Read Online All That I Leave Behind by Alison Walsh - Free Book Online Page B

worth it. She just couldn’t turn into one of those women who’d let herself go, she thought, eyeing her sister’s solid shoulders, the flab that hung over the waistband of her trousers. And trainers … she eyed Mary-Pat’s large white pair, complete with those awful neon ankle socks – no one over twenty-five should wear trainers.
    ‘What the hell is she doing in there,’ Mary-Pat was saying, ‘is she trying on every bloody dress in the shop? I’m baking alive here and I need something to eat.’
    ‘Mum, will you take it easy,’ Melissa said, ‘anyone would think you didn’t want to be here.’
    Mary-Pat shot June a look, which June tried hard to ignore, examining the bubbles in her glass before taking another tentative sip. It was cheap and warm, but she’d have settled for anything just to get through this.
    ‘I mean, choosing a wedding dress is the most important decision she’ll ever have to make,’ Melissa was saying, ‘and she’ll want to get it just right.’ She had a dreamy look in her eye and June felt like hugging the girl – bless her, she was a romantic. If only she knew, June thought, that you had to have so much more after the romance had gone. Something that would bind you both together: friendship, loyalty, common interests, the kind of things that she and Gerry shared.
    ‘For God’s sake, Melissa, she’s not winning the feckin’ Nobel Prize, she’s just trying on a wedding dress,’ Mary-Pat snapped.
    June shot out a warning hand and placed it on Mary-Pat’s shoulder. Mary-Pat shrugged it off. ‘Mel, why don’t you go and see what’s happening.’ June smiled. ‘Maybe Rosie wants a hand.’
    The girl was off like a shot, bouncing off in the direction of the curtained area, behind which Rosie clearly
was
trying on every dress in the shop. Lovely Melissa – she was such a sweet-natured girl, in spite of the fake tan and the straightened hair and those spidery fake eyelashes. June thought of her two girls. Georgia would have loved this, if only she didn’t have extra violin after school, and so would India, but she’d told June that she was ‘up to her eyes’ preparing for her maths mocks. June was disappointed – she would have loved to have the girls with her, and it was ages since they’d seen their cousin, but she couldn’t argue with hard work. Gerry and she were always going on at them to put the effort in, so she couldn’t complain. Mary-Pat thought it was highly entertaining that she had two such studious girls, ‘seeing as you never did a stroke of work in your life,’ she’d joked. Georgia was a bit of a wild card, though, and June knew she’d have to watch her. She had something of Daddy about her, a twinkle in her eye and a sense of mischief, which June was determined to keep under control. Still, June was proud of them both. Mary-Pat was probably a bit jealous – and boy, could she be hard on Melissa.
    ‘MP, will you go easy on her, she’s just having fun,’ June said quietly.
    Mary-Pat shot her a look. ‘Fun.’
    ‘Our baby sister is getting married and she’s including us in this … ritual.’ June chose the word for want of a better one. ‘Is that so bad? You were complaining last week that she didn’t want to include you.’
    ‘I know,’ Mary-Pat muttered. ‘It’s just …’
    ‘What?’ June said gently.
    ‘It’s just … it’s been a shock her coming back after all this time, Junie. I just don’t know what to think.’ Mary-Pat looked anguished and, not for the first time, June felt a flicker of irritation, which she masked. She knew that Mary-Pat was upset, but frankly, she was behaving as if the world were going to end just because her sister had come home after ten years to see them all. Yes, the visit made June feel a tad … uneasy, but she was pleased to see her sister. Delighted, in fact. She really must have Rosie and Craig over for dinner before the wedding, just the two of them, so that she could get to know him a bit