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.’‘What?’‘Yeah, Mum was in a car accident yesterday.’She heard Katy gasp.‘I’m so sorry – I’ve been wittering on about the wedding … why didn’t you tell me straight off?’‘This was your moment,’ Leila pointed out.‘Yeah, but you’re family and so’s your mum.That comes first.Is she badly hurt?’‘She fractured her hip and they had to operate yesterday evening to put a pin in it.And her poor little face is all black and blue.She looks so old all of a sudden, Katy.So frail.I’m always hearing about how people get infections in hospital, like MRSA, and with Mum looking so weak …’Finally Leila allowed herself to break down and cry as she hadn’t done on the phone with her sister.‘She looked so bad in hospital last night.Ten years older at least, and the bruises, Katy.I almost didn’t recognise her.The nurses say she’s doing well, and people get over hip operations fine, but you can’t be sure, and I love her so much, I can’t stand to lose her …’‘Leila, darling, they do their best to tell you the truth in hospitals.If they say she’s doing well, then that’s the truth.Last night – did they want you to stay?’‘No, they sent me home.She’d had the operation and she was resting.’‘OK then, that’s a good sign.When my granny was dying, they told Mum to stay.And when your dad was dying, they told you to stay too, didn’t they? This is different.You have to be positive.Will I ask my mum to come in with you?’‘No, I’m fine, but perhaps if she could visit Mum another time …?’‘Of course.Once we’re sorted out here, I’ll come round to see you, right? I’ll text.Is Susie there?’‘She had to go home to Waterford.I phoned her this morning and she seems to think I can handle it all from now on.You know: she’s done her bit and now it’s my turn.’‘Oh,’ said Katy, understanding.‘Well, you can handle it.Listen, I’ll be over later, but text if you hear anything new in the meantime.’‘OK.And you can text me if you see any sofa material for my dress,’ added Leila.‘Wedding schmedding,’ said Katy.‘Your mum comes first.’With a flurry of fond farewells, they hung up.‘Was she pleased?’ asked Michael, walking in from the kitchen where he was making lunch before going into work.‘Thrilled.’ Katy put her arms round her fiancé, saying the word happily to herself in her head: fiancé.‘But upset.She’s in Bridgeport, about to head off to the hospital – Dolores had a car crash yesterday and she’s had to have surgery for a fractured hip.’‘Ouch,’ said Michael, wincing.‘Poor Dolores.’‘Plus Susie’s having one of her moments.She’s gone home, leaving it all to Leila,’ Katy said, faint irritation marring her face.‘Hey, kiddo, she has a son to look after.She’s not fancy-free.She’s never had the easiest time of it, even when we were kids,’ Michael said.‘You and Leila were always more like sisters, and then things worked out so well for you both.You’ve got a great job in the family business and Leila has a fabulous job and the glamorous marriage.’‘Tynan’s gone, so she hardly has that now,’ Katy said, the tone of her voice showing exactly the regard in which she held Leila’s ex.‘No, but she did have him for a while and it all looked wonderful,’ Michael went on.‘Rock star parties, heading off to gigs around the world, a husband who looked like he was in a band himself.It’s got to be hard, seeing your two best friends happy and successful when you’re a broke single mother like Susie, working in a call centre on minimum wage.’‘But she has Jack,’ protested Katy.‘He’s adorable.’‘She’s still on her own,’ Michael pointed out.‘Nobody to take responsibility for any of it ever.That’s tough.So of course she has to race home to take care of her son – and her mother – because nobody else is doing it.’Katy sat for a moment regarding the man she was going to marry.‘That’s what I love about you,’ she said finally.‘You surprise me all the time.I’d never thought of it that way.’‘I’ve seen it that way for a long time,’ he replied.‘I feel sorry for Susie.Always did.She was never as smart in school or as confident as you and Leila, and no matter how gorgeous Jack is, it’s a lot of responsibility and worry being a single mum.Plus, you guys never see her any more.Leila’s too busy to make it back here.You’re able to catch up with her in Dublin, but when was the last time Susie did that?’Katy nodded.‘You’re right.We have to do something about Susie.She’s definitely got to be a bridesmaid.’At that, her new fiancé laughed loudly.‘This wedding will make all lives better,’ he boomed in an Old Testament voice.Katy grinned.‘ ’Course it will.It’s going to be absolutely wonderful.Everyone loves a wedding – and this will be our wedding, so it’ll be doubly wonderful.’Even saying it, she felt a hint of remorse at how she’d blindly not seen things from Susie’s point of view at all
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