Lovely Lane-04 by Nadine Dorries

Author:Nadine Dorries [Dorries, Nadine]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781784975159
Publisher: Head of Zeus
Published: 2017-11-16T00:00:00+00:00

12

Gina had been working flat out at the Paiges’ since first thing and it was now well past five o’clock. She’d just finished scrubbing the grate when she heard the latch rise on the back door. She picked up the cloth from the floor, wrung it out and let it plop on to the metal grille in the bucket. Pushing back an errant curl that had escaped from the headscarf she wore tied with a knot at the nape of her neck, she pulled her forearm across her face. She was hot from the exertion of scrubbing, and her pale, freckly face was flushed. She leant back on her heels as a weary Aileen Paige walked towards her.

‘Are you still all right for tonight?’ Aileen asked.

‘Of course I am. I said I would be, didn’t I?’ said Gina kindly. Since finding out about the wicked game that Mrs Paige was up to, she’d felt a protective fondness towards the hard-working Sister Paige. Even more so since she’d discussed it with her mam. ‘I’ve kept the fire stoked and made sure the water is hot so that you can have a nice bath.’

‘Oh, you angel,’ said Aileen as she flung her headscarf on to the hall stand.

‘No,’ said Gina, ‘that is definitely you, not me.’

Aileen laughed. It wasn’t often that Gina heard that sound. ‘And how is Mother?’

A note of caution crept into Gina’s voice. ‘Oh, you know, just the same as always.’

‘Did she eat her lunch?’

Gina thought how Sister Paige must never stop worrying about people – at the hospital all day, and now here she was straight into enquiring about her mother as soon as she got home.

‘Yes, she ate all of it.’ She swallowed hard. That wasn’t quite the whole story.

Gina had gone into the room after lunch to collect the tray and it was empty, but Mrs Paige denied having eaten her meal. She’d held the plate up to Gina and snarled, ‘I couldn’t eat that disgusting food. You gave me mouldy bread. I threw it into the fire.’

Gina’s eyes had shot to the fireplace. Nothing was burning, nothing smelt and she very definitely had not made the sandwiches out of mouldy bread. ‘Oh, I’m sorry, Mrs Paige, shall I make some more or would you like me to take you to the bathroom now?’

Mrs Paige hadn’t bothered to answer. She just pretended to struggle up from the chair, putting on her usual elaborate act as, awkwardly and with no consideration for Gina, she leant her full weight against her. Whereas previously Gina had been happy to help her, now, knowing what she did, she felt resentful. Not least because her back often hurt for hours after she got home.

Gina glanced up at Sister Paige. If she rumbled her, she’d say she’d forgotten what Mrs Paige had told her about the sandwiches.

‘Oh, well,’ Aileen replied, oblivious, ‘that’s something at least. I’ll go up and see her before I get ready to go out.’

‘Are you enjoying the choir, Sister Paige?’ asked Gina.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.