AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter 24
‘They can’t do that,’ Seren’s father said, a look of horror on his face after Seren finished telling him what had happened, her voice a monotone.
He’d been out when she’d arrived home and immediately the front door had slammed shut behind her, she’d rushed upstairs, thrown herself on her bed and had burst into noisy tears.
Now all she felt was drained and disheartened.
Patrick put his arms around her and she snuggled into him, smelling his familiar aftershave, the one he always wore. It never failed to make her feel safe and secure, and she knew that whatever happened she had a roof over her head and a father who loved her.
‘They can do that, Dad, and they did. Pamela would have made sure she did it by the book, and with HR involved…’ She trailed off.
‘What did Daniel say?’
‘I haven’t spoken to him.’ Seren didn’t want to speak to him just yet. She felt too raw, too emotional to explain it again, even though she knew he would be supportive and sympathetic. ‘Everything had been going so well,’ she sniffed, tears threatening to fall again, despite having cried bucket loads earlier.
‘I know, my love, I know.’ Her dad stroked her hair, holding her close, the way he’d done when she was little and had fallen over or someone had upset her. ‘It’ll be all right.’
‘It won’t.’ She was adamant. ‘It’ll be impossible to get another job without a reference.’
‘Do you need another job?’ He leant back a little and wiped her cheek with his thumb.
‘Of course I do. What am I going to live on?’
‘Aside from the fact that you live here and I won’t see you go short of money, you’ve got the van.’
‘Ah, yes, the van; the source of all my troubles. If it wasn’t for that van, I’d still have a job.’
‘A job you don’t like,’ her dad observed.
‘That’s beside the point. A job is a job, and now I’ve not got one. I should have known it would end in tears.’
‘I’m sorry, I should never have agreed— Should never have bought it for you. I blame myself.’
Seren sighed heavily. ‘I could always have said I didn’t want it. And I would have done if I’d known the trouble it would cause, but hindsight is a wonderful thing. You’re not to blame.’
‘Neither are you. I’ve got a good mind to go down there and give that Pamela a piece of my mind.’
‘It won’t do any good, Dad. If anything, it’ll make things worse. I’ll just have to suck it up and hope I find something else soon and that my new employer won’t ask for a reference.’
‘You don’t need to look for anything just yet,’ her father persisted. ‘You’ve got the van, and it could give you a nice little income if you work at it. Look at it this way, you losing your job means you’ve got more time to grow your business. January might be a slow month, but you can spend the time looking into other markets, like weddings and baby showers.’
Despite herself, Seren smiled. ‘What do you know about baby showers?’
‘I’ve read about them.’ He kissed the tip of her nose. ‘Let’s have a nice cup of tea, shall we?’
Seren followed him into the kitchen like a lost puppy. ‘The van was only meant to be for Christmas,’ she said.
Patrick shot her an astonished look. ‘Did you think your—’ He stopped and shook his head ‘—that I spent all that money buying you a van, for you to only use it at Christmas?’
‘Yes, no… What I thought was, that I’d do the Christmas thing, then you could sell it on.’
‘Don’t you think the same principle applies during the rest of the year? People don’t just buy gifts at Christmas.’
‘I know, but I’ve got a full-time job already and—’ She bit her lip and amended, ‘Hada full-time job.’ Tears threatened again and she blinked hard. Crumbs, she was such a mess. The only thing that wasn’t a mess was her love life. And her relationship with her dad. Everything else was all to pot, as Aunt Nelly liked to say.
‘What will Aunt Nelly think?’ Seren said. ‘She’ll be so disappointed in me.’
Patrick looked shocked. ‘I don’t think she’ll be disappointed at all,’ he said slowly. ‘She never thought that supermarket was the right place for you. That’s why—’ He hesitated.
