Page 10 of The Book Swap

“Sorry. Forgot you were there.”

It’s something she used to do, after Mum and Dad broke up. Often she’d find me in bed at Dad’s and just climb in beside me without saying anything. It’s the only happy memory I have of that time.

“Coffee?” she asks, and I frown because there’s no way Georgia’s going to get up and make us both a coffee. There’s something suspicious going on.

“Ye—” I start to say, as she shouts over the top of me.

“Morning, Mum!”

“Morning, darling. Coffee?” comes Mum’s voice from the bottom of the stairs and I roll my eyes as Georgia winks at me.

“Yes, please. Erin’s up too.”

I can already hear Mum walking back to the kitchen and saying something to Derek.

“Did you seriously think you could get through a whole weekend staying at Mum’s house without seeing either of them?” Georgia says, folding her pillow in half and turning to face me.

“I’ve managed it before.”

“They were on holiday, in Greece.”

“So?”

She bites her lip. Squints. “Why do you think James was there last night?”

I push myself up and rest my head against the wall behind me, pulling my legs up toward me. I even prefer talking about Mum to this.

“No clue, but it was disrespectful. To Bonnie, and to me.”

“It was a weird decision. I wonder if there’s a part of him that—”

“Please don’t do some weird therapist analysis. He probably just realized it had been years since he made my life a misery, and it was time to try again.”

“Yes. I imagine it was all about you, Erin. As per...”

“Coffee’s down here,” Mum shouts, and Georgia jumps up and pulls on some leggings, before walking toward the door. She stops and waits.

“Bring mine up,” I say, looking down at my nails where the white varnish has started to chip.

“No,” she says, and opens the door. “We’re coming,” she shouts.

I let out an exaggerated cry and fling my legs out of the bed, following her.

Derek’s sitting at the table and he’s a third of the way through a book that came out last year. It totally divided readers between those who loved it and those who thought it was trying too hard. I was part of the adoration camp and I want to know what he thinks, but I won’t ask.

Mum walks up to Georgia and hands her a mug.

“Thanks, hot stuff,” Georgia says, kissing Mum on the cheek before sitting down beside Derek.

Mum hands me a mug and I take it, going to the end of the table.

Derek puts his book down and smiles at us both.

“Lovely to see it’s my wonderful stepdaughters joining us this morning, not the herd of elephants I heard thundering up the stairs last night.”

He stands up, dressed in tennis whites, and pushes his glasses up his nose. Picking up the mug in front of him, he downs the contents before walking over to the cooker, where Mum’s placing bacon on a grill pan.

“See you later, darling. I’ll pick up the papers on the way back.”

---