sort of thing sisters talk about isn’t it? You know…who they fancy…what it’s like to kiss them!”
“Some sisters maybe, but not this one.”
Izzie sighed. “I wish Mama hadn’t died, so you could be my sister instead of my mother. So you could have a life of your own, without me.”
Jodie put out her hand and pulled her down onto the bed beside her. “I wish she hadn’t died too, but don’t ever say things like that. If you had died in the car crash as well as her then I think my heart really would have broken into tiny pieces.”
A solitary tear trickled down Izzie’s cheek. “Do you honestly mean that?”
“Of course I do. I wouldn’t say it otherwise. And don’t worry about Marcus and me. We’ll sort things out in our own way. Now are you going back to your own bed or are you getting into mine?”
“Getting into yours if Marcus isn’t going to,” a second tear followed the first one.
Jodie pushed back the duvet with a shake of her head. “He’s not. He’s not even going to come into the bedroom, so get in…but stay on your own side of the bed because I need my beauty sleep.”
Climbing in, Izzie kissed Jodie on the cheek, threw the pillow onto the floor and then slithered down the bed until she was lying on her stomach with her head turned away. Jodie ruffled her blonde pixie crop as she leaned across to turn off the bedside light.
“Sleep tight,” she said. Then she lay on her back and listened to her sister’s breathing.
She had deliberately chosen adjoining bedrooms with a shared bathroom, knowing it would give Izzie the feeling of security she would need to get to sleep. She had anticipated she would want to keep the doors open between them too, had even expected her to come into the bedroom in the morning. What she hadn’t anticipated was that she would want to sleep in the same bed.
She frowned. It had been a long time since Izzie had woken up screaming in the middle of every night with a terror that could only be soothed if Jodie climbed into bed with her. Nowadays, although she still had bad dreams, she mostly managed to get back to sleep alone. Surely these few days away weren’t going to undo everything she’d achieved in recent years. On the other hand, it was a good test. If she couldn’t manage to sleep in her own bed this weekend when Jodie was with her, then she couldn’t contemplate going away to university either. By the time their short break was over at least they would know whether she could cope on her own, or whether she needed to choose a course at a local college so she could carry on living at home.
Turning on her side, she sighed as she contemplated the future. Where did that leave her and Marcus? Would his understanding stretch far enough for him to accept a relationship that included an ever-present Izzie, or would he get fed up with the whole thing and move on? He had Luke to consider, of course, but it wasn’t the same. His money bought him a sort of freedom. He could go away for weeks at a time secure in the knowledge that his son’s life would continue exactly as usual, whereas she didn’t dare leave her sister even for a single night.
Chapter Fifteen
Marcus got up early the following morning. Knowing Jodie was asleep on the other side of the bedroom wall was driving him to distraction, as was the memory of her kisses. He groaned as he remembered the way she had slipped her hands up under his sweater and pressed them against his chest.
But even as he struggled with his frustration he smiled. At least with Jodie everything was straightforward. What you saw was what you got. When she was angry she scowled. When she was scared her eyes became pitch dark and opaque. When she was happy her laughter triggered that tantalizing dimple at the corner of her mouth. And when she had kissed him yesterday she had been so turned on by his lovemaking he’d had to call on every bit of his
“Some sisters maybe, but not this one.”
Izzie sighed. “I wish Mama hadn’t died, so you could be my sister instead of my mother. So you could have a life of your own, without me.”
Jodie put out her hand and pulled her down onto the bed beside her. “I wish she hadn’t died too, but don’t ever say things like that. If you had died in the car crash as well as her then I think my heart really would have broken into tiny pieces.”
A solitary tear trickled down Izzie’s cheek. “Do you honestly mean that?”
“Of course I do. I wouldn’t say it otherwise. And don’t worry about Marcus and me. We’ll sort things out in our own way. Now are you going back to your own bed or are you getting into mine?”
“Getting into yours if Marcus isn’t going to,” a second tear followed the first one.
Jodie pushed back the duvet with a shake of her head. “He’s not. He’s not even going to come into the bedroom, so get in…but stay on your own side of the bed because I need my beauty sleep.”
Climbing in, Izzie kissed Jodie on the cheek, threw the pillow onto the floor and then slithered down the bed until she was lying on her stomach with her head turned away. Jodie ruffled her blonde pixie crop as she leaned across to turn off the bedside light.
“Sleep tight,” she said. Then she lay on her back and listened to her sister’s breathing.
She had deliberately chosen adjoining bedrooms with a shared bathroom, knowing it would give Izzie the feeling of security she would need to get to sleep. She had anticipated she would want to keep the doors open between them too, had even expected her to come into the bedroom in the morning. What she hadn’t anticipated was that she would want to sleep in the same bed.
She frowned. It had been a long time since Izzie had woken up screaming in the middle of every night with a terror that could only be soothed if Jodie climbed into bed with her. Nowadays, although she still had bad dreams, she mostly managed to get back to sleep alone. Surely these few days away weren’t going to undo everything she’d achieved in recent years. On the other hand, it was a good test. If she couldn’t manage to sleep in her own bed this weekend when Jodie was with her, then she couldn’t contemplate going away to university either. By the time their short break was over at least they would know whether she could cope on her own, or whether she needed to choose a course at a local college so she could carry on living at home.
Turning on her side, she sighed as she contemplated the future. Where did that leave her and Marcus? Would his understanding stretch far enough for him to accept a relationship that included an ever-present Izzie, or would he get fed up with the whole thing and move on? He had Luke to consider, of course, but it wasn’t the same. His money bought him a sort of freedom. He could go away for weeks at a time secure in the knowledge that his son’s life would continue exactly as usual, whereas she didn’t dare leave her sister even for a single night.
Chapter Fifteen
Marcus got up early the following morning. Knowing Jodie was asleep on the other side of the bedroom wall was driving him to distraction, as was the memory of her kisses. He groaned as he remembered the way she had slipped her hands up under his sweater and pressed them against his chest.
But even as he struggled with his frustration he smiled. At least with Jodie everything was straightforward. What you saw was what you got. When she was angry she scowled. When she was scared her eyes became pitch dark and opaque. When she was happy her laughter triggered that tantalizing dimple at the corner of her mouth. And when she had kissed him yesterday she had been so turned on by his lovemaking he’d had to call on every bit of his
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