“Here you go.” Mack put down her ginger beer and lime and her own Coke.

Flora put Dexter down and he went running off towards Jay.

“Thanks.” Flora took a sip. “Mmm, delicious. I haven’t had one of these for ages.”

Mack smiled. “I’ve never known anyone have a ginger beer and lime before.”

“It was my mum’s favourite drink. If she was somewhere everyone was drinking alcohol, she had this. She always said it was a bit more special. Either that or a tomato juice and pepper. Lovely.”

Mack screwed up her face. “Um…I don’t think I’d like that.”

“It’s delicious. What about you? Do you like to drink?”

“The odd bottle of lager here and there, a whisky with my cousin sometimes. I’ve only been drunk once in my life. I mean proper drunk. When we were seventeen, Nikki and I got a bottle of vodka, went to a party, and got steaming drunk. When we left, we got jumped and took a right beating. We were too steaming to fight back.”

“Were you okay?” Flora couldn’t imagine anyone getting the better of Mack.

“Aye, we had a couple of broken ribs and bumps, but mainly bruised egos. We were Sharkeys and were a bit arrogant, I suppose. We didn’t expect anyone to get the better of us. When we got home, Mum and Aunt Chrissy fussed around us, but Uncle Thomas was furious. He gave us a big talking to about getting drunk and being out of control. We had to always be in control of our minds. We never got drunk again.”

“I suppose, being Sharkeys, you had targets on your back a lot,” Faith asked.

“Aye, we did. A lot of people over the years have wanted to find out if two women could live up to the Sharkey family name. Nikki is the first woman to lead the family and business.”

“And did you prove yourself? Flora asked.

Mack grinned. “What do you think?”

Flora’s heart fluttered, and her brain couldn’t make sentences to reply. Instead she looked down and rubbed her nose and tapped on the table. She looked up and saw Mack watching her. Flora realized she hadn’t been as discreet as she usually was, and for some unknown reason she blurted out, “I have OCD. I know I’m weird and strange, but this is just who I am. I can’t change.” She then squeezed her eyes shut in embarrassment. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—”

“Hey.” Mack reached across the table and grasped her hand. “You are not weird or strange, and if you are, then we all are. There’s not one person in the world that doesn’t have some kind of quirk. It’s what makes us different.”