.

you could come to us,’ Phyllis said.

      ‘No offence, love, but it’d be a bit of a squash.’

      ‘None taken, and anyway, you’re right,’ Phyllis agreed.

      ‘So you’ll come here?’ Rose urged.

      ‘Yes, we’d love to.’

      ‘Smashing, but maybe you should run it past Stan and Amy first.’

      ‘Stan gets on really well with Samuel and I know he’ll agree, and as I doubt Celia Frost will invite Amy to spend Christmas with her, I should think she’ll be happy to come here too.’

      ‘That’s settled then,’ Rose said as they carried on cleaning. She broke off occasionally to spend a little time with Samuel, and then at twelve thirty they all shared lunch together, something else her cousin had insisted on from the day that Phyllis started working for her.

      Samuel picked up the second half of his sandwich, but before biting into it he said, ‘Phyllis, my agent has told me that the work on your house and the others is near completion.’

      ‘Thank you, Samuel. It’ll be lovely for us not to have leaky roofs.’

      ‘Yes, well, though it’s costing me a lot of money, Rose pointed out that I’ve been a bit remiss in keeping my properties in good repair.’

      When Rose winked at her, Phyllis hid a smile. They’d been complaining for years without result, but Rose had worked wonders in such a short time. Samuel may have been a skinflint in the past, but it seemed he was putty in Rose’s hands.

      Rose now said, ‘Samuel, it makes sound business sense. If you don’t maintain your properties, they’ll end up only fit for demolition.’

      ‘Yes, yes, but it’ll take a long time to recoup the cost of the work in rent payments.’

      Phyllis was hardly listening as she felt a surge of excitement at something else that Rose had achieved. Once the repairs were done and the house decorated, she’d pass on the news, but for now she was keeping it a secret – a lovely one that she’d enjoy revealing.

      It was Amy’s half day. It had been raining when she left for work that morning, forcing her to get a bus to work, and it was still teeming down now. She swiftly put up her umbrella as she left the shop, deciding that bad weather or not, she had to buy her Christmas presents, and then nearly bumped headlong into Miss Winters.

      ‘Isn’t this rain awful?’ the woman said. ‘I think it’s going to ease off soon, but in the meantime why don’t you join me for a cup of coffee?’

      Amy would rather get on with her shopping, but seeing the appeal in Miss Winters’ eyes she agreed and they dashed into Arding &Hobbs, hurriedly folding their umbrellas. The Christmas decorations looked lovely, festive and cheerful, but they hardly paused as they made their way up the elevator to the tea room.

      Once seated, with Miss Winters insisting on buying them both a cake to have with their drinks, she said, ‘How are you, Amy?’

      ‘I’m fine, thank you.’

      ‘How is your young man?’

      ‘His business is doing really well and … and we’re getting married next year.’

      ‘Oh, that’s wonderful, Amy. Have you set the date?’

      ‘Yes, the second Saturday in April.’

      ‘A spring wedding, how lovely. What church are you getting married in?’

      ‘It won’t be a church wedding. We’re getting married in the registry office,’ Amy said, thinking that on the odd occasions when she saw her, Miss Winters showed a keen interest in her life, almost as if she didn’t have one of her own to talk about. She had always thought her lonely, and felt sorry for her former manageress. Impulsively, she asked, ‘Are you spending Christmas with anyone?’

      ‘Err … yes … a friend.’

      Amy hoped this was true, that Miss Winters wasn’t going to be alone for the festive season. They continued to chat for a while, but then Amy said, ‘I’m sorry, I’ve got to go now. I want to buy some presents.’

      ‘Yes, me too, but I think I’ll finish off this pot of tea first,’ Miss Winters said. ‘It was lovely to see you again, my dear, and maybe we’ll bump into each other again soon.’

      Amy said goodbye, feeling sorry again for her former boss as she left the table and took the elevator again to the ground floor. However, with a limited amount of money, her mind was soon elsewhere as she searched the store for presents.

      Mabel was on the look-out for Phyllis and finally saw her arriving home. She waited five minutes and then popped next door, huffing as she said, ‘I suppose you’re going to tell me that you’re too busy for a chat again.’

      ‘Now look, I only said that once and it was on Monday. I didn’t get home until after two thirty and I still had my laundry to do.’

      ‘I’m not surprised. You seem to spend all your time with Rose.’

      ‘Mabel, I work for her.’

      ‘It’s more than that. The pair of you are as thick as thieves now.’

      ‘I admit we’ve grown close, become friends, and Rose has been good to me.’

      ‘Yeah, but she’s buying your affection.’

      ‘That isn’t true,’ Phyllis protested. ‘I don’t know what’s come over you lately, Mabel, but it seems to me you’re jealous. Rose has only given me things that she was going to chuck out, and that’s hardly buying my affection.’

      Mabel slumped onto a chair. ‘All right, I’ll admit it, I am jealous, but it’s not about the stuff Rose has given you. It’s just that since you got back in with her I feel like I’ve lost my best mate.’

      ‘Don’t be silly, of course you haven’t,’ Phyllis protested.

      ‘You’ve just said you and Rose are close now, friends as well as cousins, so that leaves me out.’

      ‘No it doesn’t and I don’t know where you got that daft idea from.’

      ‘It isn’t daft. Rose has taken you away from me.’

      ‘She’s done no such thing!’ Phyllis snapped. ‘I haven’t dropped you, nor do I intend to, but it sounds like you think I can only have one friend.’

      ‘I don’t think that,’ Mabel said, backtracking. She was making herself sound childish and realised that now. ‘It’s just that you’re the only friend I’ve got.’

      ‘No I’m not. You’re friends with Edna, and that woman who lives in number twelve. Then there’s …’

      Mabel broke in, ‘None of them have spoken to me since that business with Frank Cole.’

      ‘Maybe you should make the first move, talk to them. I should think you’ll find that it’s all water under the bridge now.’

      ‘Yeah, maybe I will,’ Mabel said, thinking that it might be nice to get chatting to Edna and the others again. She could open the conversation by hinting that she knew a lot about Rose and Samuel Jacobs, which was sure to pique their interest.

      Since Frank Cole had left, Mabel’s appetite for gossip had returned, and it would be nice to find out what was going on locally. Her decision made, she decided to make a start on her overtures in the morning.

       Chapter Twenty-Seven

      Celia saw Amy carrying bags of shopping as she hurried past her window, and her lips tightened. She managed to put on a front when Amy came to the house now,