Page 18 of Sisters Making Mischief
I took a deep breath. ‘Oh, you know. I think I might be all Christmas-ed out. This gap between Christmas and New Year always is a bit unsatisfactory, isn’t it?’
‘Are they being terrible? Are the girls fighting? Is Vanessa feeling out of sorts because she can’t go shopping? Is Sara moping around because of Marty?’
I stood up and dropped the wad of dripping kitchen roll into the bin.
‘All of the above,’ I said.
‘Poor you. When are they going?’
‘John says they are going home the day after tomorrow. Sara has asked if she and the girls can stay on, she can’t face going back home if Marty is going to be there. She seems to think he will have the new woman ensconced already.’
‘Hewouldn’t?’
‘I’ve no idea.’
‘So how long for? Sara and the twins, I mean.’
I lowered my voice to a conspiratorial level. ‘She started off saying a few days and then somehow it changed to a few weeks.’
Isabel gasped, and there was a silence which went on uncomfortably long as we both thought of something sensible to say. In the background I could hear a lot of shouting going on in my sitting room. Some argument about the television remote.
‘What on earth is that racket? What’s happening?’ Isabel said at last.
‘Sara’s sorting out the girls. In her own fashion.’
There was another lull in our conversation and then Isabel gave an excited ‘oooh’.And then an even more excited squeak.
‘What? What’s the matter?’
‘Joy, I’ve had one of my fabulous ideas. Come and stay with menow,’ she said, ‘have some fun for once.’
For a brief moment it was as though a door had opened up, and through it came the tempting and unrealistic visionof French sunshine, happy people, decent coffee, and garlic scented cassoulet. And the possibility of fun? That sounded very appealing.
‘I’m not sure,’ I said rather unconvincingly.
I was conflicted, confused by my own feelings. I knew that since my divorce I had been increasingly lonely, I had retired from a busy life teaching, and then almost immediately found myself living alone. Everything I was used to had changed. Where once there had been people, activities, and sometimes hardly a moment to myself, I was now living in a house that needed hardly any work, and occasionally I didn’t speak to anyone all day. And yet when the house was full of people and noise and bustle, that left me stressed and anxious. What was the matter with me?
‘You were going to come over here anyway, once Christmas and the New Year were over. You promised. Leave Sara and the girls to get on with things in your house, they probably need some time to process everything, things that you can’t do for them even if you wanted to. You could stay in one of thegîtes, I think there might be one ready by the time you get here, the one you stayed in last time, and the other one that’s being renovated, that should be ready too if my sons ever get their act into gear. Oooh, or you could move into the new shepherd’s hut when it arrives. It is so cute and cosy, really, it would be such fun. You could be our first guest in there, like a sort of product tester, and then you can let us know what changes we need to make. You could help me with thebrocante. I’ve got such a lot of new things that need sorting out. It would be lovely to see you again. You haven’t been to see me for so long. Nearly three years.’
‘John is going to America,’ I said sadly.
‘And? You’re planning to pack for him and take them to the airport?’
‘Well, no. Of course not,’ I said, wondering if I should do exactly that.
No, of course I shouldn’t, what a ridiculous thought. He was a grown man with a wife, a family and a career. He wasn’t a kid needing lifts to football training or scouts.
‘Right then, it’s all settled. You can get John and his family off and leave Sara and the twins to calm down.’
‘She did say she needed time alone to think,’ I said, warming to the idea.
‘And this would be her chance to have exactly that.’
‘I don’t think it’s quite what she had in mind,’ I said.
‘No, I bet she thought you would just take over and be your usual efficient self, clearing up after them while she sits around doing nothing at all and the twins run you both ragged,’ Isabel said.
Yes, my sister was probably right, I had imagined this scenario already, only too well. But would it be a good thing to do, to leave her in my house while I went off to visit Isabel? Surely that was unacceptable. Bad mother alert.
