Skye shrugged and walked out.
‘Good day?’ Tam asked as Skye dropped her bag in the Angelic Threads storeroom.
‘It was okay,’ Skye answered in a flat voice, then realised she sounded like a typical whiny teenager. ‘Actually, it was a brilliant day! I got top marks in a maths test, but I only just passed my English essay.’
Cocking her head to the side, Tam waited.
‘Okay, school sucked,’ Skye said, laughing.
‘Good to hear things are normal. So . . . I had a visit from your parents today.’
Skye’s face went hot. ‘Oh. I bet that was fun.’ Is she going to tell me they won’t let me work here?
‘It was fine.’ Tam told her what had happened. ‘They seemed okay, although I reckon you might be in for a bit more punishment when you get home.’
‘Yeah, well, they’ll have to think about it,’ Skye said, pouting. ‘Golden Boy hasn’t ever done anything like this, so it will all be new to them.’
‘You are so jaded for a fourteen-year-old.’ Tam shook her head. ‘You do realise that not everyone is out to make your life hell, don’t you?’
‘Maybe not, but those two are.’ She changed the subject. ‘Hey, do you have a bandaid I could borrow to cover my earring?’
If Tam had been her mum, she would have told Skye off for forgetting. But Tam just said, ‘On the bottom shelf over there. Now, I’d like you to go into the shop and check that all the sizing is in the right order and garments haven’t been put back on the incorrect racks. You should be able to do that?’
‘Yeah, sure.’ Skye went off and started at the front of the store, flicking through each item of clothing and checking the sizes. A couple of times she had to rearrange something, but mostly everything was where it should be.
‘Skye! Hey, Skye!’
She looked up. Standing in the doorway was Adele and a couple of girls from Year Eleven. Skye didn’t know their names. What is Adele doing with them?
‘What?’ she called back.
‘Thought we’d see what you were doing. Been walking around trying to work out which shop you were in. Thought it might have been Target or Kmart. You know, something appropriately lower class.’ Adele and her new friends sniggered.
What? Adele had known Skye had a job at Angelic Threads.
Then Skye understood: this was for questioning her in the toilets about Neil. Adele hadn’t liked it, so she’d come here to be a bitch.
‘Everything alright?’ Tam came to the front of the store.
‘Fine,’ Skye muttered.
‘What are you girls up to?’ Tamara asked, leaving the confines of the shop. ‘Hello, Adele, have you come for some new clothes?’
‘Nope, I came to check up on Skye. Didn’t think she’d be working here.’
‘Well, she is and can’t be distracted, so you’d better keep going, okay?’
They started to drift away, still giggling, but Adele turned back to stare before they’d gone too far. There was envy in her face. Envy? Then Skye clicked: she was working in the cool shop, with the cool-aunty type chick. That made Skye smile.
Tam turned to her. ‘I’ll take over here. How are the change rooms looking? Any clothes in them or dirty mirrors? We need to make them sparkle!’
‘Okay,’ said Skye, relieved that Tam had sent her away from the shopfront.
Bloody girls, Tamara thought. What’s got into Adele? God, I’m glad I’m not a teenager anymore.
She watched Skye walk towards the back of the shop and then checked outside to make sure the others had gone. They had. Little shits.
She turned her thoughts back to Skye. Lauren’s illness was obviously a huge concern to the girl, but there was more going on for her—those girls were proof of that. Was Skye being bullied? Maybe this was something to ask her parents.
In Tam’s car, Skye looked at her phone. A text from Billy: ‘Can you meet me tonight?’ Sliding a sideways glance at Tamara, she locked her phone, put it back in her pocket and stared ahead at the road.
It was bothering her that she had to go home. She really didn’t want to. What mood would her parents be in? At least her dad would be there by the time they arrived. He usually smoothed things over a bit.
‘You nervous?’ Tam asked.
Skye watched her long red fingernails tapping the steering wheel in time to the music and thought how different her life would have been if she’d got Tam as a mother.
