Can you keep a secret_ - Sophie Kinsella [14]
I feel a familiar pang as I see them, standing side by side by the stove. They look more like mother and daughter than aunt and niece. They've both got the same feather-cut hair – although Kerry's is highlighted more strongly than Mum's – they're both wearing brightly coloured tops which show a lot of tanned cleavage, and they're both laughing. On the counter, I notice a bottle of white wine already half gone.
'Happy birthday!' I say, hugging Mum. As I glimpse a wrapped parcel on the kitchen table, I feel a little thrill of anticipation. I have got Mum the best birthday present. I can't wait to give it to her!
'Hiya!' says Kerry, turning round in her apron. Her blue eyes are heavily made-up, and round her neck she's wearing a diamond cross which I haven't seen before. Every time I see Kerry she has a new piece of jewellery. 'Great to see you, Emma! We don't see enough of you. Do we, Aunty Rachel?'
'We certainly don't,' says Mum, giving me a hug.
'Shall I take your coat?' says Kerry, as I put the bottle of champagne I've brought into the fridge. 'And what about a drink?'
This is how Kerry always talks to me. As though I'm a visitor.
But never mind. I'm not going to stress about it. Sacred links in the eternal circle of life.
'It's OK,' I say, trying to sound pleasant. 'I'll get it.' I open the cupboard where glasses are always kept, to find myself looking at tins of tomatoes.
'They're over here,' says Kerry, on the other side of the kitchen. 'We moved everything around! It makes much more sense now.'
'Oh right. Thanks.' I take the glass she gives me and take a sip of wine. 'Can I do anything to help?'
'I don't think so …' says Kerry, looking critically around the kitchen. 'Everything's pretty much done. So I said to Elaine,' she adds to Mum, '"Where did you get those shoes?" And she said M&S! I couldn't believe it!'
'Who's Elaine?' I say, trying to join in.
'At the golf club,' says Kerry.
Mum never used to play golf. But when she moved to Hampshire, she and Kerry took it up together. And now all I hear about is golf matches, golf club dinners, and endless parties with chums from the golf club.
I did once go along, to see what it was all about. But first of all they have all these stupid rules about what you can wear, which I didn't know, and some old guy nearly had a heart attack because I was in jeans. So they had to find me a skirt, and a spare pair of those clumpy shoes with spikes. And then when we got on to the course I couldn't hit the ball. Not I couldn't hit the ball well: I literally could not make contact with the ball. So in the end they all exchanged glances and said I'd better wait in the clubhouse.
'Sorry, Emma, can I just get past you …' Kerry reaches over my shoulder for a serving dish.
'Sorry,' I say, and move aside. 'So, is there really nothing I can do, Mum?'
'You could feed Sammy,' she says, giving me a pot of goldfish food. She frowns anxiously. 'You know, I'm a bit worried about Sammy.'
'Oh,' I say, feeling a spasm of alarm. 'Er … why?'
'He just doesn't seem himself.' She peers at him in his bowl. 'What do you think? Does he look right to you?'
I follow her gaze and pull a thoughtful face, as though I'm studying Sammy's features.
Oh God. I never thought she would notice. I tried as hard as I could to get a fish that looked just like Sammy. I mean he's orange, he's got two fins, he swims around … What's the difference?
'He's probably just a bit depressed,' I say at last. 'He'll get over it.'
Please don't let her take him to the vet or anything, I silently pray. I didn't even check if I got the right sex. Do goldfishes even have sexes?
'Anything else I can do?' I say, sprinkling fish food lavishly over the water in an attempt to block her view of him.
'We've pretty much got it covered,' says Kerry kindly.
'Why don't you go and say hello to Dad?' says