Page 28 of Forgive Not Forget
“He’s such an idiot,” Abigail tutted.
As they reached the gate of the cottage, Abigail ran up the path and knocked on the door.
Laura answered.
“I hope she’s been good,” she said, playing with her daughter’s ponytail as she hugged her.
“Of course,” Anna replied. “She’s been an immense help. I couldn’t have managed without her.”
A smile formed on Abigail’s lips. “Thank you for having me. I really enjoyed myself.”
“Anytime,” Anna said, giving her a wink.
Abigail disappeared into the house.
Anna turned to her fiancée. “Laura, this is Katherine. Katherine, Laura.”
Katherine stepped forward a little and held out her hand across the threshold. Laura shook it.
“It’s nice to finally meet you,” Laura said, leaning against the doorframe.
“Likewise.”
“I was sorry to hear about the graffiti at the abbey; it must have been awful for you.”
“Thanks. Yes, the abbey means a great deal to both of us, so in a way, it feels like a personal attack,” Katherine replied.
A bang of the garden gate drew their attention to Tom at the bottom of the path. He lowered his bike onto the grass and slunk towards the cottage. Anna and Katherine separated to allow him through.
Laura caught him as he passed and placed her hands on his shoulders. “This is Tom, Katherine, my eldest.”
“Nice to meet you, Tom.”
“Yeah,” Tom replied, giving a slight lift of the head in her direction.
Anna had warned her about the grumpy teenager, so Katherine wasn’t surprised by his curt remark.
He shrugged his mum off and entered the house.
“Err, shoes off,” Laura said.
“I’m just getting my phone from upstairs.”
“Tom, shoes,” Laura added firmly. “Look at them! They’re filthy.”
Tom let out a long groan and sat on the bottom step of the stairs to remove his shoes.
“So what can you do about the graffiti, then?” Laura asked, returning her attention to Katherine.
“We’ve put some signs up insinuating we have security when we don’t. Hopefully, we can deter whoever it is. It’s about all we can do; we don’t have the funds for anything else.”
“Fingers crossed they do the job.”
“Mum?” Abigail’s voice echoed through from the kitchen.
“I better…” Laura nodded back. “Thanks again for letting Abi help today.”
“Anytime,” Anna said. “She’s a delight.”
