Page 45 of The Half Sister

‘No, why would you think that?’

There’s a momentary pause before Kate says, ‘Because you were out last night.’

Lauren’s shoulders slump forward. Rose had obviously beat her to it.

‘About that,’ says Lauren. ‘Did Mum say anything?’

‘Unfortunately, I went round there,’ says Kate.

‘Shit!’ says Lauren, under her breath.

‘So, do you want to tell me what’s going on?’

Lauren feels like a blunt instrument is being ground into her chest. ‘I’m sorry, I told her I was with you.’

‘I know,’ says Kate. ‘But we all know that you weren’t.’

‘Shit!’ says Lauren again.

‘If you’d given me the heads up, I might have been able to cover for you, but...’

‘Well, she did a good job of pretending,’ says Lauren. ‘Look, I’m really sorry, I didn’t mean to put anyone in an awkward position.’

‘No, but now that you have, do you want to tell me where you were?’

Lauren’s jaw tightens as her teeth grind against each other. ‘I don’t want you to get mad...’ she says, surprising herself that it still matters to her what Kate thinks. ‘But, it’s just that...’

‘You know this is never going to end well, don’t you?’ says Kate, cutting her off.

Lauren pulls herself up. How could Kate possibly know that she met Justin? Had someone seen them after all? Would that same person tell Simon? An icy terror courses through her veins, as she imagines what he might be capable of. The thought of him using the children against her makes it feel as if her heart’s stopped working.

‘Can I just explain...?’ says Lauren.

‘I can’t tell you what to do,’ says Kate. ‘You’re just going to have to find out the hard way.’

‘But you have no idea what it’s been like for me,’ says Lauren.

‘Listen, spare me the “woe is me” line. We’re all in the same boat, but if you want to see Jess for whatever reason, that’s up to you.’

‘Jess?’ Lauren exclaims. ‘But...’

‘Just know that it’s your problem when it all goes wrong, because itwillall go wrong.’

Lauren’s brain feels as if it’s about to explode as she weighs up using Jess as her excuse for lying, wondering which is the lesser of two evils.

‘I’m sorry I lied,’ she says, opting to go with what Kate believes. ‘But I know you’d rather I didn’t see her.’

‘You can do what you like,’ says Kate. ‘But you need to be absolutely sure you know what you’re getting yourself into.’

She makes it sound as if Lauren’s doing something dangerous, but then she reminds herself that she wasn’t with Jess. The realization of who shewaswith chills her to the bone.

‘I know what I’m doing,’ she says hesitantly.

‘I hope, forallour sakes, that you do,’ says Kate.

20

Kate

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