The Secrets Sisters Keep: A heartwarming, funny and emotional novel (The Devlin Sisters Book 2) (32 page)

I
unlocked
the door and turned to Harry. ‘Ta-dah!’

‘Wow,’ he said, taking it all in.

We had worked non-stop for three months to get the place ready for the grand opening.

‘You’ve done incredible work. No wonder I’ve hardly seen you lately. The place is transformed. Well done.’ He kissed me.

‘I’m so happy, Harry. I haven’t felt this fulfilled in ages. I really feel like I’m doing something that matters. I’m not just going to be working but helping people, too. It’s brilliant. I feel alive again.’

Harry laughed. ‘I can see that.’

There was a knock on the door. Harry opened it. Dad, Gavin and Jack were carrying cases of wine, followed by Mum, Sophie and Shania, with platters of canapés. Jess came in behind them, bearing napkins and tablecloths. After Jess, came Louise and Colin, who were hidden behind huge bunches of flowers.

Louise put her flowers on the floor. ‘Thanks for being here, everyone. Only two hours to go until the official launch. Can you believe it’s actually happening?’ She beamed.

We all cheered.

‘How about a glass of wine?’ Gavin suggested.

‘Not yet! Too much to do,’ Louise said. ‘Right, if the men can sort out the wine, we’ll set up the flowers and the food. Gavin, I need you to organize the sound system for my speech and presentation.’

I went over to help Sophie with the flowers. We made up six beautiful bouquets and set them around the room.

‘Isn’t this exciting?’ I said. ‘Louise really is amazing.’

‘And so are you,’ Sophie said. ‘You’ve done so much work setting the place up. You’ve been a rock to Louise. You’re so good at handling her when she gets all tense and bossy.’

I grinned. ‘That comes from sharing a bedroom with her for sixteen years. Besides, I’ve loved working on this project.’

‘You seem so much happier, back to the old fun Julie.’

I paused. ‘I don’t think I realized how lost I was.’

‘Well, it’s great to see you back to yourself.’

‘Thanks. How are you? How was the date?’

Sophie wrinkled her nose. ‘It was OK. He was nice, but not my type. I’ve got five more lined up over the next month. The thing I like about this dating agency is that you just go for coffee with the guy so it was only thirty minutes out of my day.’

‘Are you talking about men?’ Jack stuck his head between us.

‘Yes.’ Sophie laughed. ‘I was telling her about my date.’

‘Forget him. I’ve got a great guy for you. Nigel works in my office. I know you’ll like him. He’s like me but not as good-looking and three years older.’

Sophie rolled her eyes. ‘Definitely not my type.’

‘I know your type.’

‘I’ve changed my taste since you.’ Sophie swatted him with a white rose.

Jack laughed. It was nice to see them getting on so well. In fact, it almost seemed like they were flirting.

Jess came over and stood between them. ‘What else can I do, Mum?’ she asked.

‘Could you help Granny with the food?’

‘Sure.’

‘Thanks, Jess, you’ve been great,’ I said.

‘It’s fun.’ Jess smiled and skipped over to her grandmother.

Jack’s phone rang. He looked down. The screen flashed ‘Pippa’. Without answering it, he put it back into his pocket.

‘Jack!’ Sophie scolded.

‘I’ll call her in ten minutes.’

‘She might need you. Robert could be running a temperature or something,’ Sophie said.

‘More likely she needs a soya milk latte urgently from Starbucks.’ He sighed.

‘Be nice. Robert’s still young – she’ll be back to her old self soon.’

‘Here’s hoping,’ he grumbled.

Sophie nudged him towards the door. ‘Thanks for helping. Now go home to Pippa.’

Jack left reluctantly.

I turned to Sophie. ‘You two seem to be getting on well.’

She smiled. ‘Much better, since his worship of Pippa wore off. But I’m worried. He needs to make more of an effort with her – they’re fighting a lot. I really don’t want them to break up. It’d be bad for Jess.’

‘Not if you got back together with him,’ I said, looking at her sideways.

‘Don’t be silly.’ Blushing, she scurried off to help Jess and Mum with the canapés.

Louise and Colin were deep in conversation about her speech. I heard Louise say, ‘I want to talk about their special qualities and talents.’

Colin nodded. ‘Absolutely. Why don’t you take out that paragraph and move it there?’ He pointed at the screen.

