We are on our way out of H&M when something catches her eye.
“How on earth did I miss those amazing jeans?” she exclaims, pointing to a pair of Levi’s covered in rips and holes. I groan at her lack of taste, but she is totally oblivious as she pulls them off the rack and rushes towards the changing room. By this point even I’ve had enough shopping for one day. So, spotting some soft, comfy chairs, I sink down and ease the shoes off my aching feet. Alicia doesn’t join me. Instead, she gazes in fascination at a pair of mannequins that have been stripped of their clothes and are looking rather sheepish in the corner. She reaches out and strokes their silky blonde hair, and as she does, a certain gleam comes into her eye. I recognise that look, I realise with a jolt. It’s the same one she had last night, when the caravan park was on fire.
I look at the mannequins again, and the strangest thought wafts through my mind. I picture their hard, plastic bodies melting into the fire. The mannequins look back at me with passive, unblinking eyes, but they no longer look embarrassed. Now they are afraid.
“I need something to drink,” I announce abruptly, and whisk Alicia out of the shop. I take out my mobile and call Kate, telling her to meet us at the juice bar across the street. The heat of the mall is obviously getting to me.
We all sing along with the radio again on the way back to Queensbeach. The music is soothing, and helps me forget all about my stupid mannequin madness.
After I drop Kate and Alicia off, I curl up with Fluffy in front of the TV and order a takeaway from the pizza place in town. I’ve heard they have a hot new delivery man, so I go into the bathroom and touch up my make-up – you know, just in case. There is a knock at the door just as I come out.
“Wow, that was quick!”
I pull back the latch, but it isn’t the delivery man who stands impatiently on the doorstep, a roguish grin on his face.
“Julio!”
“Well, aren’t you going to invite me in?”
He taps his foot with mock impatience.
“What are you doing here?” I demand. “How come you didn’t tell me you were coming?”
“I don’t know. I just thought it would be better this way.”
I usher him into the house and thrust a warm cup of tea into his hands. We’ve barely spoken since he walked out on Kate, but I can’t deny I’ve missed him.
He is my brother, after all.
“So what have you been up to?” I ask. “Tell me all your news.”
“Well, did you get your ‘save the date’ card?” he asks, his face taking on the puppy dog expression that drives the women crazy.
“Yes.”
The card came this morning. I can’t believe they’ve already sent them out.
“You seem to be in a bit of a hurry to get married. Is there anything I should know?”
“If you’re asking if Holly is pregnant, then no. We just can’t wait to get married. I just hope we get all the paperwork through in time – you know, for the divorce.”
“Yeah, Kate told me.”
“Is she OK?”
“Better than I would have expected.”
“That’s good.”
“So what’s she like, this Holly? Are you really sure you want to get married again so soon?”
“Absolutely, totally one hundred percent.”
“Wow, you’re really hooked, aren’t you?”
“It’s different with Holly,” he says, setting his cup down on the table. “It just feels so right.” A stupid smile flits across his face and I can see that he’s smitten.
“Well, then I look forward to meeting her.”
Julio beams. “Why don’t you come for Christmas?”
“Christmas?”
“It was Holly’s idea, actually. She really wants to meet you.”
“That’s really sweet of her,” I say, stalling. It’s not like I have any other plans for Christmas. Mum’s going to be in Morocco, after all, but I’m not quite sure if I’d feel comfortable spending it with Julio and his new fiancée.
There’s a reason why I’m a bit reluctant to meet Holly, and it’s not purely out of loyalty to Kate, although that is a factor. The reason is this: I’m afraid that I’ll like her. I know that sounds strange, but I can’t help it. I find myself wondering if this love can really last, or if Holly will become another one of Julio’s statistics. Because no matter how much in love with her he says he is now, there is no knowing how he will feel in six month’s time. That’s just the way he is.
Growing up, my brother always had a reputation as a heartbreaker. He’s been like that since the age of twelve. Even then, he seemed to have a different girlfriend every week, and it was always me who ended up dealing with the hysterical women he left in his wake. But I never thought my best friend would be one of them. I don’t know why I was so naive, but I just thought she was different to all his other women – stronger, more independent. I thought Julio had met his match with Kate. Turns out, I was wrong.
Ding-Dong!
“You expecting someone?”
“Yeah, that’ll be my pizza.”
“You ordered pizza?” he says, rubbing his hands with glee. “Fantastic! I could eat a horse!”
I pay for the pizza, and just for the record, the delivery man is definitely good-looking, though the goatee is a deal breaker.
I open the box of pizza and we dig in. With other men, I pretend to eat more daintily, but with Julio, I pig out. It’s amazing how we can pick up just where we left off, even though we haven’t spoken in months. It’s always been like that between the two of us. He’s so much a part of me that I can’t just shut him out, no matter how hard I try.
“I’m really glad you came,” I tell him, once all the pizza’s been eaten and neither of us can manage another cup of tea.
He smiles his devilish grin. “Me too.”
We both rise to our feet. I tower over him, even without shoes. He may have inherited his mother’s Mediterranean good looks, but I got every inch of Dad’s height.
My teeth chatter as I walk him out to his car. The warm weather has completely evaporated. We’ve gone from autumn to summer to winter in the space of a few days. The leaves are now crisp with frost and many of the birds have retreated back to their hideouts.
“So you’ll let me know about Christmas?”
“OK.”
“Oh, and one more thing, Izzy.” He produces a brown cardboard box from the boot. “Can you give this to Kate? It’s just some of her old stuff from the attic. I picked it up by mistake when I moved out. She’ll probably want it back.”
I nod, despite the knowledge that in order to give the box to Kate, I’ll have to admit to her that I’ve seen him.
Well, there’s no rush.
I’ll wait till she’s got over the shock of Julio asking for a divorce.
My shoulders feel a little tense as I walk through the door of Mustafa’s. My friends are already there, and as always these days, the group includes Alicia.
“Isabel, we were beginning to wonder where you’d got to,” Deacon says and he pulls up a chair for me. Alicia is sitting in my usual seat. I glance at her nervously. I’m still no closer to knowing what to make of her. At work she has already ingratiated herself with Sonya and she’s even flirted with Stu, though I’m sure she wouldn’t touch him with a barge pole. Everyone seems to like her, and yet there is something about her, something inexplicable that makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up on end. I reach for the glass of wine Rhett’s just poured me and take a large swig.