Adoration by King Rebecca

Author:King, Rebecca [King, Rebecca]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Published: 2020-04-07T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWELVE

The following morning, Sissy left the house still content with her world. She was looking forward to spending the day with Morgan, and purposefully avoided all thoughts of whether it was the right thing to do. Swinging the basket in her hand, she hummed quietly to herself as she walked to the shops on the main street.

It was only when she turned into the main thoroughfare that she realised something was wrong. At first, one or two curious looks from passers-by were too evident to be natural glances. She nodded but received greetings that were wary and awkward. She shrugged it off as nothing worrying, until she reached the grocery shop. The silence that fell upon the shop when she stepped inside was enough to make her glance at the door sign to make sure that it was open. But other customers were inside, waiting for Mr Marley to serve them. She looked at one or two she was familiar with. They smiled and nodded but with none of their previous joyous greetings. There seemed to be a wariness about them all.

At first, the silence was heavy, but as time passed it was eventually interrupted by the quiet murmur of voices. It took a few moments for Sissy to realise that the whispers were about her. She sucked in a breath, squared her shoulders, and forced herself to ignore them.

‘They will stop,’ Maud Biggins whispered from behind her. ‘Nothing is forever, my dear. Remember that. Life is short, and temporary. Take what you can from it, do what you can no matter how many try to stop you because it is you who has to look back on your life and be content that you did your best, not anybody else. You are the one who has to reconcile yourself with the past and the mistakes or wrong choices you made. Nobody should tell you whether what you choose to do is wrong or right. If you stay within the remit of the law, nobody can judge you. Those who do are not responsible, don’t have homes like you do, and have probably not lived their lives in the same way. Don’t let how others judge you mould your decisions. You only get one life. Live it.’

Sissy stared at Norma’s friend whose sentiment was clear in Maud’s rheumy eyes. She truly meant every word she said. The more Sissy contemplated it the more she knew Maud was right. When she looked at the other occupants of the shop she saw them for the spiteful beings they were. Rather than be upset, or worried about their gossip, she stared at each person who turned to look at her. It was telling how swiftly their gazes were averted and they turned their backs. It was telling how few of them could actually meet her gaze. It was as if they knew what they were doing was wrong but the need to gossip was too tempting for them to resist.

‘You don’t want to worry what people like them say.

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