The Christmas Sisters

“For once in our lives we need to have a serious, sensible conversation, and if you drink too fast, you won’t be able to walk.”

“In case you hadn’t noticed, I’m experiencing a crisis in my love life. I’m allowed whatever comfort I need, particularly as I’m not getting it from my sisters.”

Beth was frowning. “What did you mean about dancing round pizza?”

Posy shook her head. “Nothing. And can I just say that I’m not finding either of you particularly sympathetic to my plight.”

“I don’t see your plight.” Beth took a sip of her wine. “You’ve been having sex with a steaming-hot guy. And you said you didn’t want me to protect you.” But she leaned across and gave Posy a hug.

“Oh.” That hug threw Posy. “I thought you were mad.”

“Not with you. You weren’t to know he was a rat. There were no outward signs of ratlike behavior.”

“We don’t know he’s a rat.” Hannah twisted the top of her water and poured half of it into her glass. “He may genuinely care for Posy.”

“So why didn’t he tell her the truth?”

“Because life is never as simple as you seem to think it is.” Hannah put her gloves on the table, stacking one on top of the other so that the fingers matched up exactly and from the top it looked like a single glove. “I suppose we should brace ourselves for the fact that Suzanne will be upset when we go home. That conversation is going to have brought it all back. She didn’t look that great when we left.”

Posy hated the idea that Suzanne might be upset. She hated even more the thought that Luke might be the reason for it.

Aidan put a plate of sticky toffee pudding in front of Beth. “Can I get you ladies anything else?”

Posy took the spoons from him. “No, this is great. Thanks, Aidan.” She waited until he was out of earshot before speaking again. “I admit I’m pretty mad with Luke for not saying something right away. It’s a weird feeling knowing you’ve been intimate with a man who wasn’t who you thought he was. It feels as if I’ve been sleeping with two different people. Does that make me unfaithful?”

“How could you not know? Didn’t you do an internet search?” Beth removed the clip from her hair and then bent and pulled a lipstick out of her bag. She swiped it onto her lips.

Posy was momentarily distracted. “How can you do that without a mirror? And why isn’t it all over your face?”

“Because I know where my mouth is. Surely the first thing you do when you date a new man is an internet search. He could have been a serial killer.”

“Because serial killers generally post all their details on the internet so their victims are warned in advance. And I did a search. I searched for Luke Whittaker and it gave me information on Luke Whittaker. Oddly enough, there was no message there saying, Hey, Posy, Luke Whittaker is actually Luke Palmer and his parents were killed at the same time as yours. I guess the internet isn’t as reliable as people think. And, by the way, your job as my sister is to offer support, not make me feel like an idiot. I’m hurt, too, you know?”

Beth slid her lipstick back into her bag. Her cheeks were flushed. She looked awkward and guilty. “We didn’t mean to hurt you, but you needed to know the truth. You were the one who said that sisters are supposed to tell each other the truth.”

“If the truth is so important to you, why didn’t you talk to me about the phone calls?”

“We didn’t talk to each other, either.” Hannah, ever logical, tried to defuse the situation. “We never talk about the accident.”

Posy knew she was probably overreacting, but she felt attacked and, yes, a little stupid.

She dug her spoon into Beth’s pudding. Talking like this with her sisters was new to her. She wasn’t sure what she thought of it. Right now, she didn’t feel so great. On the other hand, it was good to know her sisters were in her corner even if they had gone about it the wrong way.

“We didn’t know he was going to show up here,” Beth said. “We thought by ignoring his call, the whole thing would go away. This time of year makes me tense.”

Hannah sipped her water. “It makes us all tense. Why do you think I skipped it last year?”

“You said it was because you had a pressing need to be somewhere else on business.”

“I lied.” Hannah put the glass back down. “I was going to come. Right up until check-in opened for the flight, and then I chickened out.”

Posy wondered why a trip home would require courage. “What happened?”

Hannah dipped her head and her silver earrings gleamed in the firelight. “I couldn’t face everyone working so hard to pretend they love Christmas.”

“I love Christmas,” Posy said. “I genuinely love Christmas. I love the smell of fir trees, and cinnamon cookies, kids being excited—”

“If you love Christmas so much, why are you always so stressed about everything?”