LITMIR.BIZ

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face. Her eyes were bloodshot and swollen and her waist-length hair trailed lank and greasy down her back. Kiki attempted a watery smile, which got stuck somewhere along the way, and Mia stepped around her and inside the house, pushing the door gently shut before she gathered Kiki into her arms.

      Kiki seemed to lose all ability to hold herself up as she melted into Mia’s arms, leaving her no choice but to lower them both to the floor. Kiki buried her head in Mia’s lap and sobbed. The wracking shudders of her body shattered Mia’s heart as she bent low over her sister’s head and stroked her back. She whispered quietly to Kiki, told her how much she loved her, how sorry she was that she had left her alone, that it would be okay now. In the end that was all she could repeat over and over: ‘It’ll be okay, now.’

      The storm passed as quickly as a summer squall and Kiki soon quieted. Mia continued to soothe and stroke her sister until she finally raised her head and loosed an undignified sniff, which made them both giggle weakly. Mia pressed her forehead to Kiki’s and drew a deep breath. She’d always believed it was better to lance a wound than leave it to fester and she had a feeling these would not be the last of her sister’s tears that day.

      She pulled back to clasp her sister’s face and stare into her eyes. ‘All right for a minute? Let’s get the kettle on and work out what needs to be done today.’

      Kiki tried to draw a settling breath, coughed and made a second, better attempt. She nodded and pushed herself to her feet, clasping Mia’s hand and drawing her up. Kiki kept hold of her hand as they entered the kitchen and she sank into the nearest chair, as though that small effort had overwhelmed her again.

      Mia patted her hand before freeing her own and bustling around the kitchen, putting on the kettle and brewing them both an industrial-strength cup of tea. There were days when Mia wished she had developed a taste for coffee but she had never accustomed her palate to the bitter brew. She plunked the cups down on the table and drew her notepad and a pen from the depths of her shoulder bag. She pushed one of the mugs up against Kiki’s fingers until she wrapped them around the hot mug and then nodded once.

      ‘Okay, let’s get started…’

      ‘The kids?’

      ‘They are okay. We had a sleepover in my bed and they are fine. Bill and Pat have taken them to the wildlife park and will keep them for the rest of the weekend.’ Mia raised her hand when Kiki sought to protest and her words died on her lips. ‘Matty and Charlie will stay with them for the rest of the weekend. The kids need some downtime too, Kiki. You need to pull yourself together before you see them again. Matty is worried sick about you. Charlie is confused but hopefully too young to understand what’s going on.’

      Mia took a mouthful of hot tea and relished the burn as she pressed on. ‘Matty tells me that Neil has a nickname for you.’ Kiki flinched and Mia shook her head as her worst fears were realised. ‘Your husband calls you Stupid. In front of the children. And you let him.’ She paused between each statement, feeling awful at witnessing her sister’s pain but determined to have everything out in the open.

      Kiki didn’t speak. She just kept her eyes lowered to the mug of tea in front of her and Mia wanted to shake her. How had she allowed herself to become so beaten down, so cowed by life? Even in the depths of her grief over Jamie’s death there had been an indomitable part of Mia’s spirit that had driven her forwards.

      Kiki seemed to have no spark, no sense of purpose left, and it made Mia furious to behold it. She couldn’t honestly say whether her anger was aimed at her sister or Neil. Both probably, and her parents too for being such useless role models when they were growing up.

      Kiki had always been the softest of them, the sweetest of hearts and therefore so easily damaged. Their mother took full advantage of it when they were older, pleading with Kiki to help her ease the pain of whatever non-existent ailment she was claiming. Just a little nip, just a small shot to help her sleep, and Kiki couldn’t refuse. She couldn’t or wouldn’t see the manipulative gleam in Vivian’s eye when she got her way and Kiki snuck her a drink.

      Mia had tried to persuade her father to remove the alcohol from the house but he refused to acknowledge the problem, hiding from the truth in his study. Bloody coward. An unexpected wave of anger swamped her. If George had only stood up to Vivian, things might have been different.

      Kiki had been prime fodder for the likes of Neil. A few years older, originally a protégé of their father’s, he had paid small flattering attentions to Kiki. A CD he thought she would enjoy, a ragged posy of flowers. All he could afford so he claimed and Kiki had swallowed every sweet thing that he said, desperate for affection and validation. Neil had seemed harmless enough at first and Mia had not discouraged his attentions towards her sister, as it was just a relief to see her smile and blossom a little.

      Kiki was the prettiest of the three of them—it did no harm to Mia’s ego to acknowledge it. But Kiki had never been able to see it for herself. Her modesty and shyness had drawn Neil, who lapped it up every time Kiki looked at him with such devotion. Her desperation fed his ego and before anyone knew what was happening, the couple were away to the registry office and married.

      Jamie had courted Mia whilst they were still at school and Mia had been too caught up in her own happiness to recognise that all was not well in her sister’s marriage until it was too late. Kiki was pregnant and Neil was furious at the extra expense on his modest salary. He had made it clear that he blamed Kiki for the problem.

      After the baby had been born, Kiki had revelled in motherhood, finally able to connect with a being who would love her unconditionally and who she could love equally in return without fear of reprisal.

      Neil, however, did not take well to the loss of Kiki’s attention and began to sulk and pick at her, in an effort to get it back. Still in love with him and inured to years of being the one at fault, Kiki took it all to heart and soon believed that everything that was wrong in her marriage was down to her. She didn’t work, so why didn’t she have time to get everything in the house straight? How difficult was it to make sure that there was a meal waiting for Neil when he got home? Why hadn’t she noticed that his suit needed dry-cleaning when he had an important meeting?

      The more he undermined her, the more useless Kiki felt, and the last shreds of her confidence deserted her. Whilst Mia could understand and rationalise how things had ended up so bad, it was time to put a stop to it now that the children were starting to be affected by Neil’s behaviour. She would not allow history to continue repeating itself and she was damned if she would let Kiki be the victim any longer.

      ‘So I assume Neil has issued an edict on the food for tonight. Do you have everything we need or do I need to make a shopping list?’ Mia kept her voice brisk. There was too much to get sorted out so she would not press Kiki too hard for the minute.

      Kiki didn’t speak, just continued to stare into her tea and Mia scrubbed at her hair to give her hands something to do other than reach across the table and shake her sister until she rattled. ‘Kiki!’ Her sister flinched so hard she spilled her tea across her hand and Mia grabbed a cloth to mop it up. ‘What’s wrong with you, darling? You’re like a zombie. I need you to focus for me, just for a little while. Can you do that? Can you help me so that I can help you?’

      Mia held her sister’s face and forced her to meet her gaze, the naked pain she saw there was heartbreaking but she pressed on. ‘I need you with me, Kiki Dee. Okay?’

      Her sister raised her hands to cover Mia’s and she nodded slightly. ‘Okay. Sorry, I’m okay, I’m okay.’ Perhaps if she said it enough times she might even begin to believe it. ‘I’ve got everything we need for the meal tonight. It’s all in Dad’s fridge already. I have a key so I was going to go over there this morning and prepare everything.’

      Mia held her sigh of relief in as Kiki started to sound a little more with it and they reviewed the menu for the dinner party. Nothing too difficult or controversial, thank goodness. After a few protestations from Kiki, Mia persuaded her to go back to bed and sleep for a few hours whilst she would go to their parents’ house and get everything ready.

      She would

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