The Sisters (4 page)

‘Still? Why? He can practically hold the bottle himself,’ said Jessica.

‘Funny, that’s what Lou said this morning.’

‘Oh, she’s alive is she?’ Emma said sarcastically. ‘How is she?’

‘She’s ok, I think,’ Beatrice said, not quite sure if she should be the one to spread the great news.

‘You think?’ Emma asked, instinctively picking up that Beatrice was hiding something. ‘What’s going on with her?’

‘Well, she said that…’ Suddenly, Sam’s wails rang sharply from the baby monitor on the table. ‘I should go and see to him,’ Beatrice said as she got up and left the room.

‘I wonder what that was all about?’ Emma said as she took Beatrice’s place at the table.

‘I have no idea,’ said Jessica.

An hour later the kitchen table was filled with laughter and a hundred different conversations. Andrew’s absence had been noted and accepted but that didn’t usually stop Jessica from being the most boisterous one at the table. For her, quiet and sullen was unusual.

‘Are you alright, sis?’ Emma asked as she handed Jessica a bowl of apple crumble and custard.

‘I’m fine. Just a bit tired,’ Jessica replied. ‘Lena and I were up late watching a film.’

‘And watching VH1,’ Lena said with a smirk on her face as she stuffed her face with apple crumble.

Beatrice groaned. ‘Oh God, don’t tell me.’

Lena nodded her head, unable to resist the effort not to talk with her mouth full. ‘And there you all were, singing and dancing away.’

‘Those videos are so embarrassing. I don’t know why they still play them.’

‘Because you’re part of pop culture. I even caught one of the guys at work playing it on YouTube the other day,’ said Jake.

‘Bloody YouTube,’ Jessica muttered under her breath. ‘Maybe I can sue them for copyright infringement.’

‘Copyright infringement?’ Richard said. ‘Why would you want to…you know what never mind.’

‘Dad, you wouldn’t be saying that if you were the one all over the Internet. What video was it?’ Beatrice asked. Even though pop stardom had never been her dream, she was still proud of what she’d achieved. She had, after all, lived every teenage girl’s dreams.

‘Electrify,’ Lena said.

‘Oh God.’

‘Aunt Bea, it was a good video. You, mum and auntie Lou should have a reunion.’

‘That’s never going to happen,’ Emma snorted. ‘Pigs will fly before Princess Lucinda comes out of her ivory tower to grace the stage with her presence.’

‘Right, what’s going on?’ Emma asked once Lena had left the kitchen to take her younger cousins into the living room to watch television. She knew that her instincts were right when she saw her parents exchange a nervous glance.

‘Jess has hardly said a word all afternoon and you and dad are just being weird.’

‘Can you pass the wine please?’ Jessica said to Jake. Jake did what he was told. He’d learnt a very long time ago that when a LeSoeur drama was about to begin that it was best to sit back and say as little as possible.

‘Oh my God, you’re getting divorced aren’t you? Either that or you’re about to tell us that you’ve spent all our inheritance money,’ Emma said.

‘Don’t be so ridiculous,’ Felicia said as she got up and closed the kitchen door. ‘But there is something.’

Beatrice stared at Jessica, who was sitting opposite her, aware that she didn’t seem to be on high alert like the others. She looked like she’d already given up.

Richard, for some reason, decided that he should stand up. He pushed back his chair, stood up and said, ‘It has come back. The cancer is back.’ He then sat back down.

Jake spoke first. ‘Shit.’

‘What do you mean, it’s back? You’ve been in remission for five years. It can’t come back,’ said Emma.

‘Technically, it’s not back. It’s in a different place now, so I suppose that it’s a new cancer.’

‘Dad, I can’t believe that you’re making jokes. Why do you always make jokes?’ Beatrice said.

‘Where is it?’ asked Jake.

‘My pancreas.’

‘Well you’ve beaten it before. You’ll beat it again.’ At that point, as tears began to fall down Jessica face, Emma and Beatrice came to the same realisation.

‘You already knew?’ Beatrice said to Jessica.

‘It wasn’t for me to…’ said Jessica.

Emma began to shout. ‘You already knew and we’re only finding out now. How long have you known?’

‘Keep your voice down, Emma,’ Felicia snapped. ‘We only found out last week.’

‘A week. What’s wrong with you?’

‘Emma. Stop. We didn’t plan it this way.’

