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Career. Ha. A big word for something that didn’t exist anymore.
“Where shall I put this then?” asked Dan, coming in with what Billie knew was the very last thing in the van.
She knew that because at first she’d been going to leave it behind. She’d only picked it up and shoved it behind her seat at the very last moment.
“On top of that dresser over there,” she said, because that’s where it had always lived.
The familiar black case that would open up to show the familiar dark sapphire velvet and burnished wood, the slender shape of the violin nestled inside its cushioning.
Not that she would open it up. Though that wasn’t the whole truth. The truth was more that she couldn’t open it up. That even touching the silver metal catch made her feel nauseous, that the thought of opening the lid might even make her pass out.
Because every time she looked at the damn thing the only thing that she could think of was Cora. The only thing she could think of was that last night, and then Cora was gone and everything was broken and it would never, ever be fixed again.
“Good cuppa this,” Dan said, not at all appreciating the emotion of the moment. “If this music thing don’t work out for you, you could make a pretty penny with cuppas like this.”
Billie wondered if she could physically throw him out just so that she could be left with her own misery. But he was already slurping away and turning toward the open piano and asking if he could have a go.
Chapter Three
Seeing both Amelia and Cass at the breakfast table was such a big surprise that Jules walked out of the kitchen and turned around to come back in again, just to check that she wasn’t sleepwalking or something.
“Alright, alright,” grumbled Amelia. “Enough of the theatrics.”
“And what got the two of you up before lunchtime?” Jules asked, opening the fridge to see that the milk was out of date.
“It’s our course,” said Cass, eyes still only half open.
“What course?” asked Jules, sniffing suspiciously at the milk.
“Spray tanning,” said both Amelia and Cass.
Jules poured some Rice Krispies and then poured some milk on top of them. It didn’t smell off to her. She sat at the table and ate. It was too early for conversation. Too early for Amelia and Cass to be up at all.
She had her doubts about this, she had to admit it. And to be fair, the two didn’t exactly have a successful history when it came to entrepreneurship. Then again, they were both out of bed early enough to see the bin-men on a Monday morning, so that had to count for something.
“Don’t forget to visit granddad,” Amelia said when she’d finished her first coffee. “If you don’t, he’ll be complaining that no one loves him again.”
Jules grinned. They both adored their grandfather, though the very pricey looking old people’s home still worried Jules a bit. Then again, Amelia had gotten her entrepreneurial spirit from somewhere. She just hoped that her sister hadn’t also inherited her grandfather’s proclivity for playing fast and loose with the law.
“I’ll go in some time this week,” she said. “I’m supposing the two of you are going to be too busy tanning.”
“Might just be,” Cass said, finally waking up enough to speak properly. “Never know. This might be our big chance, I’ve got a lucky feeling about this one.”
“And what exactly did mum have to say about your lucky feelings?” Jules said, knowing full well that her mother had always teased Cass for being a bad luck charm.
“Your mum didn’t know everything,” Cass huffed. She scraped her chair back. “And if we don’t go soon, we’ll be late.”
Amelia grinned at Jules and followed Cass out of the kitchen. Jules stretched, finished her breakfast, and spent a solid hour cleaning up the kitchen and living room before showering and getting ready for her lunch shift.
When she walked into the pub, Josh was weighing the cash bag in one hand. “Not bad for a Sunday.”
“You’d better get it to the bank before one of these reprobates takes a fancy to it,” Jules said, nodding her head toward the couple of early drinkers.
“Everything go alright last night?”
“Yep, no problems.” She dropped her backpack behind the bar. “But what are we doing about entertainment when Alea and co are off on tour?”
Josh snorted. “You make that sound bigger than it is. Tour, my arse. They’re going around playing pubs down south for a while because that guitarist of hers is a bit of a surfer, that’s all.”
