AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Yes,” I answer. “Harvey may have good intentions, but no skills as a barista.” I hand her my half empty mug and fight my smile when Harvey clutches his chest and groans as though he’s been stabbed.
Guinevere smirks at his antics. “And Mr Campos, would you like a cup?”
“Miss White, I must insist you call me Harvey. And I would be ever so grateful for a cup of coffee.” He gives her a full and brilliant smile, so wide his cheeks dimple.
She gives him a warm smile. “My pleasure.” Glancing at the door behind me, her smile fades, concern replacing her delight. “And perhaps a good breakfast?”
“Yes,” I agree. “A good selection, we don’t know what they like.”
Guinevere nods. “I’ll be downstairs, come and get your coffee when you’re ready and drink it from the comfort of the kitchen stools and not the floor.”
I nod and she heads downstairs to the kitchen just as movement can be heard from behind me. I can almost see the deliberation in Harvey, he wants to stand and to be on alert but at the same time, while also not wanting to appear threatening.
The door cracks open and Mabel’s face appears, looking wary and sleepy at the same time. No one says anything as she looks between Harvey and me. We give her a minute and, ever so slowly, she opens the door wider where I see Keeley hiding behind her, hugging her bare leg.
“How did you sleep?” I ask.
“Okay,” she shrugs. “Would it be alright for us to use your shower again? We were too tired to wash properly last night.” She looks embarrassed as she asks.
“Of course,” I say as gently as possible, aware that my usual tone is clipped and angry whether I mean it to be or not.
She nods. “Thanks.”
“I’ll get you something to wear on your lower halves,” I say, gesturing to their bare legs. I don’t think Harvey had noticed that they were half naked, luckily the t-shirts Lee provided are long enough to reach Mabel’s knees and practically to the floor on Keely, so they aren’t showing anything. All the same, Harvey clears his throat and stands.
“I’ll uh, go help Miss White.” He disappears and I stand, gathering up my laptop.
“I’ll leave some more clothes for you just outside your door. Take as much time as you need in the shower and breakfast will be served when you’re ready to join us downstairs.”
They both look up at me with wide eyes and uncertain faces. I don’t know what else to say so I turn on my heel and head to my room.
15
ANNIKA
I’ve eaten my bowl of fruit and had a proper cup of coffee but Mabel and Keely are still not downstairs. I’m considering if they’re okay, what if one of them has fallen in the shower? Or what if something spooked them and Mabel’s currently on a murderous rampage with my switchblade? I can’t say I’ve ever had to worry about another person before and I’m finding the sensation disconcerting. I’m about two seconds away from going upstairs again to check on them when Mabel tentatively creeps into the kitchen. She’s wearing my silk pyjama bottoms, which were the only thing I could find with a drawstring. They’re three-quarter length on me but they drag on the floor on her.
Keeley, wearing a different t-shirt to the one she slept in that still reaches her ankles, follows her sister, holding on to the back of her t-shirt. They both look around warily. Guinevere is still frying bacon, but she turns to give an encouraging smile to the girls. Harvey sits next to me, nursing his third coffee of the morning with a plate piled high with eggs, sausages, bacon, and toast. With the nearly two helpings he had yesterday evening and the portion he’s putting away this morning, I don’t know where he’s putting it all.
“Good morning,” Guinevere says, saving me from coming up with some awkward greeting. Neither of the girls say anything back, just hover in the archway, shuffling on their feet. “Would you like some breakfast?”
Again, she’s met with silence but the way both of them eye the platters of food, I know the answer to that question. “Here, you can have my seat,” I say, standing from the tall stool at the kitchen island. Harvey follows suit, wordlessly moving his plate to the side and choosing to stand to finish his breakfast, keeping as far away from the girls as he can without actually leaving the room. The girls clamber up onto the stools, Keely struggling while her sister is seating herself. I want to help her but I’m unsure how she would take that. But when her foot slips off the footrest as she climbs and she falls forward, her head coming close to the island worktop, I don’t think, just act. I catch her from behind, my hands gripping just under her arms, feeling her ribs prominent even under the soft cotton of the t-shirt she wears. Mabel’s head snaps to see us, watching closely as I lift her little sister onto the stool and then push it in so she is close enough to the counter.
Keely stares at me with wide surprised eyes. “Thank you,” she whispers. I can only nod in response. She is so shocked by one kind touch that my voice is stolen. Now, in the light of day and after they have washed up, I can see them properly. Light brown skin, black hair in wild, untamed curls, and big brown eyes. Now that I have a moment to take them in, the resemblance is very obvious.
“Here you go, darlings,” Guinevere says, placing two plates with a little bit of everything on them in front of the girls. She smiles at them with an affection she seems to have for everyone, one that I’ve often not understood. How can she like people so much? How can she let people in so easily? But with these girls—Mabel’s defensive attitude and scared wariness, and Keely’swide-eyed innocence and quiet caution—it's very easy to feel toward them. To want to help. And I want to help.
“Thank you,” Keely says again, this time to Guinevere, her eyes roving over her plate like a cartoon dog looks at a link of sausages.
“Eat,” Guinevere gently commands and both girls start shovelling food in the mouth with fervour.
We stay in companiable silence for a while. Harvey drinking his coffee after finishing his plate and me watching the girls carefully and contemplating my next move. I am now responsible for two children, not a predicament I’d ever imagined for myself. They can’t stay here forever, that would be ridiculous, but I can’t just palm them off to anyone. Nor can I tell the authorities, not only because they begged me not to but because I don’t do that.
“Good morn—oh.” Lee walks into the kitchen, stopping abruptly when he sees the girls at the island. Mabel stops eating immediately, pulling Keely to her side and staring Lee down, daring him to come closer.
“I have breakfast for you and the boys,” Guinevere says to him over her shoulder. “Do up a plate and head into the dining room to eat.” I smirk to myself, remembering the first time I suspected Lee and Guinevere were sleeping together was the first time I heard her bossing him about. She’s such a quiet, submissive person that she never usually questions or orders but she has occasionally tested her assertiveness on the brawniest of my men and he always answers with a—
“Yes, ma’am.” Lee scoots around the island like it might explode, it would be comical if it wasn’t so sad that he needed to. When he’s somewhat close to Mabel, she flinches, moving so she is directly between Lee and her sister at all times. I grind my teeth, the whole situation irking me.
