Hannah peered at the coffee machine but saw it wasn’t quite finished yet. ‘Well, my first reaction would be to say no. She can’t just waltz in here after everything that’s happened and pretend like we’re still close. I’d send her to Dad, although I guess she’s already tried him first—’
‘Whoa, slow down, Han. You’re making a lot of assumptions here. Why don’t we wait and see what she has to say? It may not be what we think at all. And we don’t have to say yes or no to anything straight away. We can say we need a little time to discuss it with each other and think it over.’
Hannah let out a sigh. ‘The problem is Mia. I wouldn’t want her to suffer in any way, even though she doesn’t seem to like me very much.’
Standing behind his wife, Mark reached around and encircled her waist with a strong arm, planting a tender kiss on her neck. ‘What do you mean? Why do you think she doesn’t like you? You barely know each other. She’s a teenager, that’s all. They’re supposed to be grumpy. It’s in the job description.’
Mia popped her head into the lounge to say goodnight as they were serving up the hot drinks.
‘Sorry, you don’t want a tea or coffee at all, do you?’ Hannah asked her, feeling bad for not offering earlier, even though she was keen to get on with their adults-only conversation.
‘No, she’s fine,’ Diane answered. ‘You’ve already brushed your teeth, haven’t you, love?’
Mia nodded.
‘Enjoy Dust,’ Hannah added, immediately wishing she hadn’t, for fear of sounding like she was trying too hard.
Mia nodded again and, before disappearing off to her room, whispered something to her mum.
‘No, not now,’ Diane replied. ‘You can have it back in the morning, like we discussed. And don’t go rooting through my stuff for it, because you won’t find it.’
Hannah realised they were talking about Mia’s confiscated mobile and, although she left without saying anything more, it was clear from the stamp of the teenager’s feet that she wasn’t happy with the outcome.
They’d put her and Diane together in the larger of their two spare bedrooms, which contained twin singles. There was also a double bed in the third room, but it wasn’t made up and Hannah hadn’t felt like making the extra effort to do it.
Once they heard the bedroom door shut, Mark walked over to the lounge door and shut that too, signalling it was time to get down to business – whatever that meant.
Hannah was really glad he was here. Mark was her rock and she wouldn’t have wanted to do this without him. It helped that he knew all the ins and outs of what had gone on between the two sisters, having witnessed first-hand the detrimental effect it had had on his wife.
Mark could see her sister for what she was: an adept manipulator, who knew exactly how to wrap unsuspecting people – particularly men – around her little finger. Not that she’d shown much sign of that skill so far today. But why would she in the company of people already wise to her tricks?
Hannah was actually surprised how accommodating Mark was being. He’d made it clear long before the sisters’ falling-out that he neither liked nor trusted Diane – and the way things had ended up, he’d been proved right. Not that he’d ever said so. He wasn’t that kind of man. As for what was going through his head right now, she couldn’t be sure. Hannah didn’t even know what she thought about this weird, uncomfortable situation. It all hinged on what her sister was about to say.
‘So,’ Mark said, sitting back down next to Hannah on the couch and pouring some milk into his coffee.
From the armchair opposite, Diane cleared her throat before finally beginning to talk.
‘Right,’ she said. ‘I’m sorry it’s taken so long for me to get to the point, but, as I mentioned earlier, I really wanted to wait for Mia to be out of the way. This isn’t a conversation for her ears.’
She paused to take a sip of her tea as the others watched in silence.
‘So you’re probably wondering what I’m doing here after all this time. You must think I have a right nerve turning up like this – I get that. But here I am anyway and, as you’ve probably guessed, I need to ask for your help.’
Diane stood up and walked over to the window. She stared out over the city and gave a dramatic sigh, leading Hannah and Mark to flash each other a confused sideways glance.
‘I’ve missed this place,’ she went on, continuing to gaze outside with her back to the others. ‘I didn’t think I would, but it’s true what they say: home is where the heart is. It’s been far too long …’
Diane paused again, running a hand through her short hair. Hannah could feel Mark getting edgy, his knee jumping up and down next to her. She was on the verge of saying something herself – telling Diane to stop messing around and get to the point – when her sister turned back to face them with tears running down her face.
Despite everything, seeing this instantly made Hannah want to jump up and give her a hug. It was instinctive, particularly because crying wasn’t something she’d witnessed Diane do many times as an adult. But Mark must have sensed what she was feeling; he pressed a firm hand on to her knee and whispered in the tiniest of voices: ‘Don’t.’
So she didn’t. She stayed put and told herself, even though her heart said otherwise, that they were probably crocodile tears. She waited for Diane to carry on, which, after taking a deep breath and wiping her eyes with one hand, she did.
‘So the reason I’ve come here isn’t to ask you to do something for me. Not directly anyway … It’s for Mia.’
These words sent Hannah’s mind racing, because they weren’t at all what she’d expected to hear. Maybe the visit wouldn’t turn out to be about money after all, she thought. Unless Diane wanted to enrol Mia in a private school or something and she needed help paying the fees. Was she being bullied perhaps? Gosh, it would be hard to say no if that was the case.
‘Would you like a tissue?’ Mark asked, as Diane’s emotions got the better of her again. He reached into a drawer under the coffee table, pulling out a box and handing it over.
‘Thank you,’ Diane replied, accepting it, then wiping her eyes and blowing her nose. ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for this to happen.’
Was this all for show? Hannah wondered. She knew what her sister was capable of, but this was very convincing. If it wasn’t for Mark’s hand, clamped back on her knee after getting the tissues, she’d have definitely got up to comfort her by now. ‘It’s okay, take your time,’ she said instead, not wanting to appear totally cold-hearted.
‘Right,’ Diane said, sitting back down after a long moment, placing a hand on each arm of the chair and slowly exhaling. ‘I can do this.’
Hannah wasn’t sure whether this was meant for herself or for them, but either way it appeared to work. Speaking slowly and steadily, her eyes darting between her two-strong audience and occasionally into the distance, Diane finally got to the point.
‘I’m in a big mess,’ she said. ‘As you can probably see. I’m afraid I’m not in
