The Forget-Me-Not Summer by Katie Flynn

Author:Katie Flynn [Katie Flynn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Random House
Published: 2013-02-27T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

FOR THE REST of the day Miranda brooded, trying to decide how she should treat her pal when they next met, for he had never before shown any interest in Pearl or Ruby; in fact he had never shown an interest in any girls. True, he was certainly interested in Miranda, but she now realised that this was not the same thing at all as the interest he had been showing in Pearl. Both sisters had the reputation of being what they called ‘good time girls’, and if anything Steve had rather despised them, yet here he was taking them sledging and ignoring Miranda completely. The thought that Miranda was also ignoring him occurred, only to be dismissed. She had walked towards him, smiling in the friendliest fashion, had she not? She told herself, untruthfully, that she had intended to ask him to accompany them to Mrs Higginbottom’s, had only not done so when she saw him kissing Pearl. Well, she hoped that by now he was regretting his behaviour and would apologise to her the next time they met. The trouble with this pious hope was twofold, however. First, she knew very well that she could not possibly have extended an invitation to Steve without first discussing it with Julian and Gerald, and second that she had been at fault from the moment she had accepted their invitation, knowing full well that Steve had asked her first.

Despite the excellence of the meal Mrs Higginbottom put in front of them, Miranda found that her usual hearty appetite had fled, and she had to force herself to eat. They did not leave the farmhouse until darkness had fallen and Julian crept along, headlights blazing, clearly worried that the car might skid and deposit them all in the ditch. However, this worry proved groundless, and soon enough Miranda and Avril were thanking the brothers sincerely for a wonderful day and promising to entertain them, in their turn, to what Avril described as a ‘splendiferous high tea’ in the flat the following weekend.

‘And with a bit of luck you’ll of got out of your bad mood by then and be pals wi’ Steve again,’ she said airily, filling the kettle at the sink. ‘I dunno what were the matter wi’ you and Steve, but I could see you’d both got a cob on when not a word was exchanged, and I wasn’t the only one to notice; Julian asked me what was up.’

Miranda felt her cheeks grow hot. ‘I don’t know what you mean,’ she said feebly. ‘What makes you think I was annoyed with him? He’s my best pal . . .’

Avril gave a disbelieving laugh. ‘No one treats their best pal the way you treated poor Steve,’ she said roundly. ‘And no matter how hard you tried not to show it, any fool could see you were in a bate. For a start, whenever you thought no one was looking you had a face like a smacked bum, and so did Steve.

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