Book Club Reads: 3-Book Collection: Yesterday’s Sun, The Sea Sisters, Someone to Watch Over Me. Amanda Brooke

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      ‘You know where I am if you need me,’ Jocelyn told her as she too backed out of the kitchen. ‘And you might want to check the oven. I think I can smell burning,’ she shouted before disappearing from view.

      Holly opened the oven door and a cloud of smoke hit her between the eyes. She was busily wafting the smoke out through the kitchen door when Tom appeared. ‘How’s it going?’ he asked.

      Holly was just about to scream at him to get out of the kitchen but he had picked up her wine and was refilling her glass.

      ‘You look like you could do with a drink,’ he told her.

      ‘I really shouldn’t,’ she said, ‘but one more glass couldn’t do any harm. I think all the damage that could be done, has been done.’

      ‘It smells delicious,’ Tom said brightly. He was deliberately avoiding making eye contact with Holly or looking towards the billowing smoke coming from the oven.

      ‘You’re a big fat liar, but I love you for saying it. Is everyone all right in there?’

      ‘Yes, they’re getting on like a house on fire. Sorry, no pun intended.’ Holly hit him with a tea towel before letting him continue. ‘Jocelyn and my mum are chatting away like old friends.’

      Holly knocked back the glass of wine and lifted up her empty glass for a refill.

      Tom lifted up the wine bottle to show Holly that it was now empty.

      ‘There’s plenty more where that came from,’ she replied, tipping her head towards the fridge.

      ‘How long will dinner be?’ Tom asked tentatively. He was probably calculating if she could serve dinner before she was totally trashed.

      ‘By my guess, it was ready half an hour ago. It’s now over cooked and burnt.’

      ‘At least we don’t have to clear space in here and can eat in the conservatory,’ Tom commented. He braved a look at the kitchen table, which didn’t have an inch of spare space.

      Holly took a deep breath to clear her head. ‘Oh, I give up,’ she said. ‘Give me a hand serving this up. Do you think I should stick a pizza in the oven just in case?’

      ‘It’ll be fine,’ Tom assured her.

      The smell of fresh paint in the conservatory was quickly beaten into submission by the aroma of stewed vegetable with the faintest hint of burning. It was early afternoon but the day was already fading fast. At least the subdued lighting made the food look almost edible, thought Holly. They had borrowed a long table and chairs from the teashop to seat them all.

      ‘It’s lovely,’ smiled Jocelyn, taking her first mouthful of Holly’s roast dinner. Holly heard a distinct crunch as Jocelyn bit down on a roast potato.

      ‘Delicious,’ confirmed Diane sweetly.

      ‘It reminds me of Diane’s cooking,’ Jack offered. Diane raised an eyebrow at her husband. ‘In the early days, I mean,’ he clarified.

      ‘You mean to say Mum couldn’t cook either when you first got married?’ Tom was laughing but one look at Holly silenced him.

      ‘It’s awful, isn’t it?’ Holly admitted. She took a long swig of wine to wash away the bitter taste of disappointment.

      There was a chorus of denials and compliments and everyone made a concerted effort to fill their mouths with food.

      ‘It’s nice to have a home-cooked meal. You don’t know how much I’ve missed being home,’ Tom told them all.

      ‘And we’ve missed you,’ Holly replied. She was staring intently at Tom but from the corner of her eye, she could see beyond him and into the garden. She could see the pale form of the moondial in its dustsheet glowing in the twilight like an ever-present ghost.

      Holly sipped her wine, listening intently as Tom described his time in Haiti. The experience had left its mark and it was going to take a long time before he’d be able to put it all behind him, if he ever could. Holly was more certain than ever that putting off telling Tom about the moondial was the right thing to do.

      ‘It’s just so frightening to see lives and communities wiped out in one single event,’ he was telling Jocelyn.

      ‘None of us can take life for granted,’ agreed Holly sadly.

      Jocelyn gave Holly a guarded look but said nothing.

      ‘I’m sure this chicken didn’t see it coming,’ Jack said, laughing at his own joke until his wife prodded him.

      ‘It’s a lovely conservatory,’ Diane said, trying to move the conversation to safer ground.

      ‘Yes, Billy’s done a lovely job,’ agreed Jocelyn.

      ‘We came up with the design together,’ Tom said proudly. ‘Mostly Billy, I have to admit. And then of course there was my dear wife’s interference. The doors were supposed to be at the side, but Holly changed the plans at the last minute.’

      ‘Yes,’ added Holly, ‘you can always change plans or they can be changed for you. Makes me wonder why we bother with them in the first place.’

      Her head was becoming a fuzzy mess, a mixture of too much wine and a growing realization that she really had so little control over her future. Tears were welling in her eyes and she became aware that the others had fallen silent and were all looking at her with growing concern. She hadn’t cried since the fateful trip to Hardmonton Hall and she had hoped she had contained her tears once more, but they never seemed to be too far from the surface. ‘If you’ll excuse me, I think I need a glass of water,’ she said, jumping up and quickly heading out to the kitchen.

      She took a long drink of water as she tried to clear the fog in her head.

      ‘Hol, what’s wrong?’ Tom had followed her out and he walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, resting his head on her shoulder.

      ‘I just don’t think I like plans any more. You can’t always assume that you can have everything you want in life. Life doesn’t work like that.’

      ‘Is this about our five-year plan? Have you changed your mind?’ asked Tom. He kept his tone light but his body had tensed.

      Holly didn’t answer him. She needed to be sober to have that particular conversation and preferably when they weren’t in the middle of entertaining guests.

      ‘Please tell me you still want a baby,’ Tom persisted. He was used to Holly’s reluctance but he had obviously assumed that all her doubts had been put to rest now their plans for the future had been committed to paper.

      Holly turned to face him, a swell of anger in her throat as she sensed herself being forced into a corner. ‘I want to be a mother, yes. I want that with all my heart. But why do we always have to want more? Why can’t we just appreciate what we have now?’ she hissed, trying to keep her voice low.

      ‘Do you think I don’t know that? After what I’ve seen?’ Tom countered.

      ‘Then you СКАЧАТЬ