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“Don’ta pity party” Isobel forced another smile

“It’s going to be okay,” Agnes said as she wrapped an arm around Isobel

“Jack’s angry with me”

“Jack is a teenager He’s angry with everybody” They headed down the rest of the stairs together

“I’ve made a mess of his life His dad didn’t even want to ood father for Jack How could I have been so due of character?”

Her other two sisters ju her when she entered the kitchen For ain the hten Without these three a women, she wouldn’t have survived

“We’re all terrible judges of character” Donna stroked Isobel’s hair “It’s the Sinclair curse We’re genetically incapable of telling a good man from a bad one”

“It’s why the rest of us are single,” Mairi agreed “We knoe pick someone, he’ll likely be a dickhead You were the only one brave enough to try”

“Duh,” Isobel corrected

“We were all fooled by Robert” Agnes tugged Isobel out of the group hug and guided her into a chair “We all thought he was a great guy None of us saw the slightest indication that he was a gambler”

“He had a good job,” Donna agreed as she placed a huge wedge of chocolate cake in front of Isobel “He’d had it for years We thought he was stable”

“Plus, let’s be honest,” Mairi said as she sat down beside Isobel “He wasn’t that good looking, and we all thought he’d be more dependable because of it”

The sisters stared at her in stunned silence

“What?” Mairi said around a mouthful of cake

“We didn’t think that,” Donna said “Did we?” She looked at Agnes and Isobel, who shook their heads