The Secret Orchard by Sharon Gosling

The Secret Orchard by Sharon Gosling

Author:Sharon Gosling
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
Published: 2024-09-12T00:00:00+00:00


Chapter Twenty-seven

When Nina got home with Barney after school later that day, the last thing she expected to find was her sister, still at the house. Bette was sitting at the kitchen table with a mug of tea, and looked up when her nephew ran in through the door to say hello. She was smiling, but Nina’s internal alarm bell went off at the sight of her pale face. Bette looked wan and exhausted, and her eyes were rimmed in red, as if she’d been crying.

‘Auntie Bette!’ he said, giving her a hug. ‘What are you doing here?’

‘I missed my flight,’ Bette said, returning the hug but looking at Nina over his head. ‘And it turns out there are some more things I need to talk with your mum about. So here I still am.’

‘Great!’ Best Barnaby Barnacle said, with genuine enthusiasm. ‘That means we can finish our map of the farm. Can you help me now?’

‘Why don’t you go up and get changed first, bub?’ Nina said.

They both watched as the boy and his faithful hound bounded out of the kitchen, along the hallway and then thundered up the stairs. Nina pulled out the chair opposite Bette.

‘What’s happened?’

Bette dropped her gaze to the mug clutched between her hands and Nina’s heart sank further.

‘Bette? Is it the bank? I thought everything was all right for now – I got your text this morning, telling me that—’

‘It’s not the bank,’ Bette said, quietly. ‘Nina, I’ve lost my job. That’s what the meeting was about this afternoon. To tell me—’ she stopped and took a breath before going on. ‘They’ve made me redundant.’

‘Oh Bette,’ Nina said. ‘I’m so sorry.’

Bette looked away, and despite knowing what a huge blow this must have been, Nina was shocked to see tears in her sister’s eyes. She couldn’t remember ever seeing Bette cry. She tried to focus on that, on feeling sympathy for her sister, who was so clearly devastated, instead of the thoughts that had immediately turned towards the farm. Now what do we do? she thought. In three months, without Bette’s income…

Bette sniffed and wiped her eyes quickly. ‘Anyway,’ she said, ‘obviously this leaves us with a rather large issue. Because while the bank isn’t a problem at this moment – it will be.’

Nina rubbed a hand over her face. ‘Right. But… you’ll get another job, won’t you? Another firm will take you on. I bet you could walk right into somewhere else tomorrow morning if you wanted to.’

‘I’m not so sure about that,’ Bette said. ‘And even if I did, then it’s unlikely my salary would match what I’ve just lost at the firm, let alone what I expected to get as a partner.’

‘But—’

‘Please, Nina,’ Bette said. ‘I can’t talk about that right now. I can’t. Okay?’

‘Okay,’ Nina said. ‘Then what do you want to talk about?’

Bette looked down at her tea, her fingers squeezing the mug hard. ‘I’ve been speaking to Ryan.’

‘Ryan?’

‘He was down in the orchard, gathering up the windfalls. I



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