‘What have you done to yourself?’ she asked out loud.
Layla took a half-step back, floundering for an answer, then she saw the broad smile on Annie’s face. She was clearly delighted.
‘You look fabulous,’ she said, moving forward to hug her. Then she held Layla at arm’s length and studied her properly. ‘My God, did you do this all yourself?’
‘With a little help from a friend,’ said Layla, swallowing her nerves, staring into her mother’s eyes as per Precious’s instructions, and smiling.
‘Shit, they should give that friend a medal!’ said Annie. ‘Look at you.’
‘Dad!’ Layla’s eyes had moved past her mother. Max was coming down the stairs, crossing the hall, staring at her as if she was a stranger, half-frowning.
‘Christ, what have you done?’ he asked, hugging her.
It wasn’t exactly a compliment, but Precious had forewarned her that her father might react to her transformation with dismay rather than with pleasure.
‘You’re his little girl,’ Precious had explained. ‘Of course he doesn’t want to see you as a grown-up woman. What father does? You think my dad would be happy about what I do? He’d throw a fit.’ It was the first time Precious had mentioned either one of her parents.
‘The girls gave me some tips to update my look,’ said Layla.
‘Update it?’ Max echoed. ‘You’re unrecognizable.’
‘Don’t listen to him,’ said Annie, putting an arm around Layla and hugging her close. ‘You look fantastic. Oh – while I think of it, your dad’s in your room. You’ll have to take one of the others.’
Max stood speechless, gazing at the two of them. His wife – ex-wife – and his daughter. They were more like sisters. Each cut from the same glamorous, expensive cloth.
Layla was bathed in her mother’s warmth, revelling in it. She didn’t care about the room. If Dad was taking the adjoining room to Mum’s, wasn’t that a good sign, a sign that they might even – miracle of miracles – perhaps one day get back together?
For once in her life, her mother approved of her. Max was put out. She could see that. But Precious had been confident that he’d come round when he’d had time to adjust to the fact that she was no longer the boring little Layla he had once known.
She’d made her entrance. It was all going well, much better than she had hoped for. Annie was smiling at her in something like wonder. Max was half-smiling too; he wouldn’t be a problem. And then Alberto stepped out of the study, and she felt her heart stop dead in her chest. For a long moment, she couldn’t breathe. She just stood there, and waited.
His eyes swept over her and then away. He seemed to not even