Christmas by the Book by Anne Marie Ryan

Author:Anne Marie Ryan [Ryan, Anne Marie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2021-10-12T00:00:00+00:00

It was a verse from the Christina Rossetti poem Nora had read at her mother’s funeral. And just as she had been unable to heed the poem’s advice on the day they buried Penelope, she couldn’t help herself from crying now.

“I’m so sorry, Mum. I’ve failed you. We’re going to lose the shop.” She slumped down on the damp ground. Resting her head against the cold gravestone, Nora wept tears of defeat. “I tried, Mum,” she sobbed. “I tried so hard to keep the shop going.”

Nora wasn’t sure how long she sat there—long enough for moisture from the ground to soak through her skirt to her bottom—but at some point she heard the gate squeak again and realized she wasn’t alone. She scrambled to her feet and saw a teenage boy in a school uniform enter the graveyard. He looked about fifteen or so, with messy ginger hair and pale cheeks that retained a hint of childhood softness, despite the angry blemishes of adolescence. She had a vague notion that she’d seen him before. He was probably one of the teens who loitered outside the George, hoping someone would buy them a drink.

Spotting her, he scowled and turned away.

Bunking off school, no doubt.

Nora glanced up at the clock on the top of the church tower and saw that it was nearly two o’clock. Simon would worry if she didn’t get back soon. It’s all yours, mate, she thought, hurrying through the graveyard. She slipped through the gate, leaving the boy to smoke or vape, or whatever it was teenagers got up to in graveyards when they should have been at school.

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