The Lost Sister, Kathleen McGurl [best desktop ebook reader txt] 📗

you for a viewing,’ Jamie said, as they crossed over to a bungalow with a neat front garden and block-paved driveway. He unlocked the front door which was on the side of the house, explaining that the elderly owner had moved into a nursing home. ‘So there is no onward chain.’

Harriet and Sheila followed him into a surprisingly spacious hallway from which all the rooms were accessed. Two bedrooms at the front. A bathroom with separate toilet opposite the front door, and to the rear, a large sitting room and a kitchen-diner. A conservatory had been added at the back, accessed from the sitting room. The garden was small, a little overgrown as though the owner had not been able to care for it for a couple of years, but there was a patio that looked as though it’d be a pleasant place to sit on a sunny day.

‘Kitchen’s nice,’ Sheila said, and Harriet nodded. The cupboards were painted cream, New England style. The floor was tiled in a dark grey vinyl. The bathroom was plain white, and while the bedrooms and sitting room weren’t decorated to her taste, it was nothing that a few pots of paint and new carpet couldn’t fix.

‘What do you think?’ Sheila pressed, as Harriet had said nothing as she went around.

‘It’s very probably perfect,’ she replied quietly, but as Jamie grinned she realised he’d heard and was seeing pound signs flashing up before his eyes.

They wandered around a little more, checking out the garden and garage, looking at the house from the outside, asking Jamie to lower the loft ladder so they could have a peek in the attic. Harriet was pleased to see the attic was fully boarded. She’d be able to continue storing all her mementos. She’d need to get rid of a lot of furniture to fit in this house – but that was the point of downsizing.

As they left the property and shook hands with Jamie, he glanced at Harriet expectantly. ‘I’ll be in touch,’ she told him, not prepared to make any commitments right there and then.

‘Right-o. Well, I look forward to hearing from you, and if there’s anything else I can do for you – we have several other bungalows on our books if you would like to see them …’

‘Yes, thank you. I’ll be in touch,’ she said again, and she and Sheila headed back to her car.

‘Well?’ said Sheila once they were in the car and Jamie had driven off.

‘I’m going to buy it,’ Harriet said, grinning.

Chapter 24

Emma, 1916

Ma’s funeral was a sad and sombre affair. All the neighbours turned out, as did many of Ma’s old clients for whom she’d sewed, mended or washed clothes over the years. Each of them shook Emma’s hand as she stood at the graveside, lamenting how hard it must be for the two young women to come to terms with the death, especially after losing their other sister. All agreed Ma had been taken far too soon, and enquired what were Emma and Lily planning to do, with the house, with their lives, now?

It was at the funeral that Mrs Williams, never one to miss an opportunity to pass on some gossip, informed Emma in an almost gleeful tone of voice that she’d heard from Dee Paine that Harry Paine had been reported killed, in one of the many pushes in the battle to take the river Somme. ‘It’s his just desserts,’ the old woman said. ‘After the way he carried on with your sister, with his poor wife in the family way at the time as well. He’s got what was coming to him. I expect you’re pleased to hear this news.’

‘His poor wife’s a widow and his children are fatherless. No, I am not at all pleased to hear this news.’ Emma was disgusted. ‘Harry Paine made some mistakes in his time – leading my sister astray was one, certainly – but he was not all bad and did not deserve this.’ She turned her back on Mrs Williams and walked away before the other woman could say anything more, or see the tears that brimmed in her eyes.

She joined Lily who was standing, head bowed, at the graveside still. Standing beside her, she slipped an arm around Lily’s waist, and her sister leaned her head on Emma’s shoulder. ‘Just us now, lovey,’ she said, and Lily turned to stare at her.

‘That was Ma’s word for us. Sounds so odd when you say it.’

‘Sorry, Lils. I won’t use it.’

‘It’s all right. When you said it, just for a moment it felt like you were Ma, and she’s still here watching over me, but through you.’

Emma smiled and squeezed her sister tighter. ‘And she is, Lily. I will always be here for you. I promised her.’

‘And I promised her I’d follow my dreams and never shy away from life’s challenges,’ Lily replied. ‘She made me swear that, in her last few days.’

The mourners were dispersing, and it was time for Emma and Lily to return to the house. It felt so empty, without Ma’s presence in it. Lily went into the sitting room and began pulling the sheets and blankets off Ma’s bed and folding them, stacking the pillows and cushions she’d used.

‘Leave that, Lily,’ Emma said. ‘We can do it tomorrow. For now, let’s sit in the kitchen with a cup of tea and relax. There’s time enough for everything else.’

To her surprise, Lily, who’d been so strong, so resolute throughout Ma’s illness and death and the funeral, broke down sobbing, and allowed herself to be steered into the kitchen to sit at the table. ‘There now, lovey,’ Emma said. ‘Let it all out. You’ve been so brave through it all. I’ll make tea. You sit there.’

‘It’s Ruby. It’s her fault,’ Lily sobbed.

‘I know. Losing her and then Ma …’

But Lily shook her head. ‘I mean … if Ruby hadn’t died Ma might not have become ill. That’s what started it all, isn’t it Ems?