The Sun Sister (The Seven Sisters #6) - Lucinda Riley Page 0,19

technically married and going through a pretty ugly divorce from what Tiggy’s told me.’

‘And the other sisters?’

‘Maia’s still in Brazil with her lovely man, Floriano, and his daughter, Star is in Kent in England helping her boyfriend – who for some reason is known as Mouse – renovate his house, and CeCe’s in Australia living with her grandfather and her friend Chrissie in the Outback. I’ve seen some photos of her paintings and they’re just amazing. She’s so talented.’

‘So all the sisters have found a new life?’ I said.

‘Yes, it seems like it.’

‘And they each found it through searching for their past?’

‘They did, yes. And I did too. I emailed you to tell you I had a twin brother, didn’t I?’

‘Um . . .’

‘Oh Electra, I did, really. And a biological father who is a musical genius, but a total drunkard to boot.’ I watched Ally smile fondly at the thought of him as she deftly moved the baby from one breast to the other.

‘So,’ she continued, ‘have you done anything about your letter from Pa?’

‘I’ve never even opened the envelope, and to be honest, I can’t remember where I put it. It may be lost.’

‘Oh Electra!’ Ally gave me her best disapproving look. ‘You can’t be serious?’

‘Hey, it must be somewhere, I just haven’t bothered to find it.’

‘You really don’t want to know where you came from?’

‘No, I just can’t see the point. What does it matter? I’m who I am now.’

‘Well, it certainly helped me. And even if you don’t want to pursue what the letter contains, Pa’s written words were his last gift to all of us.’

‘Jesus Christ!’ I’d had enough. ‘You and our other sisters treat Pa as though he was some freakin’ god! He was just a guy who adopted us – for some weird reason that none of us actually knows!’

‘Please don’t shout, Electra, it upsets the baby, but I’m sorry if I—’

‘I’m going out for a walk.’

I stood up from the table, marched to the front door and pulled it open. Slamming it behind me, I walked across the lawns towards the jetty, wishing, as I always did after a few hours at Atlantis, that I’d never decided to come back here in the first place.

‘What is it with my sisters and Pa? He’s not even our biological father, for Chrissake!’

I continued to complain to myself as I sat down, feet dangling over the jetty, and tried to take some deep breaths. They didn’t work. Maybe another line would. I stood up and retraced my footsteps back to the house, tiptoeing inside and up the stairs so no one would hear me. In my room, I locked the door and took out what I needed.

A few minutes later, I was feeling far calmer. I lay back on my bed and pictured all my sisters in turn. For some reason, they appeared as Disney princesses, which was quite fun. They weren’t irritating at all when they looked like that, and I did love them, all except CeCe (she appeared suddenly as the witch in Snow White). I giggled and decided that was cruel, even for CeCe. I knew people said you couldn’t choose your family, only your friends, but Pa had chosen us and we were stuck with each other. Maybe the reason CeCe and I didn’t get on was because she wouldn’t put up with my crap like the others did. And she could shout louder than me too. The others would do anything to keep the peace, but she didn’t care. A bit like me . . .

My four older sisters had probably never thought about the fact that they all had each other – Ally and Maia, Star and CeCe – which had left me with Tiggy. It was she who I’d been bunched with as we were growing up – there were only a few months between us – and even though I really loved her, we couldn’t have been more different. It didn’t help that all my older sisters made it clear that their favourite younger sibling to play with was Tiggy, not me. Tiggy didn’t holler and scream and have tantrums all the time. She just sat on a lap, sucking her thumb and being perfect. As we’d grown up, I’d tried to bond with her because I was lonely, but all her spiritual shit drove me up the wall.

As the coke wore off, my sisters stopped being Disney princesses and became themselves again. What did it matter