Viola sat her A levels and Katy her GCSEs, then the school broke up for the holidays. For the first time, Katy actually looked forward to the summer ahead. She envisaged time spent with Viola and maybe even Danny. Perhaps she could suggest they set her up with one of Danny’s crew. She daydreamed of walking over the Downs with her younger version of Danny, picnics in the sunshine, trips to the cinema as a gang. She’d have a social life for once, apart from just Mandy. Lots of friends. Maybe even a boyfriend of her own.
The summer holidays flew by, and just as she hoped, Viola accepted Katy into her group, allowing her to join them when they went shopping or to the park. Cass always eyed Katy with suspicion, as though she couldn’t understand why she was suddenly allowed to hang out with them. But she didn’t make any trouble and Katy basked in Viola’s attention. One day, Viola took her to Tammy Girl and helped Katy pick out a pair of stone-washed jeans. Katy had never felt so fashionable.
Elspeth seemed delighted that her ‘two best girls’ were getting on so well and every time they went shopping she’d hand them some more cash. ‘If I’d known being friends with you would make Mother so generous I’d have done it years ago,’ laughed Viola, linking her arm through Katy’s as they boarded the bus. Sometimes they sneaked off to the Downs to meet Danny. Viola would disappear under the bushes with him while Katy kept watch. On the way home one day, Katy asked, ‘Do you think Danny has a friend you could set me up with?’
Viola flicked her long hair over her shoulder while she pouted in her little pocket mirror as she applied her new pearl-pink lipstick. ‘Maybe,’ she’d said noncommittally and Katy had spent the rest of the journey wondering what he’d look like.
One stifling hot Friday night in August, when Elspeth was due at some charity do, Viola asked Katy for another favour.
‘I want to sneak Danny into the house. Will you help me?’
Katy faltered. This was different from the other times. This felt dangerous. If Elspeth caught them it wouldn’t only be Viola who’d get into trouble. The fear of being sent back to the home reared its head again. The threat was always there, lying dormant. It was in the subtle ways Elspeth expected Katy to be constantly grateful and the perfect daughter. When Huw was alive, he’d always come to Katy’s defence on the rare occasions Katy had done something Elspeth disapproved of, and the deep-seated fear of being sent away had lessened. But since Huw had died, Elspeth had taken to finding more and more ways for Katy to disappoint her. The most recent being her end-of-term report at Easter. ‘Oh dear,’ Elspeth had said, her voice cold as she sat across the desk from Katy in what had been Huw’s study but was now hers. ‘This report isn’t as good as I expected. After everything we’ve done for you, all the money we’ve spent. Please don’t make me regret choosing you, Kathryn.’ Katy had apologized and promised to do better until Elspeth was mollified.
‘Please,’ begged Viola, looking up at her through her ridiculously long eyelashes. How could Katy say no? ‘You need to be on the lookout. As soon as Mother comes back, let me know. Once she’s in bed I’ll sneak Danny out through the kitchen. Okay?’
Katy felt sick at the thought but she agreed.
They hovered in the kitchen as Elspeth faffed about with her hair and makeup upstairs. When she eventually came down in a taffeta ballgown, her tightly permed blonde hair falling to her shoulders, Katy could hardly speak she was so nervous.
‘What’s up with you two tonight?’ Elspeth said, as she wafted over to them in a cloud of Chanel No. 5 so they could diligently kiss her rosy cheeks.
Viola giggled nervously. ‘Nothing.’ She snaked her arm through Katy’s. ‘We’re going to paint each other’s nails and order pizza.’
Elspeth flashed them an indulgent smile, told them she’d left some money on the side, and to ‘be good’。
‘It’s so great to see my two best girls getting on so well at last,’ she said, dabbing at the corner of her eyes. She was wearing blue mascara. ‘It would have pleased your father.’
A lump formed in Katy’s throat. Her mother trusted them and they were about to betray her. When Elspeth had left Katy turned to Viola. ‘I don’t know about this … I feel bad.’
Viola waved a hand dismissively. ‘Don’t start getting all Goody Two Shoes on me now.’
‘But –’
She put a finger to her lips. ‘Sssh. He’s here!’ She jumped up and down, then ran to the French windows, throwing them open. Danny emerged from behind the big oak tree in baggy jeans and a tight T-shirt. It was still light outside. How long had he been hiding there?