The Secrets Sisters Keep: A heartwarming, funny and emotional novel (The Devlin Sisters Book 2) by Sinéad Moriarty Page A
Authors: Sinéad Moriarty
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petit déjeuner? ’
I had insisted she speak French to Clara. I wanted Clara to be stimulated at all times. She was also doing Mandarin, piano, violin and chess. My sisters thought I was over the top, but I remembered being bored as a child because I wasn’t challenged enough in school.
Clara showed Christelle her empty bowl.
‘Thanks for coming in early,’ I said, putting the dirty bowls in the dishwasher. ‘I’ll be home by six.’
‘No problem. The guy in the flat next door was up at six blaring his music, so I was awake anyway.’
I put on my coat. ‘Maybe you should reconsider Julie and Harry’s offer to live with them. They have plenty of room in the new house.’
Christelle grinned. ‘Much as I love my dad, Julie and my little brothers, the house is like a zoo. I’d never get any study done.’
‘Fair point.’ I bent down to hug Clara.
‘Harder, Mummy,’ she urged me.
I squeezed her tight. ‘I’ll see you later, sweetheart.’
‘Bye-bye, Mummy, have a good day at the office,’ Clara said.
Christelle took her by the hand. ‘ Viens, chérie, on va t’habiller .’
I was on my way to a meeting when my phone rang.
It was Gavin. ‘Hey, sis, I need some advice.’
No surprise there, Gavin always needed advice. We three sisters had been supporting him, funding him, giving him shelter and advice since the day he was born. I felt more like a mother to him than a sister. With a nineteen-year age gap between us, I could have been his mother. Poor Mum thought she was getting the menopause when she discovered she was pregnant with Gavin – it had almost killed her. With the big age gap between him and us girls, he had been raised like an only child and spoilt rotten. The upshot of this was that he was very immature.
‘What’s up?’ I asked.
‘After three interviews, Stars and Stripes have finally offered me a job.’
‘What kind of a job?’
‘It’s a Manager in Training programme. But I have to start off by working in the shop so they can see I’m not a total gimp.’
Here we go again, I thought. Since leaving college Gavin had done the eco-warrior thing, when he lived up a tree in our parents’ golf club for a few weeks; a stint with the National Wildlife Federation in Washington; set up his own company selling fake designer watches from China, which told the time backwards, then a sandwich business from Mum’s kitchen. I got him a contract to sell his wares in my office block. There were 120 employees at the Price Jackson law firm and Gavin had done well selling sandwiches to them … until someone found mould in their bread.
‘What are the terms of the programme?’ I asked, glancing at my watch.
I heard a rustling of paper and then Gavin began reading: ‘It says here, “The Manager in Training (MIT) programme is a ten-week course that immerses a manager in all aspects of running a successful business for Stars and Stripes. Training takes place in our store locations, blah-blah-blah.” And then it says, “The MIT must successfully complete the training programme to be moved into an Assistant Manager role.” And then it says that the vice president of the company, who earns, like, a billion dollars a year, started out doing the MIT programme.’
At least it was a job with a good company and not some pie-in-the-sky scheme. I’d looked into Stars and Stripes and they were a solid business. ‘OK. Well, it sounds promising, and with big companies, there’s always the potential for promotion, if you work hard and impress them.’
‘That’s what I thought. I just wanted to check you hadn’t heard they were about to go bust or something.’
‘You can never be sure, but they seem solid. You do realize the hours will be long, Gavin? Retail is a tough industry.’
‘Duh, obviously I know that. But it’s a really cool company and I think I’ll totally fit in. I’m ready for a new challenge.’
‘All right. Well, call into me at lunchtime with a copy of the
I had insisted she speak French to Clara. I wanted Clara to be stimulated at all times. She was also doing Mandarin, piano, violin and chess. My sisters thought I was over the top, but I remembered being bored as a child because I wasn’t challenged enough in school.
Clara showed Christelle her empty bowl.
‘Thanks for coming in early,’ I said, putting the dirty bowls in the dishwasher. ‘I’ll be home by six.’
‘No problem. The guy in the flat next door was up at six blaring his music, so I was awake anyway.’
I put on my coat. ‘Maybe you should reconsider Julie and Harry’s offer to live with them. They have plenty of room in the new house.’
Christelle grinned. ‘Much as I love my dad, Julie and my little brothers, the house is like a zoo. I’d never get any study done.’
‘Fair point.’ I bent down to hug Clara.
‘Harder, Mummy,’ she urged me.
I squeezed her tight. ‘I’ll see you later, sweetheart.’
‘Bye-bye, Mummy, have a good day at the office,’ Clara said.
Christelle took her by the hand. ‘ Viens, chérie, on va t’habiller .’
I was on my way to a meeting when my phone rang.
It was Gavin. ‘Hey, sis, I need some advice.’
No surprise there, Gavin always needed advice. We three sisters had been supporting him, funding him, giving him shelter and advice since the day he was born. I felt more like a mother to him than a sister. With a nineteen-year age gap between us, I could have been his mother. Poor Mum thought she was getting the menopause when she discovered she was pregnant with Gavin – it had almost killed her. With the big age gap between him and us girls, he had been raised like an only child and spoilt rotten. The upshot of this was that he was very immature.
‘What’s up?’ I asked.
‘After three interviews, Stars and Stripes have finally offered me a job.’
‘What kind of a job?’
‘It’s a Manager in Training programme. But I have to start off by working in the shop so they can see I’m not a total gimp.’
Here we go again, I thought. Since leaving college Gavin had done the eco-warrior thing, when he lived up a tree in our parents’ golf club for a few weeks; a stint with the National Wildlife Federation in Washington; set up his own company selling fake designer watches from China, which told the time backwards, then a sandwich business from Mum’s kitchen. I got him a contract to sell his wares in my office block. There were 120 employees at the Price Jackson law firm and Gavin had done well selling sandwiches to them … until someone found mould in their bread.
‘What are the terms of the programme?’ I asked, glancing at my watch.
I heard a rustling of paper and then Gavin began reading: ‘It says here, “The Manager in Training (MIT) programme is a ten-week course that immerses a manager in all aspects of running a successful business for Stars and Stripes. Training takes place in our store locations, blah-blah-blah.” And then it says, “The MIT must successfully complete the training programme to be moved into an Assistant Manager role.” And then it says that the vice president of the company, who earns, like, a billion dollars a year, started out doing the MIT programme.’
At least it was a job with a good company and not some pie-in-the-sky scheme. I’d looked into Stars and Stripes and they were a solid business. ‘OK. Well, it sounds promising, and with big companies, there’s always the potential for promotion, if you work hard and impress them.’
‘That’s what I thought. I just wanted to check you hadn’t heard they were about to go bust or something.’
‘You can never be sure, but they seem solid. You do realize the hours will be long, Gavin? Retail is a tough industry.’
‘Duh, obviously I know that. But it’s a really cool company and I think I’ll totally fit in. I’m ready for a new challenge.’
‘All right. Well, call into me at lunchtime with a copy of the
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