Louise frowned. ‘No, because then 
that
 won’t make sense.’ She thumped her leg in frustration. ‘Oh, God, it’s all wrong. It has to be perfect.’

Colin took her chin and turned her face towards him. ‘No, it doesn’t. It needs to be heartfelt and passionate, which it is and you are. Now, stop fussing over every syllable and talk from your heart.’ He kissed her gently on the lips.

I could see the tension melt away as Louise responded.

‘Get a room!’ Gavin shouted.

‘Stop that,’ Mum hissed. ‘She’s finally met a nice man who seems to like her 
and
 Clara. Under no circumstances is anyone to mess it up. I want to see Louise settled and happy, and Colin seems very suitable.’

‘It’s awesome to see Louise being like an actual woman and not just kicking arse,’ Shania said.

‘I agree with you there. I was worried if any man would be up for the challenge of being Louise’s boyfriend,’ Dad said.

‘She’s brilliant. Any man would be lucky to have her,’ I defended my sister.

Gavin snorted. ‘Dude, we know she rocks, but she’s no picnic for a guy. She gives off this very I-don’t-need-a-man-in-my-life vibe.’

‘Well, Colin doesn’t seem intimidated,’ Harry pointed out, with a smile, as the loved-up pair continued to kiss.

A
t exactly six
forty-five we were all standing in the reception area of the Clara Devlin Foundation building. Everyone was tired, but happy. The place looked wonderful. There was a feeling of anticipation and excitement, and we couldn’t stop grinning at each other. It was a mixture of delight, relief and disbelief that we’d actually pulled it off.

Christelle had arrived with the triplets, Tom and Clara. We’d kept them away for as long as we could while we got ready. Harry had wisely brought an iPad for the boys to watch a movie on. Clara was talking to Colin about birds.

Louise tapped her glass to get our attention. ‘Does everyone have a drink?’

We nodded.

‘Well, before the guests and the press arrive for the official opening, I want to say a few words. None of this would have been possible without your help. I’ve been blown away by your enthusiasm, commitment and hard work. I wanted this foundation to be perfect, and because of you all, I think it is.’ With her voice quivering, Louise turned to Clara. ‘Sweetheart, you are the reason we’re here today. Your amazing spirit, personality and courage inspired me to set up this foundation. You’re such a wonderful little girl and I’m so proud to be your mum.’

I stifled a sob, then saw that everyone had tears in their eyes.

‘I’m proud of you, too, Mummy,’ Clara said.

Harry handed me a tissue.

‘I don’t want to single anyone out, but I do have to say two extra special thank-yous to Julie and Gavin, who have devoted themselves to this project. Honestly, guys, I’ll never be able to thank you enough.’

‘I’ll take cash,’ Gavin said, allowing us all a much-needed laugh.

Louise smiled. ‘So, if you’d raise your glasses, please help me to toast the Clara Devlin Foundation!’

We cheered loudly and took a sip of our wine. I looked around at my wonderful, colourful, crazy, dysfunctional, warm, supportive, close family and felt so happy.

Our future seemed bright and filled with promise.

D
ear Reader
,

Thank you! Thank you for putting aside time in your busy life to read my book. I really hope you enjoyed reading about the Devlin sisters and their trials and tribulations.

I think families are so fascinating. Julie, Louise and Sophie are all very different and face many challenges in the book.

I’m very close to my own family and when things go wrong, they are the people I turn to. I think this is the same in the case of the sisters.

I’ve had a really great reaction to the character Clara. I did a huge amount of research into Autism and Asperger’s Syndrome and I must say I totally fell in love with Clara as I was writing her character. I hope you did too.

Research is one of the best parts of being a writer. I always learn so much before I sit down to write a book as I like to immerse myself in research. I think if you are passionate about your subject matter, it will translate to the readers – I hope so anyway!

My Mum was a writer so I grew up surrounded by books and manuscripts and it was a great inspiration to me to watch my Mum working on her books.

I’d love to know how you felt about the book, all comments and reactions are most welcome. Feedback is so important and valuable for all writers, it’s how we connect with our readers, so please do get in touch.

Thanks again for taking the time to read my book, I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it. If you enjoyed it, perhaps you’d be kind enough to recommend it to your friends and family too. And if you’d like to keep up-to-date with all my latest releases, just sign up at the link below:

G
ratefully yours
,

S
inéad

P
.S.
if you loved
The Secret’s Sisters Keep
then you would also love
Me and My Sisters
,
available here
!

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