Best Laid Plans by Patricia Fawcett Read Free Book Online Page A

minding very much how she furnished their home she had happily done exactly what she wanted and although it looked much the same on the exterior as the others in the row, inside it was quite a different matter.
    The little living room that you stepped into directly from the street was aglow with rosy reds and deep pinks, sumptuous silky materials and fringed lacy throws covering the two comfortable sofas, which together with a leather armchair made up the seating arrangements.
    ‘Bloody hell, Monique, it’s like a tart’s boudoir,’ her dear father-in-law had said with a laugh when he first stepped through the door.
    She took that on the chin although the remark hurt her. What did he know about interior design? He was happy to leave all that to Christine and although the thought had crossed her mind that she had not quite achieved the look she was after, that it was all slightly over the top, it was impossible to change a thing once that remark was uttered. She was not going to allow him to think that he could influence her in any way.
    There was no television; she felt strongly that it wouldhave dominated such a small room although it of all things surprised people for how on earth could they exist without it? Quite well, thank you. They had an extensive collection of books as well as a selection of CDs so they never felt any desperate need to sit in front of a television screen. It was largely her decision and there were times when Mike wavered when he heard people at work discussing what they had seen on the box the night before but she always talked him round.
    Frank thought they were bonkers but then he didn’t have much of an opinion of his son and everybody knew that he would have much preferred to train Amy up as his second in command. Frank was proud of the business but, honestly, the way he talked it up you would think he ran a huge international organization at times instead of a small-time removal and storage concern. If Amy had gone into it she would have commanded the respect of the workers for she had that air of authority about her that was patently lacking in Mike. Amy was the golden girl even though she had upped and left them in the lurch deciding that working for her father was never going to work and going out into the bigger world instead.
    ‘She broke her father’s heart,’ Christine had said once, in a confiding mood over coffee. ‘He doesn’t let it show, of course, but he always thought she would take over when he was gone. Everything was ready for her and then she just came right out with it one day that she was going into retail management. You should have seen Frank’s face, Monique. I am trying so hard but I can never quite forgive her for doing that to him.’
    ‘You poor thing.’ Monique had given her a quick cuddle and hardened her own heart to Amy, blithely skirting over the issue of her relationship with her own mother that had never amounted to much, either. Whenever she and Amy met they were courteous to each other but it was all superficial for she knew that Amy resented her, too. Amywas a workaholic, scarily ambitious, but that was her misfortune.
    ‘You’ve landed nicely on your feet, Monique.’
    Monique recalled those words, deep with meaning, and it could have led to a full-blown row, for she had seen the danger signs in Amy’s eyes knowing that she had a quick temper but she had turned the tables on her by saying sweetly that Amy must learn to relax a little more and find the time to smell the roses.
    ‘Some of us need to work to earn money, Monique. We don’t all have a man willing to look after us.’
    ‘Poor darling. I do understand.’ She had given her a winning smile knowing that the best way to wind Amy up was not to take up the bait.
    ‘Not that I would ever want to be in the position of having a man take care of me,’ Amy had finished stoutly but again Monique refused to take up the challenge, which infuriated her all the more.
     
    She used the smaller