Free Paradise Fields by Katie Fforde Page B

packing of them that she looked up and saw Kerry Anne right in front of her.
    â€˜Oh, hello.’ Maybe, she suddenly realised, if I took the trouble to get to know this girl, I wouldn’t come to like her, but I might be able to find out what’s going on. It was too much to hope that Kerry Anne’d be able to stop the building, but Nel smiled anyway.
    â€˜Hi! Nel, isn’t it? I wonder if you can help me. I can’t seem to find any decent beauty products in this place. What I really want is . . .’ She named a brand Nel had barely heard of, and would certainly not be available in a small branch of a chemist in a small town.
    â€˜I’m afraid you’d have to go to Cheltenham for something like that.’
    Kerry Anne shook her head impatiently. ‘I was there yesterday. Nothing. I tried every shop, and none of them had anything I would care to put on my face.’
    â€˜Well, as you see, this is a small branch—’
    â€˜So where do you go for moisturisers and stuff like that? London? You have lovely skin.’
    This last was clearly not meant as a compliment, more a statement of fact, but Nel was still flattered. She alsojust might have the key to getting on Kerry Anne’s good side. It would be a shame to waste it.
    â€˜I buy all that type of thing from someone who makes their own products. She sells them at the market,’ she added. She was tempted to say that unless Kerry Anne got her husband to withdraw all plans to build on the water meadows, and go on allowing the market to be in their backyard, she wouldn’t tell her where she could buy these products anywhere else.
    â€˜Makes all their own products?’ repeated Kerry Anne. ‘How bizarre! I’m really interested in cosmetics. I mean, it’s so important not to put crap on your skin.’
    â€˜Absolutely,’ murmured Nel.
    â€˜But it seems weird to make your own.’
    â€˜Not really. After all, all these companies’ – she gestured to the counter – ‘make all their own products. My friend just does it in her home instead of in a vast factory. She uses natural, pure ingredients, combines them, and then sells what she makes in blue glass jars.’
    â€˜And are they any good?’
    â€˜Oh yes. Her anti-wrinkle serum is really excellent. Not that you need to worry about wrinkles – yet.’
    Kerry Anne shuddered, even at the word. ‘Well, where can I buy these things? If they really are so good?’
    Nel thought fast. Kerry Anne was rich, and obviously a woman prepared to spend a lot of her money on keeping herself beautiful. If Nel took her to where Sacha made her products, Kerry Anne would spend a fortune. Sacha would be thrilled to have such a big-spending customer and visiting her might soften up Kerry Anne beautifully – and not just on the outside. Perhaps it would change her mind about building on the fields.
    â€˜Well,’ Nel began. ‘You could just wait for the next market. Or go to Bath. I think Sacha sells her stuff there . . .’ She paused enticingly.
    â€˜Or what?’ To Nel’s satisfaction, Kerry Anne immediately picked up the implication of an alternative.
    â€˜Or you can go to her outlet and buy them direct.’ Nel was not surprised to see Kerry Anne’s eyes widen in interest. Almost all women liked bargains, and the word ‘outlet’ did sort of imply cheapness. Nel would of course warn Sacha in advance, and make sure she charged Kerry Anne double what everyone else paid.
    â€˜Could you tell me where to go?’
    â€˜I could, but I’m too well brought up,’ Nel mumbled and then went on, louder, ‘It would be better if I went with you. It’s rather difficult to find. Or you could wait for the next market. It’s due in three weeks.’ The words ‘deferred gratification’ came into Nel’s head, and she realised this concept would be totally foreign to a woman