Heart in the Right Home by Lisa Hill

Author:Lisa Hill [Hill, Lisa]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub, mobi
Publisher: Manatee Books Ltd
Published: 2019-07-24T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirty-Three

Lottie was feeling rather pleased with herself, she decided, trotting around the school playing field in her mid-heeled court shoes. Okay, Rebecca was right; she was emanating her inner Kirstie-Allsopp-does-crafts, but if the queen of property could break into handmade fairs, why couldn’t Lottie do the same at a village fete? She clutched her clipboard under her arm and checked the schedule. The dog agility contest was taking place in the main arena and she wasn’t needed to announce the raffle draw for another forty-five minutes, giving her plenty of time to call in at the plant stall and see whether Pamela had yet to be reunited with Jean and check on whether love had blossomed between James and Rebecca in the refreshments tent. It didn’t take her long to realise the only thing blossoming in there was a bunfight; she could hear the raised voices from three stalls down.

And sadly, she recognised every one of them.

Ducking into the entrance she was confronted by a sea of faces; lots of fete-goers having abandoned their slices of cake and tea to watch the spectacle playing out between the Hardwicke family. Lottie rolled her eyes. They were in danger of becoming the Dingles of Clunderton.

‘What’s going on?’ she hissed at Drew, as she sidled up to him.

‘Oh, here she is; the troublemaker.’ Jean said, sneering at Lottie.

‘Lottie, did you invite Rebecca here today?’ Pamela asked.

‘Lottie, ignore Mum; she’s totally overreacted!’ James added.

‘Lottie, you’ve gone too far this time!’ Jack raised his voice to be heard.

‘The shit’s hit the fan, darling,’ Drew whispered in her ear.

‘Enough!’ Lottie raised her hands and her clipboard to the gathering of rowers. ‘What’s happened?’ She directed her question at Drew.

‘Mum’s gone off on one at Rebecca and Rebeca’s stormed off; Jean intimidated her,’ Drew added.

‘Well, she had an affair with Edward!’ Jean blustered.

‘For goodness sakes!’ Lottie cried. ‘Look—’ a year ago, Lottie would have quivered into a blubbering mess at this level of animosity, but she had changed since then, and she wasn’t putting up with this kind of behaviour in front of the entire village. ‘With the greatest respect, Pamela, Edward is petitioning you for divorce on the grounds of adultery—’

‘Is he?’ Audrey asked, sounding astonished.

‘Yes,’ Pamela said, meekly.

‘—but you could counter-petition him and, if you ask Rebecca nicely, she might be willing to provide evidence that it was, in fact, he who was the unfaithful one—’

‘Lottie does have a point, Pam.’ Jack interjected.

‘—Jean,’ Lottie continued, ‘I am really pleased to see you here, but don’t accuse me of making trouble; Pamela is the one who wanted you here, because she wants to have some sort of relationship with you again. Am I right?’ Lottie raised her eyebrows at Pamela.

Pamela looked down at her feet. ‘Yes,’ she muttered.

‘Oh, right,’ Jean said, gruffly. ‘Sorry.’

‘James, I suggest you go and find Rebecca and see if you can get her to come back and speak to Pamela, amicably—’

‘No probs,’ said James, rushing off.

‘— and I suppose you and I, Drew, better take over serving refreshments until our volunteers return.

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