‘I can’t believe this. Nothing’s changed. You’re still keeping secrets.’

‘Well, I take it that Lucinda doesn’t know?’ Beatrice said. ‘What were you planning to do? Send her a press release.’

‘I tried to call her actually,’ Jessica said, feeling the need to defend herself. ‘But no, she doesn’t know.’

‘You tried to call her? What happened? Did you fall and bang your head?’ Emma said before storming out of the kitchen.

‘Mum was standing over me. I didn’t have much choice.’

‘Well, you can tell her yourself when you see her. She’s coming home,’ Beatrice said as she chased after Emma.

Felicia winced at the sound of the front door being slammed.

‘Well, I think that went rather well. Another glass Jake?’ Richard said as he picked up the bottle of wine.

‘I think that we’ll need something stronger,’ Jake said as he looked across at Jessica who was staring at him as though his wife had just announced that the anti-Christ had been invited to dinner.

‘WHAT WE’RE you thinking? What possessed you to tell them?’

‘You didn’t say it was supposed to be a secret,’ Beatrice replied as she stood in front of a mirror and rubbed serum into her face. She massaged, as instructed, the bags under her eyes and willed her ashy, almond toned skin to glow. The morning had been frantic. Jake had forgotten to set his alarm clock and Sam had slept longer than usual, which had meant they’d all overslept and the twins had been late for school. Beatrice almost didn’t recognise herself. Her hair was pulled into a rough ponytail and she could see her grey streak trying to push through. She had no idea when she’d last been to the hairdressers.

‘Are you still there?’ asked Lucinda. If she’d been the one paying for this call she’d have put the phone down ages ago.

‘Yes, I’m still here. Look, I’m sorry. It just came out.’

‘It just came out? How? Don’t tell me, mum asked you to pass the potatoes and you replied
oh by the way, Lou is moving back home
.’

‘It was apple crumble actually.’

‘Oh for fuck’s sake.’

‘And custard. I’d have preferred ice-cream myself.’

‘Beatrice!’ Lucinda shouted as she slumped back into her own bed.

‘What do you want me to say? I’m sorry. It came out. I didn’t know mum was going to call you.’

‘It’s our mother. What did you think she was going to do? She called me at three o’clock in the morning. Who does that? The least you could have done was warn me.’

‘What else did she have to say?’ Beatrice asked. She had no intention of telling Lucinda the news about their father. It wasn’t her news to give.

‘Not much really. Wanted to know why I was moving back, why she was the last to know, why I didn’t tell her myself.’

‘Hmmm, that’s the pot calling the kettle black,’ Beatrice said under her breath.

‘What did you say?’

‘Oh nothing. So what did you say to her?’

‘I told her to call me back at a sensible time. Honestly, the woman does my head in.’

‘She’s just concerned. You have to admit that it’s all a bit out of the blue.’

Beatrice threw the phone and herself onto the bed and stared up at the ceiling. There was a large crack, which Jake had promised that he’d get his mate to look at. That was almost a year ago. She looked at that crack and thought that it summed up the effect that Lucinda’s return was going to have when she finally turned up at the arrivals gate. If she was forced to admit it she was looking forward to her big sister coming home. She’d forgotten how isolating it was being at home. Yes, she was on maternity leave and it was important to be at home with her child during these early months; but the reality of the situation was that once the twins were at school, Jake had gone to work and the baby was down, it was just her. Well, her and Jeremy Kyle, Loose Women and the Real Housewives. She was lonely. The few friends she had were busy with work and so were her own sisters. Maybe, just maybe this would be a good time for Lucinda to come home. At least then she wouldn’t have to be alone.

Emma hadn’t slept well at all. After she’d calmed down, she stayed for as long as she could, in the vain hope that her dad would tell her there had been a mistake. It was almost midnight when her mum had kicked her out of the house. Emma had given up on getting any decent sleep and had found herself opening up the doors to the agency at 6.30am. The only other person in the office was the stationery deliveryman who was currently unloading boxes in the reception area. Not for the first time, Emma wondered why Jessica had even bothered to start the agency in the first place. If it’d been her, Emma would have followed Lucinda’s lead and gone solo or carried on as a duet with Beatrice. It wasn’t as if they didn’t have the talent to do it and the record companies had thrown money at them after Lucinda left, but Jessica, out of pride and stubbornness had refused.

