The Lives We Left Behind by Bratherton-Wilson Olivia

Author:Bratherton-Wilson, Olivia
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-06-05T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Dorothea

Peggy was known to dilly dally. She always took twice as long to do any chores around the farm and ten times as long to answer the front door. Thea let out an audible groan of impatience. She could sense Angeline’s gaze on her, which seemed to have become a common occurrence lately.

“Does she always take this long to answer the door?” Michael asked, letting out a long sigh.

Dorothea liked him. He was straightforward, not caring what anyone else thought. He often just said what was on everybody else’s mind.

“Yep,” Thea sighed, popping the ‘p.’

“I hate late people,” Michael mumbled. Angeline whacked him across the back of the head.

It wasn’t very hard; Thea used to hit her own brother much harder.

Seeing how Angeline acted with her brothers; arguing constantly, telling them off, surprisingly made her miss her own brother terribly, even though they’d drifted apart in recent years. As James had grown up, he had discovered the magic of late night pubs and women. When it came down to living without him, it made her realise that arguing with him was far more entertaining than arguing with her mother.

“I hate late people too,” Thea agreed. Michael stuck his tongue out at his sister.

After five minutes, four knocks and enough whining from Michael that even Thea was beginning to get annoyed at him, Peggy finally opened the door. Her hair was pinned in waves; she was dressed in a silk night gown and had mascara stains under her eyes.

“About time!” Thea proclaimed. “Get dressed; you’re taking the Carters into the village.”

Peggy rubbed her tired eyes and Thea caught a glimpse of Angeline’s uncomfortable stare.

“We can go a little later,” Angeline insisted.

“No, you should have been up anyway, Peg!” Thea chuckled, leaning on the wall. “It’s past ten and it isn’t even a Saturday!”

Peggy groaned, turning away before mumbling, “Give me fifteen minutes.”

“Ten!” Thea called after her.

She stood up straight and gestured towards the bench where Peggy and she often sat to enjoy sandwiches and read in the light of the late afternoon sun. Michael, Peter and Charles sat on the bench instantly. William and Angeline both pointed at the empty space as if to say “Would you like to sit?” to Thea.

“No, you sit.”

Angeline silently allowed William to take the space, seizing the opportunity to stand beside Thea as they waited for Peggy. They were already side by side but Thea moved a little closer to Angeline. Close enough for their arms to touch.

The door of the guest house opened and Florence appeared a moment later. Thea knew it wouldn’t have been Peggy as she was most certainly not capable of getting dressed that swiftly. Florence was wearing the Land Army uniform of brown boots and baggy dungarees that all the women wore, quite a contrast to when the women had all arrived in dresses.

“Good morning all,” Florence said with a smile.

Thea noticed the way Angeline’s face lit up and how she took a step away from her, their arms no longer touching.

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.