“Oh Sam, that was ages ago. Build a bridge why don’t you? Besides, I don’t mean the pranks, I mean what happened after…you know.”
After his mum died.
Neither of them said it, but they didn’t have to.
“He didn’t bring it up and it doesn’t matter. He was only in town because he broke up with his girlfriend. Probably doing some bachelor tour of King Streets’ trashiest strip clubs.”
She shouldn’t have said that. Nicole treated any extraneous information about a guy as a sure sign Sam was interested. The little dig about strip clubs had her twin ramrod straight in her chair. “Sammy, do you—”
“Don’t even think about it! I do not have a crush on Scott!”
“But—”
“I mean it. I mean it the same way I meant it back then. I’m not into posho twats and even if he wasn’t a posho twat, he almost ruined our lives.”
Nicole looked around nervously, jittery at the mere memory of The Thing. “We still don’t know he did it.”
“Who cares? He could have done it. Considering the prank history, he’s the most likely person to have done it and if it was him, then he’s the reason I’ll never be able to be a schoolteacher or a politician.”
“You hate kids. And politicians.”
“So? You don’t, and what tainted my reputation almost ruined yours, too. Remember?”
Her sister went pale. “Okay, okay, we won’t go there.”
Sam enjoyed two seconds of Scott-free silence before… “At least tell me a little more about him.”
“Like what?”
Nicole tilted her head to the side again, like a curious pigeon. “What does he do? How tall is he?”
“He looks the same, except for the unshaved thing all dudes are rocking these days. He’s in finance with some massive company and he’s, I dunno,man-sized.”
Sam knew she was being too aggressive and it was suspicious as fuck, but she couldn’t help it. The past week she’d thought of almost nothing but the time she’d looked through his living room window and seen him playing the drums without a shirt on. His wiry body had been taut, his pretty face solemn as a grown man’s. As she watched him, a sizzle had run through her body and into her underwear. He must have sensed her there, because without missing a beat he’d looked up and they’d stared at each another for a long moment, the way they had in the pub.
But Nicole wasn’t to know that,couldn’tknow that. She’d never understood what was between the two of them—mind-reading was something that was impossible even for identical twins and Sam was grateful for it. She forced a smile at her sister. “Look, I’m tired and grumpy. Can we just go to the terminal and wait for Tabby? I’m worried she’ll wander off if we’re not there.”
“True.” Nicole put down her tea. “I hope she’s wearing something normal.”
They’d barely reached the domestic arrivals terminal when a crowd of rumpled, Sunday night passengers spilled toward them. Nicole stood on her tiptoes. “Can you see…oh,fucking hell.”
Sam laughed. She couldn’t help it. Nix swearing was always funny, but the reason why she was swearing was just…magnificent. If Nicole had been noticeable in the crowd, Tabby was an elephant with a smoker’s cough and fifty Norse warriors riding on its back.
Her hair was turquoise. The chunky headphones around her neck were purple. Her Ugg boots were mint green and her dress was mustard yellow. It was so short and tight it showed off both her huge boobs and long legs. She wascoveredin tattoos and unlike Sam and their dad, who favoured black and grey, Tabby’s were brightly absurd—pink unicorns, sentient ice cream cones, winged roller skates and electric blue octopuses. Her bizarre appearance was further enhanced by the fact she was carrying a huge pillow, a backpack and two enormous plastic bags, all stuffed to capacity. She should have looked ridiculous—and did—but in typical Tabby fashion, it worked. She was like a cartoon character in the third dimension. Betty Boop with ink.
Sam raised her hand. “Tabby! Over here!”
“Oh my god,” Nicole moaned. “What is she doing? Why is she like this?”
Sam waved vigorously at her sister. “You know Tabby, she does what she likes.”
“She looks like a rainbow lorikeet had a baby with a bag lady.”
“Yeah, she does! Tabby! Tabby! Over here, you dipstick!”
Tabby’s gaze found hers and a huge grin spread across her face. “Sisters! Sister reunion!”
She said it so loudly Nicole turned away, burying her face in her hands, but Sam just laughed and opened her arms. Tabby rushed in, almost knocking her over with the sumo-wrestler bulk of her stuff. She smelled like warm honey and crayons. She, too, felt like home.