‘What are you doing here so early?’ Jessica said as she walked in an hour later and stopped at the kitchen balancing a large box of croissants and an assortment of pastries in her hands, whilst her blue Celine bag hung from the crook of her arm. Emma put down her cup of coffee and took the box from her sister.

‘I had a crappy night. I kept thinking about Dad and then about Lou and all of the things I have to sort out in the flat.’

‘I’m sorry I didn’t tell you,’ Jessica said as she sat down.

‘It’s done now. That’s not to say that I’m not still pissed about it.’

‘I don’t blame you. If it makes you feel better, I only found out by accident. It wasn’t as though I was the first person they called.’

‘Have you spoken to Lou yet?’ Emma asked.

‘I’ve absolutely no intention of speaking to her.’

‘But she’s going to know that something is up. I mean when’s the last time that she’s had a missed call from you.’

‘She doesn’t have my number so she wouldn’t be any the wiser. Anyway, Bea can deal with her.’

‘I wonder why she’s suddenly upping sticks and coming back here?’ Emma said as she picked at a cinnamon and pecan whirl. ‘She hasn’t been back here for ages.’

‘Lucinda only ever thinks about herself. She’s a selfish cow and I promise you that whatever her reason for coming here, it’s for her own benefit.’

‘Even so…’

‘Ems, our priority at this time is Dad. Not Lucinda. In fact I’m going to make some calls this morning and try and get him an appointment with a private consultant. I’m not accepting what’s happening to him. Not with those rubbish odds.’

‘Good because I’m not doing this on my own. Not like last time.’ Emma had been living at home when their father was first diagnosed with cancer. She’d driven him to his chemo sessions and sat with him whilst he received his treatment. She’d also been with him when he’d spend his days either being sick or sitting in the garden playing chess. But that was five years ago. She wasn’t sure if she had the strength to go through it all again. Not after everything that she had been through.

‘If I was you, I’d accept the offer,’ Harrie said.

‘But they’re only offering $3.4million, Harrie. It’s like I’m paying them to take my house. It’s daylight fucking robbery.’

‘Lou, use your head. A cash buyer doesn’t come along every day. So you lose a hundred grand. So what? Just take the money and run.’

Lucinda was sitting in her best friend’s office, resisting the urge to run out screaming. Instead, she opened up her Smythson organiser and looked at her calculations. $3.4 million. After taxes, credit card debts, mortgage repayments, and converting dollars into sterling she’d be left with just over £200,000. Her stomach turned in response. To most people £200,000 would be a godsend and it’d relieve them of their troubles. But she wasn’t most people and £200,000 wasn’t enough for her. She couldn’t survive on that and the thought terrified her. She’d already spent her morning on the other side of the city being ripped off as she sold her collection of watches and jewellery. She felt humiliated even though she’d always been told by her grandmother that
gold was money
and would always help you if you were stuck. The owner of the jewellers had told her that she’d be surprised who had been in his shop over the last few years. That didn’t make her feel any better, and she’d felt even worse when she’d made arrangements to withdraw money from the twins’ college fund. Even though she kept telling herself that they wouldn’t have a future if she didn’t make these hard decisions, it still sickened her.

‘Fine, I’ll take the offer,’ Lucinda said. As she sat back in the leather armchair, she didn’t wipe away the tears that began to fall down her face.

‘Oh honey, don’t cry,’ Harrie said as she grabbed a handful of tissues from the box on her desk and handed them to Lucinda. ‘I don’t want you to go, Lou. I’m going to miss you like crazy but I wouldn’t be a true friend if I told you to stay.’

‘Are you out of your mind?’

‘Oi, watch your mouth,’ Lucinda said sharply.

‘Watch my mouth?’ Katelyn said matching her mother’s south London accent perfectly. ‘You make a decision that affects me and then you tell me to watch my mouth. You’re so selfish. Tell her Reece.’ Her twin brother didn’t say a word as he sat chewing his food staring straight ahead. ‘I don’t want to move. What about my friends? What about my life? You’re ruining my life,’ Katelyn said as she gave her brother a dirty look.

‘I’m ruining your life?’ Lucinda couldn’t help the laughter that escaped from her mouth as the memory of saying the same thing to her own mum, more than once, hit her. Lucinda didn’t try and stop her daughter as she stormed out of the kitchen and ran to her bedroom. The sound of Katelyn’s bedroom door slamming shut reverberated around the house.