Fragrance of Violets Read Online Free PDF Page A

shared by the lake,” Jack said.
    “Do what?”
    “Run your tongue along your lip to catch the froth.”
    “Did I?” There was no way she wanted any more reminiscences. “Thanks for the drink, but I need to help Mike wash the glasses now.”
    “You can’t.”
    “Why not?”
    He pointed to where Mike was washing glasses. “There’s only one machine so unless you’re going to shove Mike out of the way—”
    She gave a short laugh. “Oh, I’m fairly adept at shoving people out of my way when necessary.”
    Jack kept his gaze on her as he took another mouthful of beer. “May I ask you something?”
    “What?” She tried to keep her voice casual, but knew the word came out too curtly. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to sound so offhand.”
    “I wouldn’t blame you for being offhand with me, Abbey.”
    As his blue eyes rested on her, her skin became hot and tingly. She averted her gaze from his, and made her tone more conciliatory. “What did you want to ask?”
    “Why are you here in Rusthwaite? You’re dealing with the shop stock, you’re helping here in the bar, and tonight I overheard someone talking about a drama club you run in the village. I thought you lived in London now.”
    “Yes, I do. I have an apartment there, but I’ve been back here for about three months. I needed a break.”
    “So you haven’t abandoned your career?”
    “That’s what you expected me to do, isn’t it?” His hurtful words echoed in her mind, and her anger flared. “When you told me I’d end up working in seedy bars or restaurants while I went to hundreds of auditions with hundreds of other hopefuls.”
    “I only asked because I was concerned you might have decided to give up acting. However, since you’ve brought up something I said a long time ago, I think I was trying to protect you.”
    “From what?”
    “From disappointment, from building up your hopes only to have them knocked down again. Your head was full of crazy dreams. At least, that was what I thought at the time. I only knew the odds. Eighty percent or more of Equity registered actors out of work at any given time.”
    “I was well aware of the statistics, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t dream.” She took another sip of her beer and gave him a challenging glare. “You thought no one should follow their dreams in case they ended up being disappointed at not achieving them.”
    “That wasn’t what I thought. I was being realistic.”
    “But if all aspiring actors thought about all the out of work actors and listened to the so-called realists who keep telling them to find a proper job, the drama schools would be empty.”
    “No, they wouldn’t. They’d be full of—correction, they are full of people like Abigail Seton who don’t listen to the realists but listen to their hearts.”
    “Are you saying that’s wrong?”
    “On the contrary. I followed a dream, too, if you remember.”
    “Yes, and we all know what that led to,” she snapped, and bit her lower lip. “I’m sorry, that was below the belt.” She took a deep breath before deciding to tackle at least one of the issues that stood between them. “But you did cause a huge problem here. People had to work hard for years to raise the funds to restore the gatehouse.”
    “I’m aware of that, and I know some people won’t forgive me.”
    “Why did you do it? Didn’t you realise the problems it would create? Or didn’t you care? Were you only interested in making a name for yourself by writing something controversial?”
    Jack’s blue eyes glinted, and she thought he was about to retaliate with a force that matched her own.
    Instead, he relaxed his facial muscles and spoke evenly. “You probably won’t believe me, but at the time I did think the Lake District needed to pour more money into tourism. If you recall, I also argued that we should create more parking areas. People howled in protest, both here and in other places, but you have to admit the big car park on the outskirts