Free A Summer Fling by Milly Johnson Page A

Christopher Lee.’
    ‘Once, the nuns at school asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up,’ said Anna, sliding back into a memory. ‘They said I should let my imagination run riot, so I told them I wanted to be a vampire. I got a right thrashing for it as well!’ She remembered Sister Martin and her smiley face that she would whip off like a detachable mask at the first sign of any insolence. The old bitch had thrashed Anna till she wet herself. Hard-line, frustrated old nuns like her were one of the main reasons why Anna would never send her children to a Catholic school, not that she’d ever have any. Not unless a miracle was somehow bestowed upon her. She’d keep her eye out for a star appearing over her house and a bunch of shepherds knocking on the front door wanting admittance, just in case though.
    ‘You have the look of a gothic maid.’ Christie weighed Anna up. Full-bosomed, small-waisted and pouty-lipped, the woman would have been transformed with the right neckline and a bit of red lipstick. She had the look of a woman sadly neglected. By herself more than anyone.
    ‘Werewolf or vampire though. Which would you go for most?’ asked Raychel, who had just finished reading Twilight and rather fancied the former. The werewolf protagonist reminded her of Ben, all massive and warm.
    ‘No question,’ sniffed Anna. ‘Vampire every time. Couldn’t do with all that werewolf-moulting. It’d block up my Dyson.’
    Everyone laughed. Anna had a dry sense of humour, that seemed evident. Christie drained her cup and then noticed that everyone with anything left in their cups followed suit.
    ‘Right, best get back to work then. Thank you for that, ladies. I feel I know you all a little better now.’
    Christie led the way out. She was aware that behind her, Grace was twittering to Dawn and Raychel was asking Anna something. She smiled to herself. The thaw had commenced.

 
Chapter 13
    Paul rang Grace on her mobile at work that afternoon.
    ‘Mum, you are aware it’s the Grand National on Saturday?’ he asked.
    ‘My goodness, it’s never been a year since the last one!’
    ‘Time sure does fly when you’re having fun,’ said her beloved boy. Grace could have wept for him. Life hadn’t exactly been a bundle of laughs for him since his father banished him from the family home. She knew he wasn’t over the hurt, however much he pretended to be.
    ‘I’ll get a newspaper at lunchtime. All the horse names will be in,’ volunteered Grace.
    ‘I’ve looked already. There’s one running called The Sun Rose. I’ll have to go for it, for my Nana.’
    ‘Oh well, let’s do that then. It’s as good an omen as any.’
    ‘Same arrangement as usual?’
    ‘Same arrangement. On the nose.’
    ‘You can pick up your winnings when I see you next week. We’ll have lots of cake, the full shebang cream tea. I’ll pay.’
    Grace laughed. He was the most generous soul she knew.
    ‘Oh Paul, I wish you could meet someone who’d love you for the wonderful person you are!’ she said.
    I wish you could as well, Mum , said Paul to himself.
    Gordon hated gambling and so every year, for as long as she could remember, Grace and Paul had had a secret bet. They didn’t study form and distance or anything complicated like that, they just picked a horse with a name that meant something to both of them, whatever the odds. They had won for two years running now, firstly with Amazing Grace, then last year on the rank outsider, Laura’s Boy. Grace put the winnings in the secret bank account she had opened two years ago and which Gordon knew nothing about. Grace had started squirreling away some of her money to leave to Paul if anything happened to her. Gordon had cut his son out of his will. It annoyed him no end that she hadn’t done the same.
    ‘The Sun Rose?’ said Christie, looking over Grace’s shoulder at the name she had just written down on her pad. ‘Are you betting on horses, Mrs Beamish?’
    ‘Just once a year,’