The Price of Love Read Online Free Page B

before he can go back into the workshop.’
    ‘Is he upset about it interfering with his apprenticeship?’ Percy asked worriedly. ‘I feel it is my fault.’
    ‘I don’t think that he looks at it like that at all,’ Lucy assured him. ‘He is keen to complete his apprenticeship, of course, but a couple of weeks shouldn’t make that much difference.’
    ‘I don’t know,’ Percy admitted gloomily. He bit down on his lower lip as if there was something else he wanted to say and didn’t quite know how to put it into words. Finally, avoiding Lucy’s eyes, he gulped, ‘Do you think your Sam would like a driving job?’
    ‘You mean instead of becoming a qualified mechanic?’
    ‘Well, in the long run it might be a better job for him. If his hands are as bad as both you and my dad say they are, then perhaps he shouldn’t do manual work.’
    Lucy shook her head. ‘I really don’t know. It’s probably never entered his head. He hasn’t got much longer to go before he finishes his apprenticeship.’
    ‘Dad thinks he might get rashes or something from all the oil and grease and if that happened then he would probably have to stop working as a mechanic anyway. Can he drive a motor car?’
    Lucy shook her head. ‘Not as far as I know. I suppose one day he will want to learn to drive, but at the moment he is happy enough dealing with the mechanical side of motor cars.’
    ‘Being able to drive as well as knowing what goes on under the bonnet might be to his advantage,’ Percy persisted, staring shortsightedly at Lucy.
    ‘I expect you’re right, but I really don’t know. Is this why you wanted me to come and see you?’ Lucy asked in relief.
    ‘Yes.’ Percy nodded. ‘We wondered if you would know what Sam would say if it was suggested to him that he became one of our drivers.’
    ‘So is it your dad’s idea?’ Lucy asked.
    ‘We’ve talked about it. I’ve been worrying about Sam while I’ve been lying here. I feel it is my fault he’s been hurt and I know that if it hadn’t been for him, then probably I would have burned to death. I want to do something to make it up to him and to help in some way. I thought changing to a driving job would be the perfect answer and Dad agreed that he would arrange it.’
    ‘Perhaps you should have asked Sam to come and see you, not me,’ Lucy prevaricated. ‘I don’t know how he would feel about it.’
    ‘You do think it would be a good idea, though?’
    ‘In some ways, yes,’ she agreed hesitantly. ‘It depends on how Sam feels about it, though, doesn’t it?’
    ‘Would you ask him, Lucy, and let me know?’
    ‘You want me to ask him?’ Lucy exclaimed in a startled voice. ‘I don’t know about that. I think it might be better if the suggestion came from you or your dad.’
    ‘No.’ Percy shook his head. ‘You ask him, and then if he doesn’t like the idea, we need say nothing more about it. If Dad asks him, he might think he has to agree because the boss has suggested it.’
    ‘If I ask him, he might tell me to mind my own business and he mightn’t like the idea that we’ve all been talking about him behind his back.’
    ‘What about if you mention the idea to Robert first and see what he thinks? Sam and Robert are good mates so perhaps Robert could talk to him.’
    Lucy was saved from answering by the bell signalling the end of visiting time.
    ‘You will do something and let me know? Promise me,’ Percy pleaded as Lucy said goodbye and made to leave.
    ‘I’ll think it over,’ she promised.
    ‘Talk to Robert about it,’ Percy called after her as she moved away from his bed.
    Lucy thought about Percy’s suggestion all the way home but she couldn’t decide what to do for the best. When she met Robert later that evening she was so preoccupied that he wanted to know what was wrong. When she tried to dismiss it with a smile, claiming that she felt tired, he wasn’t satisfied.
    ‘Has it got something to do with you going to see Percy in