“We’re not allowed to eat in our rooms,” Molly said and Flora gave her an apologetic look.
“I know.”
“Why did you want to eat in your room? Don’t you like us?”
Flora felt Izzy’s tension and knew she had to find a way to pro
tect Izzy, while at the same time not offending Molly and not flagging to Jack that there was an issue. She had no idea how to handle the situation. When it came to the intricacies of family life, she was a beginner. “I was feeling a little tired, but I’m better now.”
Izzy fiddled with her bread. “Flora has been through a trauma. If she wants the privacy and comfort of her own space, then she should have it. Eating at the table is a family rule, and Flora isn’t family.”
Flora took the punch without flinching, but Jack cast a thoughtful look at his daughter.
“She’s a friend. We help our friends.”
Flora picked up her spoon. Her appetite had gone, but she didn’t want to draw more attention to herself by not eating.
Jack changed the subject. “I had an email from Aunt Clare this morning.” He reached across and pulled Molly’s bowl closer to her. “She wanted to know if we’re going to stay with her in Lake Lodge this summer. Funny that she should reach out now, because I’ve been thinking about it myself and wondering what we should do.”
Izzy sat up a little straighter. There was a spark of excitement in her eyes. “What did you tell her?” Her tone suggested mild interest, but Flora could tell that his answer was important.
“I told her we’d talk about it and get back to her. A vacation would be good for us. We haven’t been away since—” he paused “—since last summer.”
There was silence round the table.
Izzy put her spoon down. “It was the week before Mom died.”
“Yes.” Jack took a mouthful of his own soup and then glanced at his other daughter. “Molly? What do you think? Do you want to go to Lake Lodge this summer like we usually do?”
“But we usually do it with Mommy. We always do it with Mommy.”
“We do, that’s true.” Jack put his spoon down, too. “And we’ll miss her, but that doesn’t mean we can’t go if you’d like to. Aunt Clare is inviting us.”
There was a pause. Molly fiddled with her spoon.
“It would be weird without Mommy. Different.”
“It will be different. Sometimes in life we have to do things that are different.”
“Like when I started my school?”
“Exactly. Nothing stays the same, even when we want it to very much.”
“Do you think it would upset Mommy if we went without her?”
Flora felt tears scald her eyes and a hard lump block her throat.
“No, honey.” Jack’s voice was rough. “Mommy would want you to be having a good time and living a full life. She’d want you to be happy.”
How did he always know exactly the right thing to say? Everything he did came from a place of kindness. Rescuing her. Comforting his daughter. Every word, every gesture, reeled her in a little further.
“I’d like to go to Lake Lodge,” Izzy said. “I’d like to see Aunt Clare and Uncle Todd. It would be good to get away.” Her gaze slid briefly to Flora who was left with the distinct impression she was the one Izzy wanted to get away from.
“And Aiden,” Molly said. “You forgot Aiden.”
Seeing the flush spread from Izzy’s neck to her face, Flora had a feeling that Izzy hadn’t forgotten Aiden at all.
“Becca and Clare were at school together in the early days. Then Becca won a scholarship to a prestigious ballet school, and when she graduated she joined a ballet company in the US.” Jack included Flora in the conversation. “Clare’s parents are British. They live in a fabulous property in the Lake District.”