‘Eve, calm down,’ Kate whispered as she sat up in bed, and tried to look at the clock through eyes that were glazed and didn’t want to open. ‘What’s happened?’
‘Eric kissed me,’ Eve sobbed, uncontrollably.
Kate switched on the bedside lamp, flopped back against the pillows. ‘Okay, and that a bad thing because…?’ She sighed, pulled back the duvet and slid out of bed.
‘Because it was a real kiss, Kate. A real passionate one. Not just a peck and I really like him, Kate. But what if I’m not enough for him?’ Eve continued to sob down the phone. ‘One of the women at the book club.’ She paused and Kate heard her blow her nose loudly into a handkerchief. ‘She’s slim, tall and has the most perfect figure and she keeps looking at Eric, giving him the eye and Kate? What if he likes her more than he likes me? He might take the better and easier option, don’t you think? I mean, come on. He’s not going to want to push me around in a chair forever, is he?’
‘Eve, do you ever look in the mirror?’ Kate hesitated and with her eyes half-closed, she imagined Eve sat there, staring at her reflection. ‘Do you?’
‘Of course I look in the mirror,’ Eve whimpered her response and for a moment, Kate felt her heart strings stretch until they pulled tight. It was as though she and Eve were connected, heart to heart. A string that joined them together, which meant that every time Eve’s heart lurched, so did Kate’s.
Closing her eyes, Kate wished for teleportation so that she could land in Eve’s house and for them to be curled up on Eve’s bed. Just as they had so many times in the past. At least then she’d have been able to reassure her, help her and convince her that she was beautiful, that she had so much more than a wheelchair on offer and that Eric would be more than a fool not to see it.
‘What do you see when you look in the mirror, Eve?’ The question was direct and meant to provoke and Kate stared at the phone when she heard nothing but silence. Eve was thinking about her answer and Kate could almost guess what that answer would be. After all, every time she looked in a mirror herself, she knew what she saw. She saw the huge, puckered, red scar, that everyone noticed.
‘I see a great big lump of metal on wheels, Kate,’ she finally replied. ‘I just see the bloody chair.’
‘Well, that’s the problem, Eve,’ Kate answered. ‘I never see the chair. When I look at you, I see a beautiful woman in the prime of her life, with so much to give. And do you know what, Eve? I’d say that Eric is a good man, and he sees exactly the same.’
Eve sniffed loudly. ‘But—’
‘There are no buts. Tell me what happened between you two?’
‘It happened last night,’ Eve acknowledged. ‘He kissed me. Right after he brought me home from dinner.’ She sobbed. ‘Actually, that’s not true. I think that I might have kissed him.’
Kate smiled at the way her sister had once kissed men for fun. Hadn’t thought anything of it and with the phone firmly perched under her chin she began to think about Ben, about what it would be like to kiss him every day of the week. To see that sparkle light up his face and for her to be able to gaze into those dark eyes of his.
‘Okay. Let’s think rationally. Have you heard from Eric since the kiss?’ Kate said as she walked down the stairs, and into the kitchen where she flicked on the kettle, before digging around in the cupboard, looking for coffee.
‘He’s been texting back and forth all night,’ Eve replied.
‘Eve,’ she said with a sigh. ‘So, what’s the problem?’ In the absence of coffee, Kate pulled open the fridge, spotted a carton of orange juice and poured some into a glass.
‘I’m frightened, Kate. Everything got a bit heated and then suddenly, he got all nervous and he left. I’d wanted him to stay, but… what if he wants to have sex?’
‘Eve, one kiss doesn’t automatically equate to sex and it isn’t like you’ve never done it, is it?’ She laughed. ‘I’ve lost count of how many times I used to walk in on you, or caught you at it in the back of our parents’ car.’
‘But Kate, everything’s changed!’ She stopped, began to take in huge gulps of air. ‘And, I’m not sure how much I’ll feel.’
Kate could hear the anguish in her sister’s voice and tried to keep calm. ‘Well,’ she continued, ‘it can’t be so different, can it? And there are a lot of ways you could please each other…’ She was suddenly aware that Ben was in the house and possibly listening and with a quick look over her shoulder, she looked into the lounge and saw where Ben’s tall, broad frame that was much too big for the settee was sleeping. It was a sight that made Kate want to go back to his bed, to the place where his sheets still smelt of aftershave and in a perfect world, she wondered how easy it would be to convince him to join her.
‘Eve, I’d come over, but I’m not sure I could face Mother, not at this time of the morning.’
‘She isn’t here.’
Kate had begun walking back to the bedroom, but stopped in her tracks. ‘What the hell do you mean, she isn’t there?’ Kate panicked, her initial thought was that their mother could have gone back to the cottage and that Rob was still out there.
‘Father came over yesterday. He took her home.’
Kate felt a sudden sense of relief. ‘He came?’ She smiled, closed her eyes, and thought of the bed that was stood just a few paces away. All she wanted to do was crawl back in and take Ben with her, but right now, Eve needed her.
Kate glanced into the lounge, she checked that Ben was still sleeping and satisfied that he was, she went up to the bedroom and quickly changed. ‘Eve, I’ll tell you what. Give me half an hour and put the kettle on. I’m dying for decent coffee.’