Maybe I’m adopted too! The thought suddenly occurred to Skye. Maybe that was why she didn’t get along with her mum. But if that was true, how did they have the same colouring? Maybe you could pick a baby that looked like you.
Then Skye realised that she hadn’t answered Tam’s question. ‘Yeah. I’m a bit nervous.’ Skye felt that she could be honest with Tam. She didn’t feel that way about anyone else. Well, except Billy.
‘What punishment do you think they might give you?’
With a whoosh, Skye let her breath out. ‘Imprison me for the rest of my life.’
Tam smirked. ‘That’s a bit OTT, don’t you think?’
‘I really don’t know. They can’t do anything that’s going to upset me too much. Unless . . . unless they take my music away.’ She chewed her lip. ‘I wonder if they’re going to tell my grandparents. That would suck.’
‘All your grandparents are still alive?’
‘Yeah, both lots. Plus I might have two more out there. Mum’s adopted—’
‘Adopted?’ The word burst from Tam.
What a weird reaction. ‘Yeah. What’s wrong with that?’
‘Nothing. I don’t reckon I know anyone who’s adopted, that’s all.’
Skye nodded. ‘Yeah, I don’t know anyone else except Mum. I heard her talking a few days ago—saying how much she wanted to find her birth mother now she’s got cancer. I think she’s worried about her family’s medical history, in case it affects me and Stu.’
‘What are your grandparents like? Your adoptive ones, I mean.’
‘They’re a bit older so, you know, there’s no way they can be too cool, but they’re alright. Mum always says they weren’t just her parents—they were like her guardian angels.’
‘What a beautiful way of looking at it. They must be very special people.’
‘I suppose they are,’ Skye said. ‘They must be, to have put up with Mum!’
Skye grinned, expecting Tam to laugh at that one, but she frowned instead.
Tamara remembered Lauren’s face when she’d come into the shop earlier that day. So many swirling emotions—love, anger, confusion, sadness. Clearly Lauren wasn’t a terrible parent like Evan. But this didn’t fit with what Skye had said, that her mum was never there for her. And why had Skye just put Lauren down so harshly? What was going on? Maybe she was just afraid and confused in the wake of her mother’s diagnosis.
‘So, you said some things about your mum yesterday. It sounds pretty rough.’ Tamara glanced at Skye, who was staring out the passenger window.
‘Mum’s too busy to talk to me,’ Skye said. ‘She’s always thinking about the kids in her class. I don’t think she ever wanted me, really. There are five years between me and Stu. Maybe I was a mistake. Anyway, it’s obvious that she loves Golden Boy more than me.’ Skye’s voice was tinged with pain.
Silence filled the car.
Tamara’s heart hurt. Such a little girl in an adult body, with so much pain and sadness inside of her.
All too soon they drove down Skye’s quiet street and pulled up in front of her house.
As Skye grabbed her schoolbag, Tamara was struck by an idea. ‘Have you ever thought about trying to find your mum’s parents?’
‘Who, me?’ Skye laughed. ‘Why would I want to do that?’
‘Well, your mum is probably preoccupied with her health right now, and you kids are so good at using the internet and social media. And you never know, you might just make your mum sit up and take notice.’
Skye’s eyes went wide. She looked as though Tam
ara had just blown her mind. ‘Yeah, well, maybe.’ She didn’t say anything for a few seconds, staring into space. ‘But how would I do that, anyway?’
Tamara shrugged, wanting to seem casual. ‘I have no idea! Just a thought that jumped into my mind. There’d have to be internet adoption forums or something, right?’
‘I suppose.’ Skye reached for her schoolbag again. ‘Anyway, I gotta go.’
‘Ready to face the music?’ Tamara asked.
‘Guess so.’ She gave a rueful smile. ‘If I don’t turn up at work next time, you’ll know I’m being held prisoner!’
Skye walked to her front door, paused to wave goodbye, then went inside. The lights were on but the house was quiet. Maybe they weren’t all home yet? She dropped her bag in the hallway. When she got into the kitchen, she saw her mum, dad and Stu sitting at the table with solemn faces.
‘Hi,’ she said, unsure what to do.
