They ate dinner outside, watching the sun dip over the fields and the ocean in the distance.

Popeye appeared, as he so often did when there was food to be had.

They talked about the trip, and Liza talked about the summer plans for France, and carefully resisted all temptation to urge her mother to be careful.

She closed her eyes, savoring the wine and the sunshine until the air grew chilly. When the sky darkened, she cleared the plates into the kitchen and Kathleen headed for bed.

Liza had the feeling she would have been as happy to be alone.

It was clear that her mother was frustrated by her attempts to be caring, and Liza didn’t know how not to care.

“We should have an early night too,” she said to Sean. “All that sea air has made me tired.”

Feeling isolated and unappreciated, she took ages in the bathroom and was relieved to find Sean already asleep when she eventually slid into bed next to him.

It took a long time for her to fall asleep but eventually she did and she was dreaming of the South of France when Sean’s phone rang.

He groped for it in the dark and Liza switched on the light, heart pounding.

“Is it the girls?”

He focused on the screen. “No, it’s Margaret and Peter from next door. Why on earth would they be calling in the middle of the night?” He sat up and answered the phone. “Margaret? Yes—don’t worry about that—” He listened and rubbed his hand over his face. “You’re kidding—oh no—”

“What?” Liza mouthed the question but he shook his head and held up his hand.

“All I can do is apologize... Yes, absolutely. We’ll leave now, but it will take four hours to get home. Of course you called the police—I understand.”

“Police?” Liza, who didn’t understand at all, was frantic. “What is going on?”

“Yes, Liza and I will be dealing with them I can assure you.” Sean finally hung up and swore under his breath. “We need to leave.”

“Is it the twins? Did they have an accident?”

“No, they had a party.” Sean’s expression was grim as he threw their clothes into the overnight bag. “They’ve wrecked our house and, it seems, broken our neighbors’ dining room window and destroyed their precious herbaceous borders. We have to go home.”

6

KATHLEEN

Two weeks later Kathleen sat clutching her bag on her lap as Liza drove her to the airport.

She felt old, but that was what two nights with teenagers could do for you.

Was it wrong to feel relieved that part of her trip was over? She was starting to understand why Liza looked drained the whole time.

Liza gave her a wan smile. “Sorry. It wasn’t the most relaxing stay.”