The Men in her Life

had experience of doing it?
    ‘Well, of course, I don’t like them, but you can’t show your fear in front of the children, so you kind of get on with it...’
    ‘Just a minute, are you saying that you’ve had rats in your house?’ The sun-dappled picture-postcard cottage changed in her mind to a seething mass of rodents from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom .
    ‘Not rats...’ Clare said, ‘we’ve had a few mice in from the garden... not recently,’ she added quickly.
    ‘You’re positive no rats?’ Holly said.
    Clare saw real fear on her sister’s face. It was rather endearing that someone as brave and tall as Holly should be so frightened by something so little.
    ‘Cross my heart,’ Clare said solemnly. They got up from the table and walked over the road to the bus stop.
    ‘So, tell me all your news. What’s been happening?’ she asked, trying to move Holly on to a happier subject.
    ‘Nothing much,’ Holly said, and then remembering that she was meant to have been busy, added the first thing that came into her head. ‘Mo’s getting married...’
    They clambered aboard and sat on the back seat.
    ‘How lovely! Somebody she’s just met?’
    ‘Unfortunately not. No, he’s her long-time boyfriend, faithful retainer, that kind of thing... I don’t approve, but she won’t take any notice of me...’
    ‘What’s he like?’ Clare wanted to know.
    ‘Eamon?’ Holly thought for a moment, ‘he’s the kind of person who goes on holiday to Ireland and buys a sweatshirt with a shamrock on it...’ she saw that Clare was mystified by this description, ‘he wears cowboy boots and silver tips on his shirt collars... oh I don’t know, he’s just not good enough for her...’
    ‘Would anyone be good enough for her?’ Clare asked.
    ‘Jack would have been,’ Holly said indignantly. Suddenly she was glaring at Clare as if it were her fault that Mo was marrying beneath her.
    ‘Hmm. I’m not sure I would have wished Jack on anyone I loved,’ Clare replied.
    ‘So how come Philippa stayed with him so long then?’ Holly asked.
    ‘Philippa’s a very strong personality. That’s why he loved her. She was the only person he could not dominate, and he respected that...’
    ‘Oh yeah, respected it enough to see Mo for all those years...’
    ‘True,’ Clare found she could neither support nor criticize. Curiously, the notion that he had had a secret friendship with Holly’s mother had made her feel more warmly towards her father. It was touching that he had needed to keep a link with his roots. It made him seem almost vulnerable. It made her think how little she had known him.
    ‘God, what a prospect,’ said Holly, staring out of the window feeling extremely bad-tempered, ‘Mo marrying Eamon and all their bloody friends asking me whether there’s anyone in my life...’
    For the rest of the bus journey she retreated into a silent gloom and although Clare was itching to tell her about her decision to leave Joss, she could see it was not the right time.
    When they arrived back at the house, Joss and Tom were still out.
    ‘Are you hungry?’ Clare asked Holly.
    ‘No. Actually, I’m really tired,’ Holly told her.
    ‘Why don’t you go and have a nap. You’ll feel a lot better. Have our bed. I’ll wake you up for supper.’
    Holly climbed the steep staircase with the bag Simon had hastily packed for her and dumped it beside the bed. The yellow room was filled with sunlight and the sound of a fly buzzing against the window. Holly opened the window to let it out and smiled as she saw the view. The sea was deep inky blue and the breeze blew up snatches of children’s shouting from the beach. The air that billowed the cotton curtains was tangy with salt. She sat on the bed and took off her jeans, suddenly aware in this bright, fresh room how they stank of cigarette smoke. Like a pub smells at lunchtime, when you’re the first customer, she thought, dropping them beside the bed and climbing in. Even though it was warm in the room, she pulled the sheet and blanket right up over her shoulders. The sheets were cool and newly laundered. It was lovely being in this bed, in this bright room, with the sounds of the seaside lulling away her fears. It felt as if no harm could come to her here with her sister downstairs in the kitchen. Sometimes it was nice just to feel that someone was looking after you. Holly closed her eyes and let herself sleep.

    ‘Holly, are you a tree?’
    Holly opened an