Just Like the Other Girls - Claire Douglas Page 0,20
my croissant. But Courtney knows me too well. I can see she’s not convinced.
‘I thought you’d landed on your feet.’
‘It’s great. Don’t get me wrong, it’s better than the care home, it’s just …’ I take a bite of croissant, careful not to wolf it.
She leans forward expectantly. ‘What?’
I swallow and tell her about the boredom, and about Kathryn. ‘She’s always watching me, like she suspects I’m about to steal the family silver or something.’
Courtney laughs. ‘You’re the most honest person I know. Remember when we found that wallet full of money in Castle Park?’
I do. We’d been heading to the shops when we saw a wallet on the ground bulging with twenty-pound notes. There must have been at least three hundred pounds. Courtney had wanted to keep the money – we were only seventeen, after all, and broke – but I’d insisted on taking it straight to the police station.
I shrug. ‘I wish Kathryn was as sure of me. She makes me feel uncomfortable.’
‘But she’s not there all the time?’
‘No, thank goodness. She was there today.’ I fill her in on the morning’s events, including my missing breakfast.
She raises her thick eyebrows. She takes ages in the morning to make sure those bad boys are expertly filled in and she’s always trying to get me to do mine, even though I’d look weird with thick dark brows and light blonde hair. ‘Do you think she ate your breakfast?’
‘That would be weird. Why would she?’
‘Just so she could have a go at you?’
I shake my head. ‘I can’t imagine her being that petty. She’s old. Nearly fifty. And sensible. A bit dowdy, you know? Like Mrs Bird across the street. She’s got two kids and a husband. I can’t imagine her doing something like that. But it’s not all doom and gloom. There’s a hot gardener.’
Her face lights up. ‘Tell me more!’
I wipe my mouth with the napkin, half tempted to order another croissant. ‘He’s very handsome. Like stunning. He looks a bit like that Poldark actor but with bright blue eyes.’
She makes appreciative noises.
‘He’s worth coming to work for.’ I laugh.
‘What about Vince? That’s definitely over?’
I cup my hands around my mug. ‘I’ve not heard from him. Nothing. Since we split up.’
She reaches out and touches my wrist. ‘I’m sorry.’
‘Does Kris say anything?’
‘Only that he thinks he still loves you.’
‘Has he … has he met someone else?’
‘Nope. Kris says he doesn’t seem interested and that he’s still pining after you.’ My heart leaps at the thought that Vince might not be over me, even though I know it could never work between us. I need to move forward with my life. ‘So, do you think you’ll stay?’
‘Yes. Of course.’ The thought of returning to the care home is unbearable. ‘It’s a cushy job, really. It’s just going to take a bit of getting used to, that’s all. And it’s great money. Especially if we’re still going travelling at the end of the year …’ I eye her warily. It’s all we’ve talked about since Vince and I finished. ‘Unless you don’t want to leave Kris?’
‘Are you kidding? I’m desperate to take a few months off work and see the world. You know that.’ Courtney is self-employed at the salon and her boss has said she can continue there when she gets back. I doubt it’ll be the same for me with Elspeth. But that’s nine or ten months away. Anything can happen before then. I only have to give a month’s notice, anyway.
I lower my voice. ‘Something a bit weird happened earlier.’
‘Oh, yes?’
I tell her about finding the necklace. ‘I think it belonged to the girl before me. Her name was Jemima apparently. But the strange thing is, she looked a lot like me.’
She stirs her hot chocolate thoughtfully. ‘That’s a bit odd. If it was Jemima’s, why would she carry a photograph of herself inside it?’
I hadn’t thought of that. Courtney has always been the more analytical one of the two of us. ‘So you don’t think it belonged to my predecessor?’
She shrugs. ‘Unless she thought a lot of herself.’
‘Then why would Kathryn tell me it was Jemima’s?’ I think back to our conversation. Did Kathryn say it was Jemima’s? Or did I just assume that?
Courtney bends down to retrieve her bag. ‘I need to go. My shift starts in ten minutes. But before I do …’ She takes her phone from her bag and snaps the two of us together.