‘Nightmare,’ Holly said.
‘Right, I’ll take your cases up. Guest room for you, Holly. Olivia, you’re in with Liz again if that’s okay.’
‘Sure,’ she said.
*
‘How are United doing?’ Tom said as he sank down onto the sofa.
‘They’re shambolic. To go from beating City to losing to bottom of the league. We’ve got no clue how to play against the lesser teams.’
‘Been like that all season.’
‘I know. Shocking. By the way, have you bought your mother and sister a present yet? I don’t want you leaving it until the last minute like last year.’
‘Don’t worry, lesson learnt. I’m sorted for everyone except Aunt Holly. I’m going to go into town later and get her a bottle of that wine she likes.’
‘Good idea,’ Bill said. ‘Ohhhhh,’ he exclaimed as United put an easy chance wide.
*
After an embarrassing 2-0 defeat, Tom decided it was as good a time as any to go to town. He went to the kitchen to grab the car keys, but paused outside the door at what sounded like a heartfelt — and intimate — conversation.
‘I just still can’t believe he’d do it,’ Holly said between sobs, ‘I mean, twenty-two. Twenty-two, for God’s sake. Only five years older than Olivia.’
‘Oh, Holly… I had no idea she was that young,’ Julie said in a consoling voice. ‘Why didn’t you tell me before?’
‘I guess I’m trying to be strong for Olivia’s sake. Despite what he’s done to me, he’s still a great dad, and I still want her to have a good relationship with him. But when I saw the pictures of her on his phone… she’s gorgeous, Jules.’
Tom’s heart went out to Holly as he heard fresh tears; he’d always been fond of his aunt, and it hurt him to hear her upset. He thought about announcing himself before going in for the keys, but something compelled him to hold back and listen.
‘So are you,’ Julie reassured.
‘Pfft. I’m forty with all the lumps and bumps to show for it. I don’t think that’s most people’s idea of gorgeous.’
‘Holly…’
‘I know I’m no supermodel — I never have been. But am I so undesirable that he had to look elsewhere? Have I deteriorated that much?’
Tom shook his head at Holly’s self-evaluation, which he knew was far too harsh. While he conceded that she probably couldn’t compete with a hot twenty-two-year-old, he’d always thought she possessed a certain yummy mummy allure. Although things were slightly lower and less firm than they used to be, she had wide, childbearing hips, and a luscious set of curves that would still get a lot of guys hot and bothered.
The thing Tom had never told a soul was that he was one of those guys. He remembered five Christmases ago, at the age of sixteen, getting up to go to the bathroom and hearing her having sex with Uncle Jim through the guest room door. He did more than pee on that occasion, imagining himself in Jim’s place.
He had idolized his aunt for as long as he could remember, starting when she’d played with and read to him as a boy, being the fun, laid-back auntie in contrast to his stricter mother. Similar personalities meant they had never been short of conversation, and as he got older, innocent affection developed into sexual attraction.