Christmas for the District Nurses by Annie Groves

Author:Annie Groves
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2019-09-02T17:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINETEEN

The moment seemed to stretch on for ever. Then her brother spoke.

‘Very nice, I see.’ He kept his voice polite but she could hear the sneer in it. ‘No food shortages around here, then.’

Edith gave herself a shake and attempted to play the host. ‘This is my brother Frankie,’ she announced to everyone. ‘Come and have something to eat. Harry will fetch you a drink, won’t you, Harry?’ She shot a meaningful look at her new husband, who nodded.

‘Coming right up,’ he said easily, and only Edith caught the note of curious concern.

Frankie allowed himself to be steered to the table, still loaded with all manner of treats, but turned and stared at the man. ‘Is that him, then?’ he asked Edith, not bothering to keep his voice down. ‘He’s the unlucky bastard you snared, is he?’

Any idea that her brother had come to give them his good wishes and even those of the rest of her family was firmly dispelled. Edith sighed inwardly. She had known they wouldn’t give the wedding their blessing. They had no interest in anything that might make her happy.

They had never understood why she wanted so desperately to be a nurse, and had mocked her while she worked hard to pass her school certificate, which none of the other Gillespies had ever bothered with. Ever since her big sister died she had been driven to help others who were sick, but she had been too young to explain that. They despised her efforts, always claiming she wanted to get above herself. Frankie had come to freeload on the food, that much was obvious as he heaped his plate, and her best course of action would be to minimise the damage and get him out of here as soon as he had finished.

Harry handed his new brother-in-law a pint of beer, which Frankie downed almost in one go. ‘I’ll fetch another, shall I,’ Harry said, more as a statement than a question, and headed into the scullery where Stan had set up a miraculous keg of beer, somehow obtained by the ARP station and brought round as a present. Joe was refilling his own glass.

‘That the brother, then?’

‘One of them,’ Harry said grimly. ‘First time I’ve seen him, or any of her family come to that. I’d have happily kept it that way, and she didn’t think any of them would come, but he could spell trouble.’

‘You get back in there and enjoy the party – don’t let him ruin it for Edie,’ Joe urged him. ‘I’ll keep an eye on things. Here. Take this pint.’

Harry stepped back into the main kitchen, recognising the expression on Frankie’s face. It was close to how those ignorant lads had looked at him – a mixture of contempt and disgust. Still, so far their guest had kept a civil tongue in his head.

‘Much obliged I’m sure,’ Frankie said now, accepting the drink and gulping down half of it. Then he demolished several greedy mouthfuls of food. ‘Any chance of some more of this?’ He waved his plate at his sister.

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