Leaving Molly with Flora, she vanished to the sanctuary of her bedroom and tried to focus on her writing. Every now and then she closed her eyes and tried to block out the delicious gurgles of laughter coming from Molly in the kitchen.

Feeling sick, Izzy stared at the screen without seeing any of the words she’d written.

Her dad often said she was his hero. He was proud of the way she’d held the family together. Izzy hadn’t realized how fragile her position was or how quickly a hero could be replaced. Everything was going smoothly and then one day you turned around and you were no longer doing the laundry and your little sister no longer wanted to make cakes with you.

If things carried on like this, Izzy would no longer be needed.

Where would that leave her?

9

Flora

“You’ve moved in?” Julia stared at her. “All this happened at the weekend and you didn’t call?”

“I knew you were busy.” Flora rubbed her hand over her ribs. It hurt when she breathed in. Everything hurt. “Also, there was nothing you could have done. You don’t have room for overnight guests.”

“Going from dinner to moving in is a big step. Why are you hugging your ribs?”

“I went for a run yesterday and my bra is designed for yoga. I’m having trouble moving my arms. If I need anything from a high shelf, you’re going to have to get it.”

“You ran somewhere?” Julia broke off the conversation to ring up a bunch of freesias for a woman in a sharp suit. “Have a wonderful, blossoming, perfectly scented day!” She beamed at the woman, waited until she’d reached the door of the store and then turned back to Flora. “You? Ran?”

“I did. At five in the morning. It was beautiful, although I had to prize my eyelids open to see it. I watched the sunrise.” And tried desperately to keep up with Izzy without having a heart attack. She knew she couldn’t rely on Izzy to give her mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

“I guess that’s romantic if you’re awake enough to see it. Did he kiss you? Propose?”

“I didn’t run with Jack. I ran with Izzy.”

“The teenager?” Julia leaned against the counter. “So now you’re best buddies?”

“Not exactly.” She couldn’t fathom Izzy at all. She’d spent all of the day before trying to make her life easier. She’d thought Izzy would appreciate having more time to herself, but it hadn’t turned out that way. When Molly had chosen painting over baking, Izzy had been hurt and Flora had been unsure how to handle it.

“I can’t believe you’ve moved in with him, when only last week you thought you were breaking up.”

“I haven’t ‘moved in’ exactly. And I have my own bedroom.”

Julia grinned. “Shame about that.”