A Taste of Love Read Online Free Page A

gone because to add to your previous list of his few shortcomings I’m going to tell you something that I’ve never been able to tell you before.’ She licked her lips apprehensively. ‘But the day you gave birth to Rachel in hospital he came round to us for supper that night and made a pass at me in the kitchen.’
    Helen’s body tensed and she leaned towards her sister. ‘He did what?’ she raged.
    ‘H-he was very drunk and he began to tell me how desperate he was because you hadn’t been interested in making love to him for months, and then he stroked a finger down my arm. I was so shocked I knocked his hand away angrily and called for Greg to come in and help wash up.’
    Helen could tell by Karen’s watery eyes how much it had taken to tell her something so painful. She swallowed her temper along with the thoughts of what she could do to Rob if he was standing in front of her now. ‘Hey, it’s not your fault,’ she said gently. ‘Don’t you get upset – the scumbag is not worth anyone’s tears.’
    She put her arms around Karen and they hugged each other, rocking together as they had done when they were girls. She could feel Karen’s tears on the side of her cheek. They were mingled with her own and her slight frame trembled in her arms – she squeezed her tighter until her shoulders stopped shaking. It had always been like this, Helen thought. Although Karen was older it was Helen who had to support her and give her an anchor to hold on to.
    Eventually, Helen pulled back from her sister and rubbed her eyes with the sleeve of her jumper. ‘Oh dear, look at the pair of us. Let’s not make this into a huge thing, Karen; he’s simply not worth it…’
    ‘You’re right, honey,’ Karen said. She took a tissue from the sleeve of her T-shirt and dabbed delicately at her eyes. ‘Is my mascara smudged?’
    Helen laughed good humouredly – would anything ever be enough for her sister not to care about her appearance, she wondered? And then at the same time she wondered why she was the total opposite, as most of the time she didn’t give a hoot what she looked like. ‘It’s fine,’ she said.
    Helen lifted her chin and pushed the sleeves of the baggy sweater up to her elbows. ‘And I’ve finally decided, enough is enough. And you, my dear sister, are the best person I can think of to help me with this…’
    She jumped up from the settee and took Karen’s arm. ‘Come on. I need some help upstairs in the bedroom.’
    Karen followed Helen up the staircase and into the bedroom. ‘What?’ she cried looking around the room. ‘Are we going to get rid of everything belonging to him? It looks to me as though he’s done that himself.’
    ‘No, Karen,’ she said firmly. ‘This is nothing to do with him. It’s about me.’
    Considering that it was the master bedroom in the large house it was a small room. Helen sidled around the edge of her dressing table to lift the free-standing full length mirror over the thick white carpet and into the centre of the room. She stood in front of the mirror, now staring at herself and her sister’s – who was sitting on the edge of the double sleigh bed – reflection.
    ‘What?’ Karen asked with her head tilted to one side.
    Helen held her hands out in an appeal for help. ‘I’m a mess, Karen. I always have been and although I have made small half-hearted attempts over the years I’ve always given up because nothing seems to make any difference. But I’m sick of looking like this…’
    ‘You’re not a mess!’ Karen cried protectively. ‘And don’t you let that tosspot make you think like this. None, and I mean none, of this is your fault.’
    Helen continued to stare in the mirror and cringed at herself. ‘I know that. And I know if Rob had really loved me it wouldn’t have made any difference what I look like. But this isn’t really about what he thinks; it’s about what I think of myself.’
    ‘But that’s just you, darling,’ Karen said