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Bill interjected his
voice cracking over the room like a whip. “That is enough!” They broke off,
each gasping in their fury. Kerry felt the fight suddenly drain out of her. She
couldn’t believe she’d let things get so out of hand and horribly, Jake was
right. Her actions were fuelled by her desire to have a chance with Dan, even
though Jake didn’t know that. She was just as guilty of a selfish motive as he
was. He was afraid of opening himself up to hurt again. She knew that, but she
was pushing him because she so desperately didn’t want to lose her chance with
Dan forever and time was marching on.
    She looked at Jake. He barely glanced
at her. His body was so rigid, it looked like it was carved from stone. His
face was drawn and haunted. She felt her heart twist. She shouldn’t have said
the things she’d said. She’d well and truly stuck her foot in her big mouth.
She knew what he’d been through, but in her anger at his stubbornness, she’d
let her tongue run away with her instead of sticking to the plan she and Laura
had decided on. Laura!
    Kerry felt her face heat with shame
at their behaviour. She glanced at Laura, embarrassed that they had had such a
raw open row in front of her, but Laura had fallen asleep at her seat, her jet
lag finally catching up with her. Not even their shouting had disturbed her.
She sat in her chair, her head resting on her hand, propped up by the wall.
Soft little puffs of breath escaped through her slightly parted lips, stirring
the strand of hair that had fallen out of her pony and across her face.
    “Well, thank goodness that poor girl
fell asleep before witnessing your row,” Bill said to them both, disappointment
clear in his expression. “Though how she slept through your shouts I’ll never
know. Can you imagine how she would have felt listening to you both argue that
way over her staying here? She’s feeling bad enough about the whole thing,
without you both making her feel worse. I am truly ashamed of both your
behaviours here tonight.”
    Bill rarely spoke this way to the
siblings and both felt uneasy under his stony gaze. “Jake, swallow that
stubborn pride of yours and realise that under the circumstances, it is the
right thing to do to let Laura stay here, as she was promised by your sister.
None of this sorry affair is her fault, not the dating agency and not the past.
If you can’t agree to this, I’ll be forced to phone your mother. I don’t want
to have to drag her into this, she has enough to deal with, but if you force my
hand, I’ll call her. Just see if I don’t!”
    Jake nodded curtly, far from happy.
His mother would skin him alive if she heard about his conduct. Kerry would get
an ear bashing, but he’d come off worse, he was sure. His mother would probably
agree with Kerry about fixing him up with someone anyway. She’d been on at him
about moving on and finding someone new before she’d left to take care of their
grandmother after her fall. She probably put the idea for this little scheme in
her daughters head!
    “Fine, she can stay, but don’t expect
me to have anything to do with her. And she’s only staying the three weeks, not
a moment more. Agreed?”
    Kerry nodded. Jake stomped out of the
room, leaving Kerry and Bill to deal with the sleeping beauty at their table.
    *****
    Lotta slumped against the wall,
breathing a deep sigh of relief. She’d managed to avert disaster and Laura
would be staying. Flo stood next to her, looking slightly put out.
    “How is it you can use the old
favourites and I can’t?” she grumbled.
    “I only sent her to sleep,” Lotta
huffed. “She was half way there already and besides, they thought she dropped
off from jet lag. It all blended in rather nicely. Unlike your idea!”
    “I could have handled it,” Flo
countered, her lip poking out in a childlike pout, her wand waving around
rather dangerously. “And my idea was a brilliant one. Really inspired until you
undid it.”
    “There was no need