Page 3 of Forgive Not Forget
“Come on. We better get out there and help Carrie.” Katherine yawned as she rose from the desk.
“I’ll join you in a minute.”
“Oh yes, and what might you be doing in the meantime? Stuffing your face with chocolate eggs?”
“No, I’m nipping to the ladies’ actually.”
“Like I believe that,” Katherine called back as she left the room.
Anna’s stomach grumbled. She covered it with her hand, regretting skipping breakfast; there had been far too much to do that morning. She pulled the box closer to her with her feet and removed an egg, unwrapping it as quickly as she could before stuffing it into her mouth. They really were incredibly good.
CHAPTER2
Katherine was already working her magic with a small group of people as Anna emerged from her office. Their focus was fixed on her — it was clear they found her as hypnotic as Anna did. As she passed Katherine, she allowed the palm of her hand to lightly brush the back of her pencil skirt. A brief glance over her shoulder told her it had the desired effect: one side of Katherine’s mouth creased slightly, and her eye subtly pulled away from the man she was speaking with to gaze at her.
“Ah, Anna, there you are,” Carrie said, approaching her. “Would you mind grabbing some prosecco and refilling glasses as you do your walkabout? The girls are struggling with everyone at the bar.”
“Yes, of course.”
Anna joined two young ladies at the bar who had been hired for the day. The abbey couldn’t take on any more full-time staff at present, and relied on temporary and seasonal staff for more menial tasks. Casual staff were great on the abbey’s bank balance, yet left a lot to be desired when it came to skill.
“Anna, what an excellent job you ladies have done with this place.”
Anna looked up from the bottle of prosecco she was uncorking and greeted the purveyor of Nunswick’s tearoom. “Gloria, how are you?”
“Good, love. The little abbey is going up in the world.”
“It is, bless it.”
“Who would have thought it a year ago, eh? Now you and Katherine are at the helm.” Gloria turned to the point in the room where Katherine was holding court.
Anna smiled. They had come a long way, possibly the hard way. They had everything ahead of them now, though, and nothing to stop them.
“Anyway, I’ll leave you to get on. I only came for a nose around and a glass of prosecco.” Gloria helped herself to two half-filled glasses on the bar, poured one into the other, and winked at Anna before wandering off.
Anna stuffed a handful of freshly updated leaflets complete with interior shots into her back pocket, uncorked the bottle in her hand, and immersed herself in the crowd.
She took every opportunity to discuss the highlights of the barn and the abbey as a unique setting for any event. The majority of the guests were locals, come to have a look like Gloria. She hoped they would be drawn in by the barn and that, if they wouldn’t book it for a family event, they might become regulars at one of Katherine’s exercise classes.
As she manoeuvred her way back to the bar to get the crowd a third bottle of prosecco, a hand caught her arm. She turned to see a woman with shoulder-length, chestnut brown hair and a friendly smile. There was a familiarity about her that Anna couldn’t quite place.
“Anna? Anna Walker?”
Anna eyebrows rocketed up her forehead. She recognised the voice. “Laura?”
“Yes.”
“Golly, I haven’t seen you since…” Anna thought for a moment.
“School,” Laura put in.
Anna shook her head. Had it really been that long? “How are you?” she asked. “What have you been doing all these years?” Anna looked at the two children standing beside Laura. “Been busy, I see.”
Laura let out a nervous laugh. “Yes, this is Tom. He’s thirteen.”
Tom partially nodded in Anna’s direction and then picked at his fingers.
“And this is Abigail. She’s —”
