Page 47 of A Colourful Country Escape
‘You’d be surprised.’
‘I wouldn’t.’ Lexie tried to keep her voice level as the memory of being the girl with hard-up parents bit again. ‘I went to school with a bunch of rich girls. I managed to get a bursary for less well-off kids because of my talents in art, but I never really belonged. So they kept pointing out.’
‘Ahh, Lex.’ Grace leaned across and grabbed her hand. ‘Were they cruel-arsed bitches?’
Lexie couldn’t help but laugh. ‘Yeah, kind of. I just always felt different, you know? Not good enough. The one with the slightly odd clothes, who would probably never make it because she couldn’t afford uni.’
‘Wow,’ said Grace, rubbing Lexie’s hand. ‘This is deep. So you repel money, in case you end up like one of the meanie bitches.’ She nodded sagely, seeming pleased she’d unravelled all of Lexie’s problems in the space of a minute.
‘I do not repel money.’ Lexie pulled her hand back and fiddled with her sleeve. It was all very well Grace unpicking her problems, but then they’d end up with a massive pile of tangled wool. How was that better?
‘I didn’t know the girls at your school were nasty,’ Sky said quietly. ‘You didn’t say.’
‘Hey, it wasn’t so bad.’ Lexie pulled her sister into a hug, always keen to protect her. That was part of the reason Lexie had got a job instead of borrowing money for uni. She wanted to help out, so Sky never got laughed at for being the girl with crappy trainers. Not that she’d ever confess that. ‘You know me. If people joke about my clothes, I dress even more kookily.’ That much was true. She’d never felt like a victim – justdifferent.Less, perhaps.
‘Maybe it would be better if you didn’t keep having to bail me out,’ said Sky. ‘I’ll pay you back for the train ticket.’ She sniffed and pulled away from the hug.
‘No you won’t, silly. You’ll always be my favourite project.’
Grace wiped a tear from her eye and cleared her throat. ‘Anyway! You can rewrite this ranty blog post later. Because right now, we have something more important to fix.’
Chapter 24
‘Like what?’ Lexie asked Sky, wondering what the little minx was so interested in fixing next.
‘Like you,’ Sky replied simply. ‘And your crazy theory that money builds walls around hearts.’
‘What was it that rapper guy said?’ asked Grace. ‘More money, more … ’
‘Problems,’ Lexie concluded.
‘I gave all mine away to the commune,’ Sky told Grace, like it was the winning formula. ‘Not that I had much. But now everyone is equal.’
And nobody can afford to get the train out of there, thought Lexie. But she didn’t want to make her sibling feel bad.
Grace shrugged. ‘Honestly, I’ve been out with guys from all walks of life. I can’t say money makes much difference. It’s how they behave that matters. And how they make you feel.’
‘Well, rich guys make me feel poor,’ said Lexie.
‘And poor guys screw you over and try and land you in jail,’ Sky added.
Lexie shot her a warning look. This was not about her stupid ex Inkie, either.
‘Incredible!’ said Grace. ‘You two have so much fun. You’ve got to tell me … ’
‘No, we don’t,’ said Lexie, through tightened lips.
‘So tell me about you and Ben then,’ said Grace. ‘Because if I didn’t know better, Lexie Summers, I’d say you had a thing for that boss of yours.’
‘Completely,’ Sky agreed, like some kind of relationship oracle.
‘I do not!’ Lexie replied, her voice a few octaves higher than she’d expected. She cleared her throat. ‘I do not have designs on Ben “I want my mother’s money” Carrington. I don’t.’
A chorus of angry peacocks somewhere in the distance seemed to disagree.
‘I beg to differ,’ said Grace. ‘And he gave you a pretty intense look in the ballroom that day too. There was something going on behind those mysterious eyes of his.’
‘He was looking at you,’ said Lexie.
