The Love Market Read Online Free PDF Page B

this,’ she says, wafting a hand at the steam coming off it. Then she adds, ‘Why? It’s not like I’m going.’
    I set my fork down. ‘Since when?’
    ‘Since she didn’t invite me.’ She meets my eyes. ‘But I’m not upset or anything.’
    ‘Why didn’t she invite you? Did you ask her?’
    She rolls her eyes. ‘How would it be better if I knew?’
    I try to find an answer for that, but as often happens, my daughter outsmarts me. What she lacks in school marks, she makes up for in her ability to cut through the chaff and tell it like it is. ‘You’re not distancing yourself from her because she won the Gymnastics championship and you resent her for it, are you?’
    She drops her jaw now, and rolls her eyes again. I regret asking her. But something in her expression… I am not convinced. ‘You had a fall, Aimee. Yes it was bad, but imagine how worse it could have been if you’d hit your head. Your bones are young and will heal and be good as new. You will win other competitions.’ I know that my “You can still lose the battle and win the war” line isn’t all that much consolation, but it’s the best I’ve got right now.
    I look at her fingers seized around her fork. They are long and gangly and pale and perfectly tapered, with their pearly painted nails. I have adored them from the moment I first laid eyes on them. Sometimes I think I’ve watched Aimee grow through her hands. I’m like a fortune teller, only I don’t read palms, and I only see the present. If only I could see what was even a short distance ahead for all of us. That might have been a gift worth having right now.
    ‘Her mum said that marriages only break up because one person has met someone else.’
    It’s me doing the jaw-dropping now. ‘Aimee! You shouldn’t listen to things like that! Yes, people sometimes do fall in love with others. But in our case neither one of us was looking to meet someone else, Aimee. We never were. It was about us, not other people.’
    We eat the rest of our food in silence. When we’re done, I glance over and accidentally catch the waiter’s eye, which seems to make his day.
    ‘You’ve got yourself a boyfriend,’ Aimee says.
    ‘And hands off, he’s all mine.’ I catch a hint of a smile. ‘Listen, we’re going to pay up and shop till we drop. And we’ll plan our own party. How about that?’ I pull out my money to pay the bill. The waiter is on me in a split second, panting for some more eye contact.
    ‘Who’ll be left to invite?’ she says, pulling a smile. ‘They’ll all be at Rachel’s.’
    ‘Don’t worry,’ I rub the top of her head. ‘We’ll think of somebody. Even if we have to pay people to come, just for show.’
    She tuts at me now. But it’s a happier tut. And right now that feels like a major breakthrough. ‘Can we get out of this dumb restaurant now?’ she asks.
    ‘Gladly,’ I tell her.

Four
     
     
    ‘I was reading an article the other day,’ I tell my half-sister Jacqui while we’re out running and attempting to get fit for summer. ‘It was about how memories of your first love can ruin your future relationships. It said that if you had a passionate first relationship and allow that to become your benchmark, it becomes inevitable that future partnerships will seem boring and a big disappointment. It said ideally we would all wake up and have skipped our first relationship and be in our second one.’ I am panting hard. My legs don’t seem to want to work and my heart has gone out in sympathy.
    ‘I’d happily have skipped mine,’ she says. ‘Remember Darren who wore the T-shirt that said I LUV LAXATIVES?’
    I grin. ‘Did he really?’ I ask her. ‘Love laxatives?’
    She chuckles, then says, ‘So I take it you’ve been thinking about Patrick again.’
    The mention of his name after all this time is like a groggy regaining of consciousness to a life almost forgotten. ‘I wasn’t. No. But of course now I’m going to. Thanks.’
    ‘Divorce is