What You Left Behind by Samantha Hayes Read Free Book Online Page A

checkerboard floor looked as if it had been recently mopped, and a lavender scent hung in the air. There was a noticeboard attached to the wall with a colorful handmade banner saying, “Welcome to New Hope.”
    “This won’t take long,” Jo said as they went in. “Sonia puts me to shame with all her volunteer work. It’s the least I can do.” She clutched at her cotton skirt, bringing the hem up to reveal her tanned knees in a way that reminded Lorraine of her as a little girl. For a second, her eyes sparkled.
    They went into the main room of the building, which was nothing like how Lorraine remembered it from their Girl Guide days. Gone was the dusty wooden floor, for a start. Stripped and polished boards now gave a light and airy feel to the place, especially with the sun streaming in through the tall arched windows, and all the wallswere freshly painted in white. It was the complete opposite to the inner-city equivalent Lorraine had occasionally visited in Birmingham. Somehow they exuded a kind of fake hope rather than the real thing, as in this place.
    They walked between several rows of beds, each one made up with a plump pillow and clean sleeping bag. A small table between each bed separated the bunks, and Lorraine noticed that there were little vases of flowers or china ornaments on some. She raised her eyebrows, impressed with the attention to detail.
    “It’s nice,” she whispered to Jo as they headed to the rear of the hall.
    Jo answered with an I-told-you-so look.
    There was a smaller area at the back reserved for a couple of settees and a television. A low table with books and magazines sat on top of a rug that looked as if it had come from an antiques shop.
    “Hello, Sonia, it’s me,” Jo called out toward another room beyond. Her voice echoed around them, getting lost in the vaulted ceiling.
    The place seemed deserted, even though the front door had been unlocked. For a moment Lorraine wondered if all the homeless people of Wellesbury and the surrounding area had been miraculously re-homed. The reality was, as she later learned, they got sent out for the day and weren’t allowed back in until six p.m.
    Jo’s voice rang out again amid the avenues of sunlight that sloped through the Methodist chapel’s tall windows.
    “Odd. She said she’d be here.”
    Then they heard a noise coming from the other room, and soon after that a figure emerged through the doorway. “Sorry, sorry,” the woman said in a flustered voice. “I was lost in what I was doing.” She offered a small smile.
    “Sonia, this is Lorraine, my sister,” Jo said, and Lorraine was struck by the note of pride in her voice.
    Lorraine approached the woman and shook hands. She was extremely thin, her skin tinged gray and almost see-through, as if she’dnot eaten in months. The pale blue jeans she was wearing would have once fitted snugly, likewise the white T-shirt that hung loosely from her slight frame. The jade-green silk scarf looped around her neck lent a small splash of color to an otherwise washed-out appearance. Lorraine could tell she’d once been a beauty, perhaps not so long ago, but that recently taking care of herself had not been a priority. There was a tangible air of sadness about her, an aura of grief that was gradually consuming her.
    “You’ve done a great job with this place,” Lorraine commented, and noticed the way Sonia’s eyes dipped briefly to the floor. Her hair was thin, once-blonde, but now the gray was pushing through at the roots, suggesting she’d not been to a salon in a while.
    “I try my best,” she said coyly. “I don’t know what they’d do otherwise.”
    There was a slight pause.
    “She means her boys,” Jo said fondly. “The homeless lads. And there are a few girls too.”
    “They must be very grateful to you,” Lorraine said.
    Sonia picked at her nails nervously. Lorraine noticed several were broken.
    “You have no idea how excited Jo has been about you coming to stay,” she