Read Online The Vintage Ice Cream Van Road Trip (Cherry Pie Island - Book 2) by Jenny Oliver - Free Book Online

beneath her cheek. ‘I’m alright now,’ she said, putting her hands on his chest and separating them. ‘I’ll go down to the bathroom.’
    ‘Do you want me to come with you? You know, not to the bathroom,’ he said. ‘Just, I don’t know, check there’s no one else around?’
    ‘No honestly, it’s fine. It’s just hormones. I’m being stupid. A big baby. I can go downstairs, I’m fine.’ She could feel her heart beating really fast in her chest as she left the room. She wished he hadn’t hugged her. Wished she hadn’t felt so safe when he had.
    In the bathroom she leant over the sink and put her face in a handful of cold water.
    What are you doing, Holly?
    She looked up at her reflection, dark circles under tired-looking eyes.
    Don’t
.
    Just don’t let this happen
.
    She splashed cold water on her face again. Was reminded of that same look in her father’s eyes when her mum would appear back. It was hope.
    It will end in heartbreak and it sure as hell won’t be his
.
    She made herself think of him in the pictures in the magazines, the beautiful girls he always had in tow, the pithy one-liners, the flirting with everyone.
    Just think of the baby
.
    Two parents who are friends. That’s what it needs. It doesn’t need a failed attempt at a relationship and parents who can hardly talk to each other
.
    Friends
.
    Stick with friends
.
    Holly came back into the room, teeth brushed, PJs on. Wilf was sitting on the edge of the bed skimming through the channels of the mini-TV hanging in the corner of the room. ‘So are you going to be OK sleeping on the floor?’ she said.
    He opened his mouth to say something but then didn’t, narrowing his eyes instead and trying to read what was going on, whether or not she was serious.
    She put her folded clothes down next to her bag and climbed into the rock-hard bed, trying to ignore the fact the sheets smelt of cigarettes. ‘I’ll see you in the morning,’ she said without looking at him.

Chapter Ten
    From: [email protected]
    To: [email protected]
    I think it’s sweet that he bought the baby a Mickey Mouse. I know you, you’ll look for fault. Don’t.
    So I’ve Googled the house in France. It looks AMAZING. You’ll have to tell me why they need so many rooms. It’s on the edge of the most beautiful lake. I’m jealous already. You’ll be able to go walking and swimming and sunbathing and just completely relax. Turn your brain off! RELAX! (My mum says that her Mindfulness app [I know, who’d have thought my mum would have an app let alone one about Mindfulness] says that you should try and sit by the roadside and watch all your worries and stresses go past, rather than try and stop thinking about them. I thought this would be good for you. I’ve tried it and it doesn’t work for me with a roadside, I’ve put them all on skis and they zoom past me down a mountain! You could try putting them on the river? Just a thought).
    News from Cherry Pie:
    I told Martha yesterday about the letter I found in Enid’s stack of postcards. I figured I had to tell her, it wasn’t really my right to keep a mother’s secret from her daughter. I picked my moment quite well, I think. We were making cherry pie in the back kitchen, it was mellow;
The Archers
had just finished and Martha’s always in a good mood at the end of
The Archers
. I told her how I’d found the letter and I told her that it must have been her mum’s. I told her that I’d Googled the guy’s name and he’s listed as having died shortly after the government letter saying he’d been injured was sent.
    She went really quiet. You know Martha, not one for quietness. I got quite nervous and had to bring Ludo in. He’s surprisingly good with emotional stuff. He put his arms around Martha and gave her a big hug then we all went outside and sat on the wall. Ludo had a cigarette and me and Martha had Diet Coke and a Magnum.
    Because of the cherry blossom it looked like it had snowed. Which IMO