Page 42 of Finding Love at Roseford Blooms
‘Get on with you,’ Bee replied. ‘I’ll see you later.’
Lizzie nodded, squared her shoulders, and headed up the hill to Bee’s cottage.
From the moment she opened the front door, she knew hurrying had been a mistake. The five-minute walk from Roseford Blooms to the cottage had in no way prepared her to face the rest of her family. She’d barely spoken to them since saying goodbye to her mother at the flat after she’d been discharged from the hospital, apart from the odd call to let them know where she was, and now all three of them were seated in Bee’s cosy living room, like some kind of middle-class inquisitorial squad.
‘Elizabeth.’ John Warner spoke first. He rose from the armchair he’d settled in to wait, and walked towards her. Stiffly, he leaned forward and gave her a kiss before her mother did the same. ‘How are you?’
‘I’m fine, Dad.’ Missing a beat, as always, she added, ‘And you?’
‘Fine.’
John sat down again, and gestured to the empty seat on the sofa, next to Georgina. Lizzie, nettled by being given directions in the place she was currently calling home, acquiesced nonetheless. As she sat, Georgina gave her a brief grin. ‘Hey, sis.’
‘Hey, George,’ she replied. ‘It’s, er, good to see you.’
Georgina shot her an ironic smile as Lizzie echoed the same words. Lizzie knew that her sister knewexactlyhow good it was, and the answer was not good. Not good at all.
‘I see you’ve got rid of the sling,’ her mother observed. ‘You must be on the mend.’
‘It still hurts a bit if I overdo it,’ Lizzie replied. ‘But it’s a lot better than it was.’
‘Glad to hear it.’
There was another uncomfortable pause before her father spoke.
‘So, what are your plans, now that you’re feeling better? You can’t hide down here forever, you know.’
Lizzie sighed inwardly. She might have known her father would cut to the chase. Ever a practical man, he’d have been working on a solution to her ‘problems’ pretty much since she’d sold her half of the business.
‘I don’t really know, Dad,’ she replied. ‘Since the car accident, I’ve had a lot of time to think, but I don’t just want to jump into something else.’
‘That’s all well and good, but you can’t trade on Bee’s hospitality forever, either. You might as well come back with your mother and me for a week or so, give Bee a break.’
‘I’m not a kid, Dad!’ Lizzie’s temper flared. ‘I’ve been helping Bee since I’ve been here. She doesn’t need to look after me.’
‘That’s as may be, but you can’t expect to keep living here rent free. You’d be taking advantage.’
That hurt. She hadn’t offered Bee any rent since she’d arrived, but Bee hadn’t asked. Lizzie felt a sliver of doubt creeping through her brain. Perhaps she shouldn’t have stayed here so long? But surely if Bee had wanted her to leave, she’d have said something?
‘It’s not as if you’ve been keeping in touch with us,’ her mother interjected. ‘A few calls when you left hospital isn’t good enough, Lizzie.’
‘I’m sorry.’ At her mother’s tone, Lizzie hung her head. ‘I didn’t want to worry you. And I had some things to figure out.’
‘Well, you don’t need to worry about that now,’ John said briskly. ‘You’re coming back with us this evening, and I’ve got you an interview with Howard Harper’s PR company on Monday. He owes me a favour. He’s agreed to interview you for a post, starting immediately.’
‘What?’ The word was out of Lizzie’s mouth before she could stop it. ‘No! I don’t want to go back with you. And I certainly don’t want to go and work for Howard. That’s where I started when I graduated. It’d be a retrograde step.’
‘Well, what other choices are there?’ John snapped. ‘You’ve sold your business and the money from that won’t last forever. You’ve got to get back to work sooner or later. Might as well be sooner.’
Lizzie drew a deep breath. ‘If and when I do decide to go back to work, Dad, that’s my decision. Not yours. And I certainly won’t be going to work for Howard.’
‘Georgina, can’t you try to talk some sense into your sister?’ John turned to Lizzie’s sister, who was pointedly examining her nails in the face of such a heated conversation.
‘What do you want me to say, Dad?’ she asked. ‘I told you she wouldn’t listen. That it would be a waste of time coming here. She’ll do her own thing, as always.’
Lizzie rounded on her sister. ‘Are you serious?’ Her voice rose as she saw the insouciant expression on Georgina’s face. ‘I’ve always done everything I was bloody supposed to! Kept my head down, done as I was told, and where has it got me? You want to talk about doing what you want, then why don’t we talk about you?’
‘This isn’t about me,’ Georgina said quickly.
