Controlling Vulnerable

Chapter 18

When Caroline opened the door to her younger sister, she gave her a hug and then pushed her back, "You look tired." Lara laughed, "Thanks! Jet lag." She motioned for Lara to come into her compact house and hugged her nieces before Nigel appeared from the kitchen to shout, "It's the prodigal sister!" Lara's twenty-eight year old nephew James stepped out of the kitchen with a glass of red wine to enthusiastically greet his small cousins, clearly already a little worse for wear. Lara couldn't help laugh at Caroline's exasperated face as James exclaimed, "Come here hottest Auntie on the planet." Having accepted a kiss Lara said, "No girlfriend?" James shook his head, "Gone to her parents in Ireland. I'm going over there for New Year."

Lara offered to help in the kitchen, but as usual, Caroline refused, and by one they were sitting down to eat. James said teasingly, "Mum tells me you've got yourself a boyfriend." Charlotte giggled, "His name's Joe." Caroline rolled her eyes, passing the potatoes, "He's also her boss. Have you thought this through? What's going to happen when it fizzles out?" Lara reddened a little and said, "I was kind of hoping it didn't." Grace was tucking into her dinner, but she paused and said, "Joe's really big and strong. He can carry Charlotte and me at the same time, and he lifts Mummy when he kisses her." James almost spat his food out, and Caroline and Nigel looked vaguely appalled. Lara gave Grace a look she understood meant stop talking, and Caroline warmed to her subject, "Lara, for a supposedly intelligent person you can make some really stupid decisions. First you run off abroad to take a job working for some man you met on a plane. Now you feel the need to get involved with him. I can see exactly how this'll go. He'll get bored of you, and you'll be back here with no job and no schools for these two. Charlotte, hold your knife and fork properly. You may live there, but you're not American, and I don't want to see you using that fork like a shovel."

As the day wore on, Lara felt herself shrinking under the disapproving influence of her sister and brother in law, but her nephew's increasing inebriation eventually shifted the attention away from her. Nigel dragged his son off to his room to sleep it off. Before she helped clear up, Lara checked her watch, called the girls, and stepped into the lounge to call Joe. He answered swiftly, and Lara could hear everyone shouting "Happy Christmas," making her eyes prick with tears. She blew kisses and explained in a voice choked with emotion that they'd just finished dinner. Caroline came in and fussed around the coffee table, listening in as the children squealed excitedly, telling everyone about their presents. She waved a tin of chocolates, which easily distracted them, and Lara felt a pang of misery wishing she was in Linda's warm kitchen with Joe and all the other people she'd grown to love. Intimidated by the presence of her sister, Lara told Joe she'd call him later and cut the call, following Caroline out to help her clear the dinner.

In the kitchen, Caroline turned and looked at her younger sister critically, "Lara, I sometimes wonder where you came from. The way you were on that call, with people you've known what, all of five minutes, that's not how we were raised." Lara dried a pan with the tea towel and looked away, saying, "They're really lovely people Caroline, they've been so kind. I know I haven't known them long, but I spend a lot of time with them in work and out." Her sister shook her head, "This is all going to end in tears, and I'll be the one having to pick up the pieces." Caroline had clearly been waiting for an opportunity to let rip, "And what about Paul's family? Did you see what that woman had put all over the internet about you? Have you thought about reaching out, and at least letting the grandparents see the children? It might go a long way to stopping that sort of thing. How do you think I feel seeing all that stuff about our family online?" Lara gave up trying to defend herself and just continued drying with a sad shrug. She escaped to the bathroom and let the tears come before pulling herself together and returning to see what the children were doing.

Over in Florida, Joe put his phone down with a heavy sigh. April glanced at Will who sat next to him, "She didn't sound herself at all. She was kinda subdued." Joe nodded, "Did you see that post she was tagged in?" Will and April nodded, and Linda came to join them. "What's this? Is Lara okay?" Joe shook his head and looked at Will and April, "Lara wouldn't mind you guys knowing. Basically she discovered at her husband's funeral he'd been having an affair and was planning on leaving her. The woman he was having an affair with posted some nasty stuff about Lara online a couple of days ago. She saw it when she got off the plane." Linda rubbed his back, "Her sister didn't seem too happy." Mark leaned on Joe's shoulders, "Joe, why don't you just go to her, bring her home? They'll be a flight today or tomorrow." Joe suddenly realised he was right, and he looked at Pat sitting opposite, who nodded and said, "Go Joe, the poor girl sounded lost." Mark grabbed the laptop and powered it up to look for flights. Will nudged Joe's shoulder and said, "I can take you home to grab some stuff and drop you at the airport when we've eaten. I wasn't planning on having a drink anyway."