although I do see their point, Nate. I’m approaching thirty and I don’t have any sniff of a career.”
“Which isn’t the be all and end all, Jez. You have your degree, and you don’t have any debt. Selling your business for fifty grand is pretty successful – it isn’t like you owe a ton of money and you’ve nothing to show for it.” Because my little sister generally made a success of whatever she chose to do, she just didn’t like doing it for very long. “Book a holiday.”
“Did you just tell me to book a holiday?” She looked like I’d just told her to jump off a cliff into a dried up lake.
“In the off season. I’ll be taking the girls away. Book a holiday. A retreat or something.” I thought of Amber. “Go and learn to teach yoga in India or somewhere hot.”
She shook her head. “I may book a couple of weeks somewhere hot and sunny, with a hunky waiter to tend to my every need, but I’ll pass on the yoga teacher training. Are you still doing hot yoga?”
I’d managed not to think about Amber up until that point. “I am. I should have a class tomorrow.” Although Heidi was down to teach it. “Join me if you want.”
“Maybe. If Mum and Dad have let me live.”
I laughed, knowing she’d be facing their abject disappointment for the next couple of weeks and I’d have phone calls from them where they raised their concerns that Jerrica was turning in to a lay-about, and was a step away from turning to a life of crime.
“So.” She topped up her wine glass. “How’s your hot yoga teacher?”
