Here We Lie Read Free

can speak Jed laughs.
    ‘Nice try, Dee Dee, but you’ll be bored back on the boat. Anyway, a bit of exercise will do you good.’ He grins, pats her arm, then strides off around the corner towards Martin
and the others.
    A tear leaks out of poor Dee Dee’s eye. She keeps her head down.
    ‘Oh, sweetie.’ I give her shoulder another squeeze, unsure why the girl is so upset but Dee Dee is stiff with the desire to keep her pain to herself. ‘How about we take a
picture?’ I suggest, hoping this will cheer her up.
    ‘Okay.’ Dee Dee offers me a weak smile. ‘Just you though, not me.’
    ‘No way.’ I point to her phone. ‘Go on, both of us.’
    Grinning now, her mood altering with mind-bending swiftness, Dee Dee positions her iPhone in front of us. I move in close beside her. Dee Dee adjusts the angle, so the sea is visible behind us,
then takes the photo. She peers at the screen and makes a face. ‘I look fat.’
    ‘I bet you don’t.’ I look over her shoulder. Unfortunately, the selfie has caught Dee Dee at a particularly unflattering angle. Plus, half my head is missing.
    ‘One more, then,’ I say. The band of tightness is starting to creep over one eye.
    Dee Dee holds the phone out and positions it again. ‘I’ve got a secret,’ she says as she clicks.
    ‘Oh?’ I wonder what she means. Probably something about one of her friends, or a crush on some boy. I had millions when I was her age. ‘What’s that then?’
    ‘It’s something I saw.’ Dee Dee hugs me again. Her gold bracelet is cool against my skin. I have one just like it; they were engagement presents from my brother and his
boyfriend – a typically sweet and generous gesture to include Dee Dee in their gifts. She is still clinging to me. I feel horribly hot, but I don’t want to push her away. Jed will be
back any second and then it will only take ten minutes or so to get back to the cool of the boat.
    ‘So what’s this secret then?’ I ask gently.
    Dee Dee’s body expands against mine as she takes a deep breath. ‘It’s—’
    ‘For goodness’ sake, let poor Emily be!’ Jed’s voice cracks like a whip through the air, making both of us jump. Dee Dee springs away from me, then sags down, her whole
body collapsing into itself.
    ‘I told you, Jed, she’s
fine
.’
    ‘Right, sorry.’ Jed frowns. He pats his daughter’s arm again. She shrinks back, like a cowed puppy. My heart goes out to her. Jed clears his throat. ‘I didn’t mean
to shout,’ he says. ‘I’m just really worried about Emily. She might have heat stroke or—’
    ‘It’s just a bit of a headache,’ I insist.
    ‘Right, okay.’ He turns to Dee Dee. ‘Sorry, Dee Dee, now run and catch up with the others. Go on.’
    Dee Dee glances at me, smiles ruefully, then turns and runs off. At least she isn’t crying again. Yesterday she burst into tears because the strap broke on her new sandals.
    ‘Probably collapsed under her weight,’ Jed had joked in a side whisper to me. Dee Dee couldn’t have heard him and the way he said it was light – an attempt at being funny
– so I laughed to show him I knew he wasn’t serious, but the truth is that we’ve both worried Dee Dee isn’t coping well with her parents’ break-up. Later I must take
her to one side and remind her how much her dad loves her, how his bark – as the saying goes – is far worse than his bite. Jed’s ex doesn’t help matters, ranting whenever
she gets a chance that he has ruined all their lives. She informed him accusingly the other day that Dee Dee had recently retreated into her shell, hardly ever going out or seeing her friends. I
reminded Jed of what Dee Dee herself told me less than a month ago: that she’d had some problems with a few of the girls in her class, but her friends had rallied round and everything was
okay now.
    ‘Her mum is exaggerating,’ I told him, ‘making out Dee Dee’s moods are
your
fault. When I was thirteen my life was dominated by my