Laceys of Liverpool by Maureen Lee Read Free Book Online Page A

thinks they’re for one of me secret lovers. I’ll be cross-examined when I get back, particularly if I’m late.’
    ‘Does he know about the twenty-five pounds?’
    She shook her head. ‘No, he might have stopped me coming if he had. John doesn’t like me working no more. He wants me safely at home where I can’t get up to mischief.’
    Danny Mitchell swallowed an expletive. He hadn’t realised things were quite so bad. ‘He won’t be all that pleased if Cora comes up with the cash and you start the hairdressing on your own,’ he said cautiously, worriedthat Alice was getting into a situation that would only make things worse.
    ‘I don’t care, Dad.’ Her face tightened in a way he’d never seen before. ‘I’m entitled to something out of life and I’m not getting it now. I wish with all my heart John had never had the accident. I love him, I always will, but I’ve given up trying to make him believe it. He’s impossible to live with, so I’ll just have to make a life for meself outside the house.’
    Danny hadn’t thought his normally timid daughter capable of such determination. He nodded approvingly. ‘Right thing too, luv.’
    Come in,’ Cora said in surprise when she opened the door and found her sister-in-law on the step.
    Alice rarely came to Garibaldi Road, mainly because she was rarely asked and Cora wasn’t the sort of person you dropped in on uninvited for a jangle.
    ‘What can I do for you?’ Cora asked when they were seated in the nicely furnished living room, as if she realised it wasn’t a social visit and Alice had only come for a purpose for which an explanation was due.
    ‘Where’s Billy?’ She didn’t want John’s brother blundering in.
    ‘At the pub, where else?’ Cora sneered.
    Alice nodded. ‘Right. I want to borrow some money,’ she said bluntly. She wasn’t prepared to beat about the bush, engage in chit-chat to pass the time, then tactfully come up with a request for a loan.
    ‘Really!’ Cora laughed. It must be for something of very great importance. Under normal circumstances, Alice wouldn’t have asked her for the time of day, let alone money. ‘What for?’
    In a cool voice Alice explained about Myrtle’s. ‘I’ll payyou back the twenty-five pounds as soon as possible with a fee on top, for borrowing it, like.’
    ‘You mean interest?’
    ‘Do I?’ Alice said, confused.
    ‘Interest is what you pay for borrowing money.’
    ‘Then I’ll pay interest.’
    ‘At what rate?’ Cora asked, in order to confuse her sister-in-law more.
    But Alice understood what Cora was up to. ‘At whatever rate you say,’ she replied, cool again.
    The older woman smiled unpleasantly. ‘Why should I loan you a penny?’
    ‘Because you’ll make a penny in return.’
    Cora smiled again. Then her voice became hard. ‘It would have to be a business arrangement.’
    ‘That’s all right by me,’ Alice said nonchalantly. Inwardly, she was desperately trying to keep her wits about her. She didn’t trust Cora Lacey as far as she could throw her and wished she had taken up Dad’s offer to come with her. What on earth was a business arrangement?
    ‘I’ll lend you the twenty-five quid, but I’ll draw up an agreement and we’ll both sign to say we’ll share the profits till the loan’s paid back.’
    ‘
Share
the profits!’ Alice exlaimed. She wanted Myrtle’s more than anything on earth, but sharing the profits seemed a bit rich. ‘You mean half each? That hardly seems fair. It’s me who’ll be doing all the work.’
    ‘OK, you have two-thirds, I’ll take a third.’ Cora had known Alice, dim as a Toc H lamp though she was, would be unlikely to agree to half. A third was what she’d wanted all along. It was the easiest way she’d ever come across of making money. ‘I’ll just go in the parlour and write it down. I won’t be long.’
    Alice waited on the edge of her chair. She’d done it!Tomorrow morning Myrtle’s would be hers, but she wished it