Free A Sister’s Gift by Giselle Green Page A

know she’s upset about this whole baby thing, but I offeredher what I could. I said I’d donate eggs for her. And even that is more than I want to do; I only offered because she is desperate and sad and I felt I somehow
should!
I give Ruffles a rueful smile. ‘Just to give her even
more
reason to be upset with me, I just remembered I already ate half the raspberries that she set aside for dessert earlier. Just you wait till she discovers that!’
    There is a rap on the wet glass of the gazebo. I sit up guiltily.
    ‘Just you wait till Hollie discovers what?’ Richard enquires.
    ‘I ate Hollie’s raspberries,’ I confess. ‘But apart from that…look, if you’ve been sent out here to fetch me, I need to know she’s not still upset about what happened earlier.’
    ‘Sarah announcing that she’s expecting, you mean?’
    ‘No!’ I give a small laugh. ‘Though I don’t imagine that went down too well. I mean…about what happened between Hollie and
me
earlier.’
    ‘I don’t know, Lettie.’ He ducks under the doorframe, running his hands through his damp hair and I remember he hasn’t been back home long. ‘Was she upset with you earlier?’
    ‘I think so…’I tell him quietly. He sits down beside me and I shove over a bit. ‘Yes, she was upset with me. She’s been rushing around like a demon all morning…’
    ‘Poor Hol. This dinner party has given her a lot of work, hasn’t it?’
    ‘She
loves
it,’ I retort. ‘She loves being the hostess with the mostest and having her family all around her…’
    ‘She does,’ he agrees softly, ‘but she’s under a bit of strain right now. Don’t take it to heart if she snapped at you. Is that the reason you’re hiding out here?’
    I shake my head. He hasn’t asked me what I’ve done to upset Hollie, I notice. Perhaps he already knows?
    ‘Oh, I don’t know! Sometimes families are so complicated, aren’t they?’ Ruffles is standing up on the bench now, nuzzling his face into Richard’s neck. ‘It’s not so for dogs, is it?’
    He smiles into Ruffles’ fur.
    ‘D’you suppose Ruff still remembers the day he and I first came into your life? Is that why he adores you as much as he does?’
    ‘Do you remember that?’ Rich glances at me for a second. ‘I’d never seen such a forlorn sight. That hit-and-run driver just left you with the dog after he’d run over his legs.’
    ‘And you were just on your way to some important meeting. I remember you had your suit on and a briefcase. It was a Tuesday and it was raining and it was dark and there was hardly anybody else about and you picked him up and you told me to come along with you and you said…’
    ‘Whoa! A Tuesday?’ he interjects. ‘You’ve got some memory.’
    ‘You said…’I shoot him a glance ‘…you would take him to the vet’s for me and you did. You put him in your car and then you walked me to Hol’s office because you said I shouldn’t get in the car with a stranger.’
    ‘You were only – what – ten?’ He shrugs.
    ‘I was thirteen. Nearly fourteen. I was a late developer, that’s all.’ My fingers accidentally brush against his as we both stroke the dog and I put my hand in my pocket instead, getting out my mobile phone. ‘Look,’ I tell him, clicking on the photos icon on my phone and changing the subject. ‘These are the people who I need to get the money together for.’
    ‘These are your friends?’
    My friends. Yes. That’s Guillermo standing there in the middle with his arms about my bare waist. I look pretty good in that one. Pretty fit. There’s no mistaking the way he’s looking at me while everyone else is busy posing for the camera. I glance up at Richard to see if he’s noticed but if he has he isn’t showing it.
    ‘These people?’ he frowns.
    ‘No. Those are PlanetLove people and – other friends. I’ll show you the Yanomami now.’
    ‘Oh!’ Richard laughs at the next one, leans in closer towards me so he can get a better look at the