Charlotte's Wedding: A Modern Jane Austen Variation on Pride and Prejudice by Mary Rizza

Author:Mary Rizza [Rizza, Mary]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: General Fiction
Publisher: Moduno Books
Published: 2014-05-15T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

“GOOD CHRISTMAS, BY THE WAY?”

Shelley rolled out of bed and pulled the duvet after her. She wrapped herself in its warmth and made for the bathroom. The flat was a little chilly, although she hadn’t noticed it last night when they had tumbled in the door and headed straight for the bedroom.

“Not bad. Pretty much same as usual. I had dinner at Mum’s with my sisters.”

“How are they both?” Gavin was at the cooker in the tiny kitchen. “Full works OK for you? You’re not going to go all ‘just a coffee and a croissant’ on me, are you?”

“You kidding?” Shelly yanked the toilet chain and spoke above the gush of water. “Make the bacon crispy, that’s all I ask.”

“Is there any other way?”

Gavin shook the pan so the mushrooms browned evenly, and carved thick slices from a crusty loaf. He made a cafetiere of strong coffee while basting the eggs which were sizzling in the pan.

“There you are, madam.” He placed Shelley’s plate in front of her and assembled his own. “See you found something warm, then.” Shelley had slipped into a sweater which she had found in the bathroom.

“Nice and warm, thanks. This is good.” She tucked in with gusto. “Nothing like a fry-up after a heavy night.”

Gavin watched her with amusement. “We certainly used up some energy.”

Shelley raised her eyebrows in acknowledgement and wiped some bread around her plate.

“Anyway,” he went on, “How are they all? Your sisters and your mother? All OK?”

Shelly looked a bit put out. “Why wouldn’t they be?” She didn’t feel guilty, exactly, but she had kind of intuited that Rachel liked Gavin and she had no intention of letting her or any of them know that she had hooked up with him. It hadn’t been planned. She had bumped into him, at The Pit of all places, which he had said he’d mistaken for somewhere else where he was supposed to meet someone who… well, whatever. He’d hung around until she finished work, then they had driven up to his place.

“Just asking. I think you’re a pretty cool family, as it happens.” He added, “And you’re the coolest, goes without saying.”

“Of course.” Shelly pushed away her plate and took a gulp of coffee. “That’s waking me up. I don’t know why you say that, though. You hardly know us.”

“I like what I’ve seen. I recognise what’s going on – the way your mother brought you up by herself and made a better life for you than the one you had.”

“How do you know about all that?”

“More coffee? Rachel must have said something, I think. We had a bit of a chat about our childhoods and such stuff.” He watched her as he refilled her mug.

“Really? She never said.” She took a big gulp of coffee. “Well, why would she, I suppose.”

Gavin smiled. “Indeed.”

Shelley roamed round the small flat. She scanned his bookshelves and said, “Have you read all these?”

“Mostly, yes.”

“I was never one for reading. Apart from Fifty Shades. Not like Rachel.

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