hand for the bathroom he raced into the kitchen and located a plastic beaker, orange juice and two biscuits. He’d have preferred to make Maria a sandwich but couldn’t find bread or much to put in it. When Maria saw the beaker she ran to him. ‘Juice, p’ease!’ Snatching the beaker, she gulped down the whole lot, breathing heavily through her nose.
Nico’s anger and concern grew but he kept his voice gentle. ‘More?’ Maria nodded emphatically as she grabbed a biscuit and took a big bite. Nico fetched another drink, leaving Josie to keep an eye on the filling bath.
Then he checked the bathwater temperature while the girls threw off their clothes, Josie’s heaped costume looking like the witch who melted in The Wizard of Oz. Maria, having eaten both biscuits and drunk most of the second lot of juice, scrambled over the bath side looking more cheerful, Nico automatically hovering his hands to catch her if she slipped. For several minutes he sat on the floor while they played, chatting to them, smiling as Maria yodelled, ‘Yozee, Yozee, watch!’ then clapped handfuls of suds to spatter the room. Her little girl laughter burst into the air. Then she beamed at him. ‘Mydad, watch!’ She repeated the trick.
‘Yay,’ he said softly, knowing all she needed was a smiling face and a response.
After several minutes, Loren appeared silently at the bathroom door. Asking Josie to wash off her green face paint and help Maria wash too, he backed up until he and Loren were standing in the hallway, able to see the sisters laughing together but out of earshot. ‘Better?’ he asked her quietly.
She nodded. Wet hair was combed back from her forehead, her skin pasty, so unlike the smart, sexy woman he’d married that it wrenched at his heart.
‘You’d forgotten Josie was coming,’ he murmured, feeling a statement was less likely to meet with a flat denial than a question.
Loren nodded again.
‘And you were drunk. Maria had been ignored for hours. She was wet, hungry, thirsty and in distress.’
A sorrowful sound escaped Loren. ‘I’m having a bit of trouble,’ she acknowledged. ‘I-I’m …’ She took another deep breath. ‘I shouldn’t drink with my happy pills but I thought one wouldn’t hurt. I didn’t think it would make me sleep like that. I’ll make sure not to do it again.’
‘Maria’s had two biscuits. Is there anything else for her to eat?’ he asked.
Loren nodded, went away and then returned with two more biscuits.
Without comment he went back into the bathroom. ‘OK, you two. Let’s get you dried. Josie, you can get back into the T-shirt and leggings you had on under your witch’s dress. There’s a fleece in your bag. Maybe Mum could find Maria’s clean pyjamas?’
Silently, Loren went into Maria’s room and returned with a matching set, lemon yellow with a sun on the front.
When both girls were dressed he said, ‘Josie, if you read to Maria in her room for a minute while she eats the biscuits, I’ll talk to Mum in the lounge.’
Mutely, Loren followed him. Each avoided the soiled sofa and took a chair. Loren’s eyes flicked over the empty wine bottle.
Nico’s heart chugged like a train. ‘I hardly know where to begin. Maria was properly distressed.’
Loren clasped her forehead. ‘I know I’ve been stupid. I didn’t mean that to happen. I put her down for a nap and just slept. That’s all.’
‘I don’t think that’s all, Lor,’ he said gently, using his old name for her, the one from happier days. ‘The wine bottle’s empty. You’d puked on the sofa. You looked and smelled as if you hadn’t washed for days and so did Maria. Josie’s been odd about coming to visit you so I’d begun to worry you were drinking again. I wish I’d come right out and asked you.’ He hesitated. ‘I suppose it would have been futile because you’ve always hidden the extent of your drinking.’ At least Josie hadn’t suffered as Maria had, though thinking as if one child was more important than another made him feel guilty. ‘I’m not buying this being a one-off. I presume the weekends you said you couldn’t have Josie you were drinking? You’ve always seemed fairly together when I’ve dropped her off so I guess sometimes you’ve been able to make the effort. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have left her here.’
He wasn’t leaving Josie here tonight, either, but he didn’t see any point in saying it just yet. ‘What about Maria, Lor? You weren’t looking after her