‘Skye, come and sit down,’ her dad said. He got up to pull out a chair for her.
Skye stayed where she was. ‘What’s going on?’
Lauren patted the chair. ‘Come and sit, darling.’
Darling? Shit, something was very wrong. Skye couldn’t remember the last time she’d been called that. This wasn’t about her, she realised. It was about her mum.
‘No,’ she whispered. ‘No, I’ve got to go to my room.’
Stu stood up and went to her—tried to put his arm around her protectively. ‘It’s okay, Skye, just come and sit.’
‘Come on, it won’t take long,’ her dad said, but he sucked at sounding normal.
She kept standing, looking at them all.
Lauren got up and walked towards her. ‘Skye, the results aren’t what we hoped they’d be. I’ve got to go into hospital tomorrow.’
Skye jammed her hands over her ears and ran upstairs, her heart thudding.
The stars were shining out of a clear, black sky. All Skye could hear was Billy’s heavy breathing and the tick of the engine, cooling. Lying on the backseat of his car, she gazed out of the window and tried to work out what had just happened.
Well, she knew what had happened. It had hurt, and now she was all sticky and wet. She hoped there wasn’t any blood that Billy would see when he turned the light back on. That would be embarrassing.
She’d texted him the minute she’d run upstairs, needing someone to hug her, to love her. He was her someone.
The banging on her door had stopped after a while. Then low murmurings through the wall told her that her parents were in their bedroom. Weird thoughts kept popping into her head, like: On the upside, at least you haven’t been punished yet.
Billy texted her back to say he was coming straight over.
See, Adele? she thought. Billy loves me. You were just someone’s plaything for one night. We’re forever.
She waited for their signal: a text message saying that Billy was parked around the corner. Then she locked her door and snuck down the stairs, stepping over the third one from the top because it squeaked. Silently, she opened the door and locked it behind her, then slipped out into the warm summer night.
As soon as she’d got into the car, Billy pulled her to him and kissed her.
‘You make me so hot,’ he whispered between passionate kisses.
Desire curled in her stomach and crept down and down and down, until she felt wetness between her legs. ‘Can we go to the quarry?’ she asked.
Now it was over. She had finally done it. She wanted to think that Billy had been kind and gentle and caring—but it hadn’t been like that at all. Once they’d got into the back seat, there was no more kissing. No affection. It was all speed—like he was scared she’d change her mind. One hand went straight between her legs and the other to her breast. Breathing heavily in her ear, he shoved down his jeans and pushed himself on top of her and finally inside her.
The sex wasn’t like the Mills & Boon novels. She hadn’t expected it to be, but it wasn’t even like the porn she’d watched. It was quick, hard and sweaty. She hadn’t been able to explore him and do the things she’d read about. Drive him to distraction like the books had talked about. It had been about Billy and his need only.
And now she didn’t feel anything.
Dear Diary,
We landed in Fremantle two weeks ago. I was so pleased to be off the ship. For a large ship, it suddenly seemed very small, with nowhere to hide.
Mummy and Daddy didn’t understand why I didn’t want to be with my friends anymore. I preferred to lie in my bunk and hide from the world.
I want to wash myself clean from what he did to me that night, but it doesn’t matter how many times I scrub, he’s still there. I’m so ashamed.
I feel his breath on my ear and the strength in his arms as he held me down.
‘Don’t scream,’ he said.
I don’t think anyone would have guessed what he’s capable of. He’s the life of the party, the joker, the charmer. He has money and status. Maybe that’s why he thinks he can take what he likes, no matter the consequences.
He’d known where to go and how to keep any night owls from seeing us. No, not us. There is no us. He’d known how to avoid being seen.
I can’t help but wonder if I’m the only one he’s done this to. After all, it’s a long voyage; he can’t have kept his desires hidden for all that time. Perhaps I was the only one who didn’t agree to what he wanted from me.
He took it anyway. I hate him for that.
Now I’m dirty and tarnished. Old goods, as Mummy calls loose women.
It was freeing to walk off the boat and away from anything to do with him. I never have to see him again, and I’m very grateful for that.
