A Mistletoe Kiss Read Online Free

regarded by her employers. But apart from her work she was easy-going, almost slapdash, whilst Uncle Alf was the exact opposite. He expected his wife to keep her sons in order, a task Aunt Phoebe thought unnecessary, sothat quite frequently chaos reigned at No. 7 Salisbury Street, with Uncle Alf bawling that he wanted his meals regular and was that too much to ask, Aunt Phoebe saying plaintively that she would see what she could do, and the boys grabbing any food that was going or taking money from the housekeeping purse on the mantelpiece to buy themselves two penn’orth of chips or a shop-made meat and potato pie.
    Now the librarian limped back to her counter and Hetty returned to the Reading Room and settled down with her books. She was alone in the huge room, and soon became so absorbed that Miss Preece actually had to come into the room and give her shoulder a shake to get her attention. ‘You’ve had your hour,’ she said, but to Hetty’s surprise she did not speak unkindly. ‘Time you were off; Mr Gower and I are about to clear away and close up. Give me your books, and I’ll return them to their places on the shelves.’
    â€˜It’s all right, I’ll do it,’ Hetty said at once, not wanting to be a burden to the librarian, for now that the day was drawing to a close she could see lines of pain etching themselves on Miss Preece’s face whenever she had to take a step.
    The woman, however, shook her head. ‘I’ll put them back myself all the same,’ she said. ‘Fiction is in alphabetical order according to author, but nonfiction is catalogued differently: under subject matter.’ She raised her eyebrows as Hetty stood up. ‘How’s the essay coming along?’
    This seemed like an attempt at friendship, so Hetty gave the librarian her sweetest smile and explainedthat she had just been taking notes in her head, since she had not brought her exercise book with her.
    Miss Preece began to answer, then stopped short with an exclamation of dismay. ‘My dear child, whatever have you been doing? Oh, don’t say you’ve been eating … but no, I’m sure you’ve read the signs forbidding anyone to eat or drink on the premises. Only – only your tongue is bright purple, and so is your lower lip; you look quite dreadful.’
    Hetty glanced round, then giggled. ‘You must have give me an indelible pencil to fill in that form,’ she said. ‘I reckon I always suck my pencil when I’m thinking, but don’t worry, I haven’t licked none of the books.’
    The librarian, who had been bending over her, straightened, a hand going to the small of her back even as she took the books Hetty was offering. She sighed, then gave what might have almost been a smile, though all she said was: ‘Bring your own pencil on Monday,’ before turning away and taking hold of a large trolley piled with books.
    Hetty realised that these were some of the volumes the library borrowers had returned, and hurried over to where the librarian stood. ‘You tell me where they’s to go and I’ll put’em up, then you’ll be through a whole lot quicker,’ she observed. ‘I’d like to do it, honest to God I would.’
    She expected to be turned down and was genuinely delighted when Miss Preece handed her a book and told her that it had come off the top shelf and should be placed amongst other works by the same author.Very soon they were working in harmony, and when Mr Gower came down the stairs he said ‘Good night’ to Miss Preece in a very formal manner, but raised his eyebrows at the sight of Hetty replacing the books on the shelves.
    Miss Preece answered his unasked question. ‘We had a great many readers bringing their books back today, Mr Gower; if it hadn’t been for my little helper, I’d not have been able to close at four,’ she explained.
    Mr Gower nodded. ‘Very well,