Unforgettable Read Online Free Page B

and no work until Monday morning. Which was just as well, considering the state ofGracie’s bruised cheeks, and the ache in Dolly’s chest where Jim had punched her.
    They couldn’t keep their discomfort away from the prying eyes of the landlady, though, and during breakfast, she snapped at the two factory girls.
    â€˜I don’t know what you two have been up to, but let me remind you that this is a respectable establishment, and if you start bringing trouble back here, you’ll be out on your ears quicker than blinking.’
    â€˜We’re not bringing trouble back, Mrs Warburton,’ Gracie said, before Dolly could answer back. ‘We were caught up in the terrible fire at the new Palais last night, though. Hasn’t anybody told you about it yet?’
    The bleary-eyed laundry worker, back from his night shift, nodded.
    â€˜The girl’s right, Mrs W. They say it burned to the ground, and after they spent all that money on it as well. They all said it was courting disaster to build it on top of an old warehouse. Gawd knows what was underneath it.’
    Mrs Warburton was clearly displeased at being the last to hear.
    â€˜It would be the Lord’s work then. I always said such places were dens of evil.’
    â€˜More likely to be the work of some moreearthly devils handy with a box of matches,’ Dolly said in a loud aside.
    The landlady looked at her coldly. ‘You should be careful about saying such thing, Miss Neath. Dirt sticks, you know.’
    â€˜Daft old trout,’ Dolly said, as the landlady went out of the dining-room. ‘It’s not as if we was smoking cigarettes, anyway.’
    Another lodger added his piece.
    â€˜You know how particular Mrs Warburton is, and if she thought you girls had taken up smoking, she’d send you packing. It’s all right for a man to smoke a pipe,’ he added, ‘but cigarette smoking is unbecoming for young girls.’
    â€˜Blimey, we didn’t expect a lecture at this time of a morning,’ Dolly said indignantly. ‘Sometimes I wonder why I even stay here.’
    â€˜It’s cheap and cheerful, that’s why,’ Gracie reminded her.
    â€˜I’m going out this afternoon,’ Dolly told Gracie, ignoring the comment. ‘You can come if you like, but there’s a nip in the air, and it’ll probably make your cheeks sting.’
    â€˜Since when did you become so considerate?’ Gracie retorted, then remembered. ‘If you’re going to meet that Jim, Dolly, you’re asking for trouble.’
    â€˜What’s it to you?’ Dolly said defiantly. ‘You never met a chap sitting around indoorsreading your old movie-star magazines. And Jim’s all right.’
    â€˜He’s a bully and he’s the type who’s likely to turn into a wife-beater.’
    Dolly scoffed. ‘Well, at least he’s a man with a bit of beef in him, not like a namby-pamby saxophone player. Jesus, Gracie, I’m sorry, but I’m sure nothing happened to him last night,’ she added as her friend’s lips trembled.
    â€˜You don’t know that it didn’t.’
    â€˜You don’t know that it did, either, so what’s the good of worrying about it? You’re probably never going to know, because he’s not going to be playing at the Palais again, is he?’
    Gracie swallowed. ‘I just don’t want you to get hurt,’ she muttered, even though her mind was still on Charlie Morrison. ‘And I can’t see anything else happening if you see Jim again.’
    â€˜If he gets fresh I’ll give you a full report tonight,’ Dolly said with a wink.
    â€˜Thanks, but I’d rather not know if it’s all the same to you!’
    By now Gracie knew it was pointless trying to make Dolly change her mind, and watched in exasperation as she took ages wondering what to wear and trying to flatten out some of the stiff waves in her blonde