Read Online Uphill All the Way by Sue Moorcroft - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Sue Moorcroft
Tags: Romance, Literature & Fiction, Contemporary, Contemporary Fiction, Contemporary Women, Women's Fiction
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prettiest girls. Giorgio thought that every man deserved an attractive woman. It was the natural way of things. Judith could see his grin as he said it, feel the feather-light touches of his fingers skimming her spine, the tenderness as he called her gojjella tieghi . My jewel.
Kieran was going to be distressed about Giorgio.
Stroking his hands, she told him, quietly, simply, because she knew he was going to be hurt, and no amount of wrapping up of the truth would prevent that.
His light brown eyes widened with pain. 'It happened two months ago? And you've only just told me?'
'It was hard to cope - '
Kieran swore, snatching back his hands to slap the bench with the flats of them. 'And of course you had to cope all by yourself? That's what you've always got to do, isn't it? Keep it all in? Give up on him and come back to England, without even letting me know what happened. You weren't the only one to care about him! I deserved to be told, if I wasn't going to see him again !'
And then his shoulders began to shake, and Judith shared the last of her tissues with her son.
It was two hours before Kieran left to find Bethan.
Judith, exhausted by his anger and pain, trudged to the taxi rank and took a cab to visit her mother, in a care home on a tree-lined road out of town that looked as if it meant to go somewhere important, but had actually been superseded by the dual carriageway. Wilma had sold her own bungalow a year ago, when Molly helped her identify the tall, airy rooms of The Cottage retirement home as somewhere she thought she might be happy. And she would have twenty-four hour care.
It seemed early for lunch, when she arrived, yet it was obviously in full swing. She supposed meal times could be lengthy.
She opted to hang around in the no man's land inside the tall front doors while her mother enjoyed her meal in peace, deciding from the combination of smells that the residents were enjoying shepherd's pie, probably followed by apple crumble and custard. A few pages of an old copy of The People's Friend later, a cheerful carer whose tight uniform rode up in horizontal pleats above all the widest parts of her, popped her head around the corner. Her name badge, high up, near her shoulder, said Sandy. 'She's ready, lovie, if you are. Shall I just tell her who it is?'
'I'd rather be a surprise.' Judith followed the burly back up the wide corridor, past a room on her left where some residents were still eating, and into a sunny, pale green lounge with an aquarium and a television.
'As long as we don't get her too much all of a doo-dah, lovie, that's all I need to be sure of.'
Obstinately, Judith ignored the note of warning in Sandy's voice. She wanted to see her mother's face shine with astonishment and delight at seeing her so unexpectedly.
From the doorway, Judith saw Wilma sitting in a high-backed chair, peering into her handbag.
Her hair looked so white and freshly washed in the sunlight, her face as soft and gently defined as bread dough, that Judith had to swallow before she spoke. 'Hello, Mum! It's lovely to see you.' She felt a beaming smile take hold of her face, even though her eyes burned hot.
Wilma jumped violently, and tipped her handbag upside down onto the floor. ' Judith ?' Her hand flew shakily to her chest, and her chin dropped. 'Oh, Judith! Oh, darling. What on earth...?'
With a noise that might have been a gasp, a laugh or a sob, Wilma grabbed for Judith's hands, pulling on them until Judith pulled back to get her to her feet. Trembling with the effort of standing without a frame or stick, Wilma slid her stiff arms around her daughter, and leant heavily, breathing in uneven little gusts.
'Judith, oh, my girl! Come here... let me just look at you! My duck, when did you get here? Oh, what a fright! But how lovely... how lovely, how lovely... I can't believe I'm so lucky! I just can't, oh, I've gone as shaky as a lamb! Oh, I'd better sit down. Oh!'
Taking some of the weight, Judith helped
Kieran was going to be distressed about Giorgio.
Stroking his hands, she told him, quietly, simply, because she knew he was going to be hurt, and no amount of wrapping up of the truth would prevent that.
His light brown eyes widened with pain. 'It happened two months ago? And you've only just told me?'
'It was hard to cope - '
Kieran swore, snatching back his hands to slap the bench with the flats of them. 'And of course you had to cope all by yourself? That's what you've always got to do, isn't it? Keep it all in? Give up on him and come back to England, without even letting me know what happened. You weren't the only one to care about him! I deserved to be told, if I wasn't going to see him again !'
And then his shoulders began to shake, and Judith shared the last of her tissues with her son.
It was two hours before Kieran left to find Bethan.
Judith, exhausted by his anger and pain, trudged to the taxi rank and took a cab to visit her mother, in a care home on a tree-lined road out of town that looked as if it meant to go somewhere important, but had actually been superseded by the dual carriageway. Wilma had sold her own bungalow a year ago, when Molly helped her identify the tall, airy rooms of The Cottage retirement home as somewhere she thought she might be happy. And she would have twenty-four hour care.
It seemed early for lunch, when she arrived, yet it was obviously in full swing. She supposed meal times could be lengthy.
She opted to hang around in the no man's land inside the tall front doors while her mother enjoyed her meal in peace, deciding from the combination of smells that the residents were enjoying shepherd's pie, probably followed by apple crumble and custard. A few pages of an old copy of The People's Friend later, a cheerful carer whose tight uniform rode up in horizontal pleats above all the widest parts of her, popped her head around the corner. Her name badge, high up, near her shoulder, said Sandy. 'She's ready, lovie, if you are. Shall I just tell her who it is?'
'I'd rather be a surprise.' Judith followed the burly back up the wide corridor, past a room on her left where some residents were still eating, and into a sunny, pale green lounge with an aquarium and a television.
'As long as we don't get her too much all of a doo-dah, lovie, that's all I need to be sure of.'
Obstinately, Judith ignored the note of warning in Sandy's voice. She wanted to see her mother's face shine with astonishment and delight at seeing her so unexpectedly.
From the doorway, Judith saw Wilma sitting in a high-backed chair, peering into her handbag.
Her hair looked so white and freshly washed in the sunlight, her face as soft and gently defined as bread dough, that Judith had to swallow before she spoke. 'Hello, Mum! It's lovely to see you.' She felt a beaming smile take hold of her face, even though her eyes burned hot.
Wilma jumped violently, and tipped her handbag upside down onto the floor. ' Judith ?' Her hand flew shakily to her chest, and her chin dropped. 'Oh, Judith! Oh, darling. What on earth...?'
With a noise that might have been a gasp, a laugh or a sob, Wilma grabbed for Judith's hands, pulling on them until Judith pulled back to get her to her feet. Trembling with the effort of standing without a frame or stick, Wilma slid her stiff arms around her daughter, and leant heavily, breathing in uneven little gusts.
'Judith, oh, my girl! Come here... let me just look at you! My duck, when did you get here? Oh, what a fright! But how lovely... how lovely, how lovely... I can't believe I'm so lucky! I just can't, oh, I've gone as shaky as a lamb! Oh, I'd better sit down. Oh!'
Taking some of the weight, Judith helped
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