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‘Well, isn’t that wonderful? You’ve got a place of your own. It’s what you’ve always wanted.’
Abigail frowned, cutting off the sarcastic remark on the tip of her tongue. The cottage had come too late. In fact, the irony that they finally had a placed to call their own, and they weren’t here together to make happy memories and celebrate their good fortune only made her feel worse. She didn’t feel lucky or fortunate at all. She just felt his loss more keenly.
Abigail didn’t say that. She knew her mum was only trying to look on the bright side of things, as ever. It was what had got her through her own bereavement. Abigail knew she’d been avoiding her mum, avoiding the comparison with her own life. She knew that at some point, the topic of finding someone else would come up. Her mum had found Gerald, after all. But that had been different. They had been good friends for years. In some ways, her mum getting together with him after her husband’s death had been inevitable. Abigail didn’t have anybody like Gerald, a good friend she had known for many years who had secretly been in love with her. Her situation was different. She’d have to start from scratch. She might even have to join a dating agency. Abigail couldn’t imagine it, and she really didn’t want to have that conversation with her mother any time soon.
‘Abigail, are you still there?’
‘Yes.’
‘You know where we are, when you want to visit.’
Abigail pursed her lips. ‘I did want to come today, it’s just—’
‘It’s fine, Abi, honestly. I understand.’
There was an uncomfortable silence.
‘Abigail, I have a favour to ask.’
She heard her someone coughing in the background, and another voice, her sister calling out, ‘I need a glass of water, please, Mum?’
‘I’m just on the phone to Abigail.’
Abigail hoped her mum didn’t suggest she speak to her sister, too. She didn’t hear Emily call outsend her my loveor anything like that. It didn’t surprise her.
‘Well, here’s the thing …’
Abigail guessed what was coming next. ‘You need some help running the guesthouse.’ She knew they were busy most of the time, and with the half-term holidays coming up, the workload would only increase.
‘No, that’s okay. The thing is, Emily recently started a little part-time cleaning job.’
Abigail blurted, ‘Why?’
‘She’s back from university. She qualified as a vet, you know.’
‘So!’ Abigail said, then immediately changed tack, realising that she sounded rude. ‘I meant, I already heard – congratulations to her.’
There was a pause before her mum continued. ‘She’s having a problem getting a veterinary role. Typical scenario, all the positions want some experience. She’s been working at the guesthouse temporarily.’
And getting paid by you,thought Abigail. She remembered the unpaid hours she had put in the guesthouse when she had lived there. As the two eldest, Abigail and her brother had been expected to chip in and help, while their little sister, whom they’d nicknamed Princess because she was far too precious to pick up a mop or a duster, had got away without helping.
‘So, what was the favour?’ Abigail asked.
‘Well, Emily had just started this new cleaning job when she fell ill with the flu. She thought she’d feel much better today, but it is taking longer for her to recover. In any other circumstances, I wouldn’t ask, but the family has a bit of an occasion coming up. I know it’s a lot to ask, but as you’re here, I wondered if you wouldn’t mind—’
‘Wait, are you asking me to fill in for Emily at her cleaning job?’
‘The trouble is she’s just started and I really don’t want her to lose her position. Even though it’s only a part-time number, it’s still a reference to show she’s doing something.’ She paused. ‘Will you do it, Abigail?’
Abigail was about to sayno, I can’t,when her mum added, ‘They are such a nice family. She only did a couple of shifts, and never met them, but it’s a nice little number at Somerville Hall.’
‘Did you just say Somerville Hall?’
‘Yes, it’s a lovely place, with beautiful rooms inside. Stunning gardens. I’m sure your friend Lili works there at the moment, doing a landscaping job. She might give you a lift into work …’ she trailed off, saying in a small voice, ‘what do you think?’
What Abigail thought was that an opportunity to get inside Somerville Hall had just fallen into her lap. Lili had been right: there was no use in helping her on the landscaping project. They used Portaloos outside and didn’t have an excuse to see inside the Somervilles’ stately pile.
‘Abigail? Look, I know you think cleaning is beneath you …’
