The Little Kiosk By The Sea by Jennifer Bohnet

Author:Jennifer Bohnet [Bohnet, Jennifer]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9781474038065
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2015-08-17T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

RACHEL

Carla was already in bed when Rachel arrived in response to Johnnie’s last-minute plea for her to babysit for an hour.

‘Thanks for this,’ Johnnie said. ‘I shouldn’t be long. Just need to support my sister at her first-ever exhibition. Help yourself to coffee or there’s wine in the fridge.’

‘No problem,’ Rachel said. ‘I hadn’t anything special planned for this evening.’ The fact that she’d promised herself not to get involved with Johnnie or Carla, had seemed irrelevant when Johnnie had phoned sounding desperate. Besides, she’d grown quite fond of Carla in the short time she’d spent with her. Couldn’t help wondering how her new life with Johnnie was shaping up.

Once Johnnie had left, quietly closing the front door behind him, Rachel tiptoed upstairs to check on her charge. Carla was fast asleep on her back, one arm tightly clutching the pink rabbit to her chest, a thumb in her mouth. The floor beside the bed was piled with cushions and a folded-up duvet. Johnnie was obviously afraid of Carla falling out of bed. He really needed to buy her a cot, Rachel thought. One of those that converted into a bed at a later date would be ideal.

Leaving Carla to her dreams, Rachel wandered out to the small hallway. Johnnie’s bedroom door was open and she peered inside. In contrast to the tidiness he’d displayed on board his boat, the room was a mess. The wardrobe door was open, socks were spilling out of a chest of drawers, the bed unmade. Carla was clearly keeping him busy during the day. Rachel smiled to herself remembering the distant days when Hugo had been a full-time job and she’d been too exhausted to do housework. Johnnie must be on a real roller coaster of experiences right now. Must be doubly hard with no partner to help.

Back downstairs she wandered into the sitting room. After straightening the cream throw on the settee and plumping up the cushions, she picked up some toys and put them in the large cardboard box that appeared to be serving as a toy box before looking at the various pictures Johnnie had on display. Lots of him and a happy, smiling women who had to be his wife dominated the mantelpiece. A faded picture of a Johnny Onion man and his bicycle stood on a small table alongside a picture of the same man with two young children perched on his knees. Johnnie and his sister Sabine, aged about eight, she’d guess.

The kitchen when Rachel walked in was a mess too with the sink piled high with dishes. A quick glance told her there was no dishwasher so, after filling the kettle ready for a cup of coffee, Rachel set to. Twenty minutes later, when the sink was cleared and everything was on the draining board drying, she decided a glass of wine was in order rather than coffee, and went back into the sitting room. Pulling her iPad out of her bag, she settled down to read until Johnnie returned.

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