‘What must you think of us?’ Pam asked, accepting her drink with a weak smile.
‘You didn’t do this,’ I said gently. ‘You can’t blame yourself. This was Ingrid’s decision and you’re making the best of a bad situation.’
Janice and Richie added their support for that and Janice, evidently noticing that the box of tissues on the breakfast bar was empty, retrieved a spare box from a cupboard and handed it to Pam who took one and blew her nose.
‘Would it be okay if I find Lucy and the twins?’ I asked.
To murmurs of approval, I left the kitchen. I’d been to the house on several occasions but had never been upstairs so I wasn’t sure which one was Lucy’s room, but Ifollowed the sound of the music. There’d been a lot of noise earlier as though they were jumping up and down, but that had stopped a while ago.
I knocked on the partially open door and pushed it open. ‘Am I okay to come in?’
Lucy was sitting on the floor, propped up against her bed, and the twins were giggling as they did her make-up – or rather they were using their fingers to smear vivid colours from a large make-up palette across her eyelids and cheeks.
‘That’s very… erm… colourful,’ I said, smiling.
‘Christmas gift from my mother.’ The sarcasm in Lucy’s tone conveyed exactly what she thought of that gift. ‘So I thought the twins could put it to good use.’
I crouched down beside them. ‘Hello, my name’s Tara. It’s lovely to meet you both. What are your names?’
‘I’m Piper. I’m three.’ She held up three pudgy make-up-covered fingers. ‘I’m a fairy.’
‘I can see that. A very pretty fairy.’ I glanced at her sister. ‘And what’s your name?’
‘S’vannah,’ she said. ‘I’m three and I’m a fairy.’ She picked up her glittery wand and waved it at me.
‘You’re a very pretty fairy too. Are you turning Lucy into a fairy?’
They both giggled again and Piper dipped her finger into a deep purple lip gloss and drew a stripe across Lucy’s cheek.
‘Ooh! That’s lovely,’ I said, trying to stifle my laughter. Poor Lucy looked like something out of a horror film.
‘Where’s Dad?’ she asked.
‘He’s gone for a walk with Aaron.’
She nodded and I suspected she wanted to ask more but recognised that quizzing me in front of the twins wasn’t the best idea.
‘I think that’s probably enough make-up for now,’ Lucy said. ‘Let’s wash your hands and we can show everyone what talented make-up artists you are.’
They didn’t look as though they wanted to stop but Lucy’s suggestion that they also get some juice won them over.
I joined Lucy in the bathroom to help her wash their hands.
‘I’m not sure I dare look in the mirror,’ she said.
‘Probably best not to.’
Lucy settled the twins in the lounge in front of a Tinkerbell film she’d found on streaming. Billy had retrieved their non-spill cups from the car and they were sipping from those, looking pretty much unaffected by the events of the afternoon.
Aaron and Jed arrived back and Jed mouthed ‘he’s okay’ to everyone as he followed Aaron into the kitchen.
‘The twins are in the lounge with Lucy,’ Janice told them.
Aaron wandered into the lounge and I smiled as I heard a cry of, ‘Woah! That’s intense.’
‘The twins have done Lucy’s make-up,’ I told Jed. ‘It’s pretty special. You should see it for yourself.’
‘I should probably meet the twins properly too,’ he said.
