Page 2 of A Colourful Country Escape
The mother whose face then appeared above the other two, pouting as though rain had just stopped play at Wimbledon. Lexie might have known Drew couldn’t shop for diamonds without the Bank of Mum and Dad. Lexie had barely been allowed to say three words to Drew’s rich parents in the eighteen months they’d been together. She guessed there was no need to bother now.
Yet as Lexie began to turn on her Boohoo-sale heel, a hand gripped her bare arm.
‘Where the heck are you going?’
Lexie shrugged at her duckling-clad companion. ‘I only came out to pawn some stuff. I need to pay my … ’
The last word was ‘rent’, but she didn’t dare say it to the unfortunate girl with the drenched cardboard boxes.
‘I wasn’t looking for your life story, lady. I just meant anyone wearing tie-dye shorts and a kid’s duck coat in the middle of an April piss-storm has obviously gotsomeballs. So if that prick in the suit that doesn’t match his grunge hair was meant to be your bloke, you’d better go and brain him before I do.’
‘I … but … I’m a drowned rat.’ Lexie looked up at the sky, which was still leaking down on them, albeit more pathetic snivels of sympathy than full cats and dogs. Should she just pack up her humiliation and get the hell out of there? She never had belonged. The one time Drew’s parents had turned up at his flat while she’d been there, he’d practically confined her to the kitchen, polishing glassware. The sad thing was, she’d felt relieved to have an excuse to hide. Lead crystal had never been more fascinating.
Lexie turned away from the window, pushing wet tendrils of hair back off her forehead, and began to retreat. ‘Not sure his mum even remembers me.’
Glancing back towards the window, Lexie saw the three disembodied heads staring back at her across the sea of diamonds.
‘Just imagine her with the craps. Always works for me when some twat treads on my sleeping bag on his way to the cashpoint.’ The young girl grabbed her again and began tugging her towards the shop entrance.
‘But I’ll ruin their carpet,’ Lexie tried to reason, looking down at her sodden pumps.
‘Do you always put everyone else before yourself?’
The words hung in the air for a moment and Lexie blinked. ‘No.’ She didn’t think so, but …
‘Quick, before Evil Shop Guy comes back.’
Lexie took a deep breath. She hated flashy places, where the staff stared snootily like she couldn’t even afford their shopping bag. The painful thing was, they were probably right.
‘Go on, do it for me. Kick off in that posh-arsed shop and make my day.’
Lexie looked down at those hopeful green eyes, beaming like a pair of traffic lights on go. Maybe this stranger had been right: she never could resist doing things for others. If only she was as good at sorting out her own mess.
Lexie took the girl’s hand and hastily tipped her wallet into it.
Oh.Well, perhaps she hadn’t meant for all of those pawnbroker notes to fall out too, but the girl gave a small sob of gratitude. And asking for a refund from a homeless person did not seem like the done thing. Lexie would have to worry about how she’d replace her last hope at rent money later; it was time for this ridiculously awkward show.
Chapter 2
As a loud bell announced Lexie’s entrance into Le Grande Bijou, the three heads turned towards her, trying out a selection of expressions.
The theme on Drew’s caught-in-the-act mug seemed to be ‘oops’. At least he had the good grace to seem bothered. Tabby of Sidebottom fame seemed put out at being disturbed from her diamonds, and Drew’s mother appeared mildly confused.
‘Look, Lex, I can explain.’ Drew was the first of this odd love quadrangle to speak, even if it was an infuriating cliché.
‘I think I’ve kind of worked it out,’ said Lexie, hoping she sounded braver than she felt as she stood under the garish spotlights, dripping like a wet umbrella. ‘When were you going to bother mentioning you were getting engaged? Am I that unimportant?’
Tabby scoffed and Lexie felt it like a sarcastic prod in the ribs.
‘And you knew we were together,’ Lexie said to her. What she wanted to say was that, for all Tabby’s upbringing, she didn’t even have the manners to keep her manicured paws to herself. But Lexie couldn’t bear to draw any more attention to the gaping divide.
‘Oh, come on. As if he was ever going to marry you. You’re from a totally different class.’
Ouch.Well, it seemed Tabby was on hand to do that for her. The prim-bunned fiancée looked down her beak at Lexie, making clear she didn’t mean a better one. ‘You’re basicallypoor.’
Lexie sucked in her breath. Even Drew was wincing.
‘Hang on a second, I don’t understand.’ It seemed Drew’s mother was ready to stick her powdered nose in. ‘Why on earth would this girl think you would marry her? I thought she was your cleaner?’
