Rainy Days for the Harpers Girls by Rosie Clarke

Rainy Days for the Harpers Girls by Rosie Clarke

Author:Rosie Clarke [Clarke, Rosie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Boldwood Books


‘There – I told you it was coming,’ Fred said as he showed Beth the same article Ben and Sally were reading, had he known it. ‘It was planned – that wasn’t a random madman havin’ a go, it’s part of a Serbian plot and war is inevitable, it has to happen now!’

‘Fred, please don’t,’ Beth said. ‘I know it looks bad but…’ She looked up as her husband walked in the kitchen door, her face lighting with pleasure. ‘Jack – you’re home early!’ He was so busy at the hotel that he seldom got home before nine or ten in the evening.

‘Yes, I decided to make an effort and I’ve left my assistant in charge of seeing the new guests in this evening. I thought we’d go out somewhere – if you haven’t eaten?’

‘I was going to cook lamb chops,’ Beth said. ‘They will keep for tomorrow – but what about you, Fred?’

‘I’ll have a pie down the pub,’ Fred said. ‘You two go out and enjoy yourselves while you can…’

Jack frowned at him. ‘You could come with us, Dad – make it a celebration…’

‘No, you take Beth and have a good night,’ Fred told them. ‘I’ll meet my friends and have a good natter. You young ones should enjoy yourselves. You don’t get much time to yourselves.’

‘We’ll go somewhere nice,’ Jack said. ‘Somewhere they have a band and we can dance between courses.’

Beth jumped up with excitement and hurried upstairs to have a wash and put on a pretty blue dress with a skirt that flirted in a frill just above her ankles. She sprayed some of the perfume he’d given her for her last birthday behind her ears and on her wrists. Jack had changed his shirt and suit at the hotel; he kept some of his clothes there to save coming home and she thought how smart he looked. When the taxi arrived and he gave the driver the name of a prestigious hotel, she looked at him in surprise.

‘The Ritz is expensive, Jack – are you sure you want to spend so much money?’

‘Why not? We don’t do it often enough, Beth. I’ve been trying to build the business up, make a good future for us – but now I wonder if I’ve been a fool…’

‘What do you mean?’ Beth asked, but he shook his head.

‘It doesn’t matter – let’s enjoy this evening.’

‘It’s because of what happened, isn’t it?’ Beth asked, feeling a cold shiver at her nape. ‘You think there will be a war, like Fred says…’

‘Yes.’ Jack looked at her in the dimness of the back seat of the taxi. ‘I’m merchant navy, Beth, at least I was. If there is a war, I’ll have to go back…’

‘You were on cruise ships not merchant vessels,’ Beth protested as the chill crept down her spine, but she’d known this in her heart already.

‘They will need men with experience of the sea. I know ships and the men who sail them need men like me to feed them and keep things running.



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