We now have a house in Fremantle. The sky is so blue but the heat is awful. It burns like fire. Daddy has been in bed with headaches since we arrived. The doctor says it’s the heat. The air makes me sweat with each breath.
This new start isn’t what we imagined. And we don’t have a puppy.
Chapter 21
Lauren finished packing her bag with the last of the toiletries, then zipped it up and sat on the bed, her head in her hands.
Without a word, Dean hugged her and then carried the bag downstairs to put it in the car.
She picked up the phone and dialled her parents. ‘Hi, Dad, it’s me,’ she said when George answered.
‘Ah, so you’ve got the results. Should I be breaking open a bottle of champagne?’
‘Um, not quite.’
‘Oh.’ So much surprise, dismay and uncertainty all in that one, short sound.
‘The doctors found cancer in my sentinel node, so I have to go into hospital very early tomorrow morning. Turns out someone had to be taken off the list so they fitted me in.’ Lauren sat on the bed and leaned her back against the wall.
‘Right. Sorry to hear that, love. Well . . . Here’s your mother.’
There was a bumping sound as George handed the phone to Connie. In the background, his voice a murmur, he repeated what Lauren had told him, and she heard Connie’s sharp intake of breath and whispered, ‘No.’
‘Hello, darling,’ she said into the phone, clearly trying to keep her emotions under control. ‘The results not so good?’
At the sound of her mum’s voice, Lauren’s throat closed over. She only just managed to say no.
‘Oh, my darling girl, I’m so sorry this has happened.’
Static crackled over the line as Lauren struggled to get herself together. ‘I’m scared, Mum,’ she managed to say. ‘Scared and worried. What if it’s spread?’
‘Of course you’re scared, Laurie,’ her mum said soothingly.
Lauren took another shuddering breath. Her mum hadn’t called her ‘Laurie’ since she was a teenager. Somewhere, somehow, that pet name had been lost as she’d grown older. How comforting to hear it again.
‘This is a horribly frightening time for you,’ her mum said. ‘So many unanswered questions. You’ll have to trust that the doctors know what’s best.’
/> ‘Yes, that’s true. I’m trying to do that.’
Dean came back into the bedroom and grabbed his towel, heading for the shower. When he saw Lauren’s tears, he leaned down to kiss her on the head and handed her a couple of tissues.
‘How did the children take the news?’ Connie asked.
‘As you would expect. Stu was stoic and practical, and Skye . . . well, she didn’t want to listen. I don’t think she wanted to hear any bad news. Mum, she put her hands over her ears so she didn’t have to listen. It was so awful.’
‘Poor pet. And Dean?’
‘He’s accepting. Does it sound strange, Mum, if I tell you I’ve sort of always seemed to know that this was going to happen?’
‘No, not at all. You’ve known for a long time you’re at risk of skin cancer. I had a friend once, she’d been diagnosed with breast cancer. She told me it was almost a relief, because her family history had indicated that she might be. And, once it happened, she just got on with making sure she got well again. And she did. Lived another thirty-two years and died in her sleep when she was eighty-five. God rest her soul.’
Lauren smiled. ‘You always seem to know what to say.’
‘I wouldn’t be so sure about that,’ said Connie. ‘Now, where are the kids? Do you want them to come here, or can we bring some dinner to them tomorrow?’
‘Stu will be here, so he can look after Skye. I’m glad I taught him to cook.’
‘An attractive man is one who can cook and do the washing.’
There was a muffled male voice in the background.
Lauren actually laughed. Not that she felt like it, but it was nice to hear her dad teasing her mum. It brought back lovely childhood memories of them working in the garden or sitting together talking. Connie had a beautiful laugh; Lauren had always thought it sounded like chimes. Not like her own raucous, loud laugh.
‘I’d better go. There’s still lots to do. Dean will ring you when I’m out of surgery.’
‘We love you, our darling girl. Be brave.’
Lauren pressed the end button and shut her eyes. Her mum was right: she had good doctors and she needed to trust them. And now she knew part of what the state of play was, she could go about getting better as of right now.
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