long way to go before heâll convince me that heâs changed his wandering ways. Now if weâre going to get the upstairs breakfast served on time, we have to get our skates on. Mair, clear this table; Bronwen, lay the table in the breakfast room. Iâll check the menu with Cook and set up the trays.â
âI think Mrs Williams is actually beginning to like me.â Joey took Rhianâs hand and nestled it in the crook of his arm as they walked down the drive of Llan House.
âI donât know how you can say that. Sheâs downright rude to you.â
âItâs not what she says; itâs the way she says it. I can tell that underneath it all, sheâs fond of me.â He pulled two tickets from his inside pocket and waved them under her nose. âThe best seats, undercover â¦â
âBronwen said all the seats are undercover. Theyâve put up the most enormous marquee that seats ten thousand people.â
âSome seats are more undercover than others,â he continued unabashed. âThe most expensive have the best view of both rings. And these are the most expensive and comfortable. The man at the box office promised me that weâd get cushions.â
âI hope we also get space. Bronwen said the tent was packed so full when she went with Meriel they had difficulty drawing breath.â
âIâm surprised anyone can draw breath around Cook, given the size of her. She probably swallows all the available oxygen for miles around.â
âThat is cruel. She canât help her size.â
âShe doesnât overeat?â Joey asked in surprise.
âNo more than the rest of us.â Furious with Joey, Rhian wasnât prepared to let the matter drop. âLooks arenât everything, Joey. You might be handsome but as Mrs Williams says ââ
âHandsome is as handsome does,â he chanted in a bored tone. âI wish I had a penny for every time she has said that about me. And I canât help the way I look any more than Cook can.â
âNo, but ââ
âWhat?â He stopped walking and stood in front of her.
âYou could try to be nicer.â As always, whenever he looked her directly in the eye, she became flustered.
âI thought I was always nice to you,â he said softly.
âWell, youâre not,â she countered.
âTell me how I can be nicer?â
âBy walking me to the station in time to buy chocolates for the children, and catch the early train so we can visit Sali before the show.â
âWe said weâd have lunch with Sali, not breakfast.â Despite his protest he stepped back and offered her his arm again.
âIâd like to spend some time with Bella and Edyth.â
âThe doting aunt.â
âAnd why not?â she retorted in indignation.
âI spoke as the doting uncle. What is the matter with you? I thought weâd planned the perfect day out and youâre spitting pins and needles.â
âNothingâs the matter with me,â she retorted unconvincingly.
âMrs Williams been having a go at you about me again?â
âNo more than usual.â
âPerhaps sheâll leave off after today.â
She didnât ask him to explain his remark because she guessed what he meant. But she had absolutely no idea how she would react when he brought the subject up again.
Rhian refused Joeyâs offer to hire a cab when they arrived in Pontypridd and insisted on walking to Ynysangharad House. When they left the top end of Taff Street, she stepped off Victoria Bridge, which carried traffic over the River Taff, and climbed the steep steps of the Old Bridge alongside it. A crowd of small boys in ragged clothes were leaning precariously over the edge of the stone parapet, trying to see the animals tethered at the back of the enormous marquee that almost filled the Malstersâ Field.
ââ¦Â My
Sharon Kleve, Jennifer Conner, Danica Winters, Casey Dawes