Rumor Has It Read Online Free Page B

doing, really. We kept it vague, because—'
        'We kept it vague,' Max interjected, 'because if we advertised for someone to look after a bad-tempered old git and a whiny teenager, everyone would run a mile.'
        'Just keep on ignoring him.' Louisa's eyes sparkled as she snapped the ring on a can of Pepsi Max. 'So. Does that sound like the kind of thing you might like to do?'
        Tilly shrugged. 'That rather depends on your dad's business. If he's the town rat-catcher I'm not going to be so keen on helping him out.'
        'How about grave digging?' said Max.
        'Dad, will you leave this to me? He's not a grave digger,' said Louisa, 'he has an interior design company. It's good fun. He's very in demand.' She nodded proudly. 'So that's it. That's what you'd be doing. Now it's your turn to tell us about you.'
        Tilly hid a smile, because Louisa was so earnest and sparky and bossy and young, and she, Tilly, was being interviewed by a thirteen year-old freckly redhead wearing huge hooped earrings, a lime-green sweater-dress, and multicolored stripy tights. She'd also been wrong about the ex-wife being responsible for the way the house looked.
        Plus no rats, which had to be a bonus.
        'OK, the truth? I live in London, my job's pretty boring, and my boyfriend's just done a bunk. Which doesn't upset me, but it means I can't afford to stay on in the flat we shared, which does . Then I came down here for the weekend to stay with my friend Erin, and—'
        'Erin? Who runs Erin's Beautiful Clothes?' Perkily, Louisa said, 'I know her. I used to go in the shop with Mum, and Erin would give me jelly sweets shaped like strawberries. She's cool!'
        'I know she's cool. And she'll be thrilled to hear you think so too,' said Tilly. 'We've been best friends since university. Anyway, I saw your advert in the paper and tried to ring you yesterday but your answering machine was full. Then this afternoon my train was delayed, and on the off chance, I thought I'd give it another go. Erin says this is a really nice place to live. She'd love it if I moved down here. So here I am.'
        'Can you cook?' said Max.
        'Ish. I'm not Nigella.'
        'Don't look so worried; we're not after Nigella.' Max pulled a face. 'All that sticking her finger in her mouth and groaning in ecstasy—put me right off my dinner, that would.'
        Phew, relief. 'I'm the queen of the bacon sandwich.'
        'That's grand. Food of the gods. Criminal record?'
        Shocked, Tilly yelped, 'No!'
        'Ever nicked anything from any previous employers?'
        'Paperclips.' She concentrated on remembering; honesty was im portant. 'Envelopes. Pens. Cheap ones,' Tilly added, in case he thought she was talking Mont Blancs. 'Oh, and a loo roll once. But only because we'd run out at home, and I didn't have time to stop off at the shop. And that was embarrassing, because I was smuggling it out of the build ing under my coat and the doorman asked me if I was pregnant.'
        Max nodded gravely. 'I hate it when that happens to me. Clean driving record?'
        'Absolutely.' This time Tilly was able to reply with confidence, chiefly because she didn't own a car and only occasionally borrowed her parents' Ford Focus—and after being owned and driven by them since the day it had come out of the showroom, it had never even learned how to travel faster than thirty miles an hour.
        'Like yellow?'
        'Excuse me?'
        'Do you like yellow? That's the color of the room you'd be sleep ing in if you came to live here.'
        'Depends on what kind of yellow. Not so keen on mustard.'
    Max laughed. 'Now she's getting picky.'
    'You two. Honestly.' Louisa shook her head.
        They went upstairs and Max showed Tilly the room, which was fabulously decorated in shades of pale gold with accents of silver and white. The view from the elongated sash windows was breathtaking, even if the hills