A Mistletoe Kiss Read Online Free Page B

ironing herself sooner than risk losing customers, so she knew from personal experience what very hard work ironing starched tablecloths could be. However, at present the wonderful electric iron was out of the question, so her aunt laboured on and allHetty could do was help by delivering her work and collecting the money due.
    Now, Aunt Phoebe changed irons, but did not put the cooling one back in front of the fire, so Hetty deduced that her aunt had almost finished her day’s work and would presently pack the laundry up into two or three bundles and suggest that her niece should deliver them before the restaurants and cafés closed. Hetty, anxious to please, went over to the sink and filled the kettle, then put it over the fire. ‘You look as though you could do with a cuppa, Auntie,’ she said cheerfully. ‘When you’ve finished I’ll deliver the stuff for you, and if there’s any messages I’ll do them then. Or did Bill and Tom do everything this morning?’
    Aunt Phoebe stood back from the ironing board for a moment, then wiped the back of her hand across her forehead. ‘Oh aye, the boys did their share,’ she said tiredly. ‘There’s no more messages, but I don’t deny I’d be glad of that cuppa, and it’ud be a help if you’d deliver me work.’
    Aunt Phoebe was a plump and pretty woman, usually cheerful and chatty, but right now her niece could see that she was too tired to do anything more than fold the last tablecloth, stand the second iron back in the hearth and slump into a chair. Hetty bustled about, making the tea and handing her aunt a cup. Sadly, this was not simply from a wish to ease the older woman’s burden, but because Hetty wanted to tell her all about the librarian, and the fact that she was to be allowed to use the Reading Room to studythe books she needed, and realised that her aunt was more likely to show interest with a nice cup of tea inside her. She still had the form Miss Preece had given her and meant to show it to her aunt, but had no expectation that the older woman would sign it for her. And if she were honest, she much preferred using the Reading Room.
    Hetty sorted the linen and bagged it up, carefully checking the initials to ensure that the linen went to the correct owners, then poured herself a cup of tea, sat down opposite her aunt and began to tell her where she had been all day, explaining that she had to have a responsible adult’s signature before she could borrow books from the Everton library.
    â€˜Oh aye?’ Aunt Phoebe said. ‘I seem to remember something o’ the sort were the rule in my young day. Of course, I never joined the library meself, but Sukey, your mam, was a great one for books. She and her pals were forever in and out, borrowin’ books on all sorts. She had to get special permission, mind,’cos she couldn’t always get what she borrowed back in time because of being aboard the Water Sprite .
    Aunt Phoebe rarely talked about Hetty’s mother, who had died ten years earlier. Now, Hetty pricked up her ears and smiled hopefully across at her aunt. ‘Oh, so my mam was like me, and enjoyed reading? Did she go to the Everton library then, or was there another one nearer the canal?’
    Aunt Phoebe, who was beginning to recover from her exhaustion, tutted. ‘Remember, queen, our pa wereyour grandpa, and thought education important. Like yourself, we lived ashore wi’ an old aunt from the time we were ten until we were old enough to earn. Well, that were me; your mam was clever – she and her pal Agatha were the brightest in the class, though they were almost two years younger than the rest of us – and they both went on to what they called further education. Your mam were all set to be a teacher, only then along came James Gilbert … and that were the end of her wantin’ to teach and the beginning of her talkin’ of nothin’ but