AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter 18
‘So, how was it?’
They were sitting at a picnic table set on the fringe of the car park. Abigail frowned as she glanced around. ‘I thought we might sit somewhere in the grounds,’ she said.With a nice view, she felt like adding. Joss hadn’t yet arrived back from town with lunch, so Lili and Abigail were on their own. ‘Where are the other staff?’
‘Sitting in their cars, mostly. They don’t enjoy eating lunch sitting out in the car park either.’
Who can blame them, thought Abigail. ‘And if it rains …’
‘They sit in their cars.’
Abigail got the picture.
‘So, how was your first day?’
‘To be honest, it was a bit disappointing.’ The housekeeper, a middle-aged, pleasant enough lady, had introduced her to the cleaning cupboard, which was stocked with buckets, brooms, cloths, furniture polish, and various bottles of fresh-smelling floor and wall cleaner. The Henry Hoover was in there, too. Abigail didn’t know what she had been expecting; perhaps a tour of the house with a chatty employee giving her the lowdown and some gossip about the family. Instead, she was handed the mop and bucket, and set to work immediately cleaning the corridors, the kitchen, and the housekeeper’s office. She didn’t even get to venture upstairs to the main house.
‘The housekeeper asked if I would do a couple more hours this afternoon after lunch.’
‘Sounds to me as though it was a trial this morning to see how you get on before she sets you loose on the rest of the house.’
Abigail eyed her friend. ‘I never thought of that. It makes sense.’ She did feel as though the housekeeper had been checking up on her.
‘I expect you’ll go upstairs this afternoon.’
‘I hope so.’
Lili poured tea from a large flask into two mugs and passed one to Abigail. ‘I’m looking forward to hearing all about what the house is like inside.’
‘You could join a tour at the weekend if you want to see for yourself. I thought of doing that myself, but there’s a fee.’ She had found out from the housekeeper that a wing of the house was open on weekends, bank holidays, and occasional days during the week, which brought in an extra income for the family to help cover some of the running costs of the hall.
‘It’s not worth it for you now,’ commented Lili.
‘I know! Who would have thought I’d be working here?’
‘Just as long as they don’t find out who you are.’
Abigail looked at Lili. ‘What do you mean?’
‘You know… the fact that you own the cottage now. You haven’t told anyone else, have you?’
‘My stepdad, but I made him promise not to tell my sister. Emily is not the best at keeping secrets. I can just imagine she’d tell a friend, who’d tell someone else, and before you know it …’
Lili shook her head. ‘Word would travel over to Somerville Hall.’ She frowned. ‘What about Joss, though?’
‘Hmm.’ Abigail hadn’t thought about that.
Still seated on the bench, they both looked up at the sound of a car approaching the car park from the front of the house. ‘Oh, speak of the devil,’ Lili said light-heartedly. ‘Thank goodness. I’m starving!’
Joss got out of his car and approached, carrying a large brown paper bag in his arms. He set it down on the table, taking a seat next to Abigail.
She frowned across the table at Lili’s smiling face. She knew Lili wasn’t grinning because of the filled baps and cream cakes Joss had brought from the bakery in Aldeburgh. She guessed Lili had something else on her mind. She knew she must put her in the picture; Joss was just a friend – and he was going to remain that way. She knew Lili meant well, but it wasn’t just a case ofit’s too soon. Abigail couldn’t imagine being with anyone other than Toby. Ever. Although Lili had suffered a break-up in the past, and had found someone else, her situation wasn’t the same. Abigail and Toby hadn’t broken up. She wasn’t meant to have lost him.
‘Abigail?’
She’d been sitting there, staring into her mug of tea, zoning out again, unaware of them, or her surroundings, enveloped in her own private hell of grief. She looked up to find Lili and Joss staring at her. ‘I’m sorry – what?’
Joss exchanged a glance with Lili and repeated his question, ‘Ham and egg or cheese and pickle?’ He held up two large wholemeal baps wrapped in cellophane.
