Now and Then Friends Read Free Page B

You can get a half hour of revision in before tea.”
    Lily hesitated. “I don’t actually have that much to do. . . .”
    â€œLily, your exams begin in—” Rachel glanced at the calendar above the sink. “Seven weeks. You need to keep at it. You know that. It’s hard, I know, but it’s so worthwhile.”
    â€œShe can have a twenty-minute break, can’t she?” Meghan interjected, and tossed the
Fate & Fortune
magazine to Lily. “Here you go.”
    â€œMeghan—”
    â€œThere’s biology in it,” Meghan answered, wide-eyed. “Animals and stuff.”
    â€œThe fox haunting someone’s fur stole?” Rachel said, rolling her eyes, but Lily had already hurried upstairs, the magazine clutched to her chest. Rachel turned back to the spaghetti Bolognese that was bubbling away on the stove, two tins of chopped tomatoes and half a kilo of beef mince mushed together, the beef only half cooked. Sighing, she reached for the oregano.
    â€œSo what’s got you in such a crap mood?” Meghan asked. Nathan had scrambled onto her lap and was now sucking his thumb, the other hand wrapped around a tendril of Meghan’s hair, which he tugged rhythmically.
    â€œWho says I’m in a crap mood?”
    â€œI do, but now that I think about it, it’s no more crap than usual. You just usually hide it better.”
    â€œI’m fine. And you should watch your language,” Rachel said with a meaningful nod towards Nathan.
    â€œOh, Nath knows what ‘crap’ means,” Meghan answered, and ruffled her son’s hair. “So? What’s bothering you?”
    â€œYou mean, besides coming home to the house an utter tip and dinner not made even though it’s gone half six?” Rachel answered, keeping her tone flippant. She and Meghan always bickered, but they tried not to draw blood.
    â€œIs that really that unusual?” Meghan countered. “Anyway, the house isn’t that much of a tip. I actually hoovered, you know.”
    â€œMummy spilled her crisps,” Nathan volunteered, and she tapped his nose.
    â€œThat was meant to be our little secret, Nath.”
    â€œSo, what have you been doing today, Meghan?” Rachel asked conversationally. “Besides eating crisps and watching rubbish telly?”
    â€œ
Real Housewives of Cheshire
is
not
rubbish.”
    Rachel shook her head, too tired to press her sister. As usual, shecouldn’t tell if Meghan was being thoughtless or just taking the mick. Her sister walked a fine line between the two. “How’s Mum been getting on today?”
    â€œBrilliantly. She loves
Real Housewives of Cheshire
.”
    â€œWell, that’s a relief.” Rachel prodded the sauce without enthusiasm. “But she’s been all right?”
    â€œAs all right as she ever is.”
    Rachel nodded, her mind already elsewhere. From upstairs she could hear Lily moving around, and then the tinny sound of techno music. Her sister was definitely not studying.
    â€œDid you know Claire West is back in the village?” she asked abruptly.
    â€œClaire West?” Meghan wrinkled her nose, uninterested. “Wasn’t she in Spain or something?”
    â€œPortugal. The Algarve.”
    â€œSome people have all the luck,” Meghan answered with a shrug. “What’s she doing back here?”
    â€œHer engagement’s off, apparently.”
    â€œYou saw her?”
    â€œI clean the Wests’ house every other Wednesday.”
    â€œRight.” Meghan yawned. “I so do not feel like working tonight,” she said, stretching, and Nathan nearly fell off her lap. Rachel managed to keep herself from saying her sister never felt like working; she only did three nights a week at the Hangman’s Noose. “I’d better get on, then.” She stood up, settling Nathan onto her hip. “Time for the tub, Nath. Aunt Rachel won’t want