The Price of Love by Rosie Harris Read Free Book Online

bought,’ Lucy suggested.
    ‘Oh, Lucy, I can’t do that. That’s special for when you and Robert get married later in the year.’
    ‘Surely you can wear it again for that,’ Lucy told her. ‘No one else will know.’
    ‘I’m not so sure,’ her mother said dubiously.
    ‘You could always treat yourself to a new hat and gloves for the wedding and then it would look completely different.’
    ‘No, it wouldn’t feel right. I must keep it new for your wedding,’ her mother insisted.
    ‘You could always buy something else; it’ll be months till our wedding.’
    ‘I’m not sure I should be so extravagant because there’s so much else we have to spend money on for your bottom drawer.’
    ‘Nonsense. I’ve been collecting things for ages. I’ve all I need to start off with and I can always borrow things I’m short of from you,’ Lucy said, smiling.
    ‘Well, yes, that’s if you decide that you and Robert are going to make your home here. You haven’t told us yet what you’ve decided to do. Your dad was only saying the other day that if you and Robert are going to move in here, then he will have to start decorating the two rooms in readiness.’
    ‘We’ll talk about it after this outing is over,’ Lucy promised.
    ‘I want to make your wedding day the talk of Priory Terrace,’ she went on, her eyes shining. ‘I can see you now in your wedding dress, holding your father’s arm as you walk up the aisle to where Robert is waiting, and our Sam standing there beside Robert in a smart new suit.’
    ‘And Patsy as my bridesmaid,’ Lucy reminded her.
    ‘Mmm! Well, I hope she behaves herself and doesn’t start flirting with all the men like she usually does.’
    ‘Mam! You know it’s just her way because all the men think she is so pretty.’
    ‘Rubbish! You are going to be the one looking beautiful. Anyway,’ her mother said briskly, ‘all this chatter’s not helping me to decide what I am going to wear when Sam takes us out. I suppose I could wear the red dress that I wore on Christmas Day, but I’m not sure which hat and coat to wear with it.’
    ‘Your winter coat, of course,’ Lucy told her. ‘It’s still March and the wind can be quite cutting.’
    ‘Not if we are inside the car, surely,’ her mother protested, her face creasing into a frown. ‘It’s not like standing around waiting for a tram, now is it?’
    They discussed it at length and finally agreed that her three-quarter-length coat with a fur collar would be ideal even though it was dark blue and her dress was red.
    ‘Oh dear, and my hat is black,’ Margaret Collins sighed. ‘That won’t look right, will it?’
    ‘In that case, why don’t you wear my dark red one and it will go with your dress?’
    ‘You mean that little one with the tiny brim that looks like a pudding basin?’
    ‘It’s called a cloche hat and they are the very latest fashion, Mam. It will look far better than wearing a black one and, anyway, the brim on your black one is so big that you will probably knock your hat off trying to get into the car.’
    Reluctantly, her mother agreed to try it on and then seemed genuinely amazed at how well it looked. The face-framing hat flattered her and the colour suited her extremely well, making her look younger than she was.
    ‘Don’t let on to your dad or Sam what I am planning to wear, I want to give them a surprise,’ Margaret Collins said smiling conspiratorially as she took off Lucy’s hat and smoothed down her hair which was now slightly disturbed.
    Her mother talked so much about the forthcoming outing, wondering where Sam was taking them and worrying about what the weather would be like, that Lucy began to feel that she would be glad when it was all over.
    ‘Very well, I’ll keep what you’re wearing a secret,’ Lucy promised as she took the hat from her. ‘Now, can we go and have our meal? I’m meeting Robert at two o’clock.’
    She was almost relieved that she had to go to work on Saturday and