Chapter 3
Lily Clarke hated parties. She felt so self-conscious and usually avoided them like the plague.
But Freya was her best friend, so she had to go.
The annoying thing was that her mam and dad insisted on going too.
God! Embarrassing. She’d talked to a few of the girls who’d been invited, and their parents were going as well.
Apparently there was talk of wine for the adults.
Lily knew it was Freya’s dad just wanting to show off his new house.
She’d been over there a lot, so she knew hers was nicer.
‘You have to wear a dress,’ her mother, Sadie, said.
Lily rolled her eyes behind Sadie’s back. ‘I don’t wear dresses. These are my good leggings.’ She did a twirl, delighted with her new short haircut, which she’d had done that morning at a local salon that opened seven days a week.
‘Dad will be angry when he sees that we’ve destroyed your long hair. What was I thinking letting you have it cut?’
‘Stop worrying, Mam. My hair goes to a children’s cancer charity. It’ll make a difference to some sick child who’s having chemo. You agreed.’
‘I did, but now I’m not so sure.’ Her mother gave her an unexpected hug. ‘Too late now. Don’t take a rise out of your dad when he sees you.’
Lily dislodged herself from her mother’s arms. Sadie rarely did hugs or cuddles and she felt awkward in her embrace. Despite all that, her mother was super protective. Duh.
‘Please tell me you talked him out of going to the party. He’ll ruin it.’
‘Shh. He’s in his den.’
Lily laughed. ‘A den is a kids’ tree house. Why can’t he call it a home office like normal people?’ But she knew her dad wasn’t like other people. Then she thought about Freya’s dad. Cameron was a creepy sort of weird. Not normal weird like her own dad.
She glanced down at her black leggings and long black T-shirt with an image of Taylor Swift emblazoned on it.
Her clothing might spark an angry response from her dad, and how would he feel about her haircut?
She was glad her mother had called a halt at her getting a purple streak.
She grinned to herself. That might have sent him over the edge. Totally.
‘What have you to smile about?’
She hadn’t heard him enter the kitchen. She swung around, her bravado dissolving in an instant.
‘Jesus Christ, Lily, what have you done to your hair?’
Welcome to another day at the Clarke loony house, she thought.
‘Sadie! How could you let her do this?’ He took two strides forward and gripped Lily’s shoulder.
‘Dad!’ she shouted. ‘Stop.’
Why wasn’t her mam saying something? Lily could never understand her mother’s meekness in volatile situations. She was well able to raise her voice whenever Lily misbehaved.
‘It’s okay,’ Sadie said. ‘It’s time we were leaving for the party. Get your coat.’
‘Right,’ Lily said, the word dripping with defiance.
Thomas dropped his hand. ‘You’re not going anywhere dressed like that. What are you presenting as this week? Some sort of goth?’
‘I’m presenting as me,’ she said over her shoulder, ‘and Taylor is not a goth. Duh.’ She scooted out of the kitchen before he could reply.
Thomas Clarke turned to his wife, ‘You can’t let her go out like that. We’ll be a laughing stock.’
‘I don’t think anyone cares what we do or don’t do. Or what we look like.’
‘I care what people think. And you should too. Lily can’t rule the roost here. She takes advantage of you.’
‘And you don’t?’
‘What have I told you about answering me back, Sadie? I can’t stand it.’
‘You let her answer you back.’
‘She’s a child.’
‘I know what she is, but honestly, Thomas, at times I don’t know what or who you are.’
‘I’m the man who built my business from the ground up. I got you this house. I pay the bills so that you can cook nice meals and have wine nights in with your friends.’
‘What friends? I don’t have any bloody friends except for Caroline. You have your friends over doing God knows what in your “den”.’
She even did air quotes, and he felt his blood pressure rise, flushing the capillaries on his cheeks. Jesus, he was only forty and she made him feel like an old man. He curled his hand into a fist and stuffed it into his trouser pocket. It was so fucking hard having to control himself all the time.
‘Make sure you wear something that covers you up,’ he said.
Thomas had turned on his heel after instructing Sadie what to wear.
He left her standing there in the middle of their shining, sterile kitchen, in their spotless, architecturally magnificent house.
The one thing that wasn’t perfect for him was their daughter.
She knew Thomas loved Lily, but he couldn’t control her.
She was her own person. Strong and resolute.
That brought a smile to Sadie’s face. It was approaching her time to be like her daughter.
But maybe not yet. She needed to plan. Like Caroline did. To get her ducks in a row, so to speak.
For now, she had to put on her party face.
Catching a glimpse of herself in the hall mirror, she smiled, swishing her long dark hair and pouting her lips.
A caress of crimson would do the job. She fluttered her eyelashes.
They were so long and lush, she never had to apply mascara.
Sadie Clarke knew she was beautiful, and she could be a flirt when she wanted to be.
It was one of the things that fuelled her husband’s rage.
Maybe a little flirtation with awful Cameron Healy later might be the catalyst provoking Thomas into dropping his mask in public.
Lily’s haircut was just the start of the rebellion.
Sadie smiled sadly at her reflection. She no longer wanted to go to the party. She suddenly felt her world was about to implode.