Liverpool Love Song Read Online Free PDF

‘Furniture and china.’
    Chloe said nothing. Helen pointed out the mantel clock to him.
    ‘I agree, you might get more if you put your clocks in an auction,’ he said, and went on to give her the name of their nearest auction room and explain how to go about it. All the time his eyes followed every movement Chloe made. She was beginning to think he was flirting with her.
    ‘It’s closed now, of course,’ he said. ‘But it’ll be open tomorrow morning until twelve.’ Tomorrow was Saturday. ‘I could take you there.’ He flashed another wide smile at Chloe. ‘Both of you,’ he added hurriedly, ‘and you could arrange for them to be entered in a sale. How about that?’
    Chloe was watching her mother’s face. She was keen to sell her clocks and get that summerhouse. ‘Thank you, that’s very kind,’ she told him.
    ‘I’ll be here at ten o’clock, then.’
    Her mother was voicing her misgivings as soon as the front door closed behind him. ‘What did you have to do that for? It’ll take longer to put it in an auction, and we might get even less that way. There’ll be commission to pay and we’ll have to get a carrier to take the grandfather clock in.’
    ‘He was trying to cheat you.’
    ‘No, I don’t think so. He’s a polite and charming young man.’
    ‘Perhaps that’s the impression he was trying to give.’
    ‘Chloe! He’s going out of his way to take us to this auction room. There’s nothing in it for him, is there? He’s being very kind.’
    She told her mother about the guide prices she’d seen in the library.
    ‘But what good is a clock that won’t work? I can’t get this one to go.’
    Chloe was not convinced until the next day, when Adam turned up on time and did much more than take them to the auction rooms.
    ‘I want to put this mantel clock in the sale too,’ Helen said, tucking it under her arm. He helped her fill in the paperwork to enter the clocks in a sale, then offered to ferry the grandfather clock in for her.
    He drove them home and expertly removed and dismantled the hood and the working parts of the long-case clock. He produced grey blankets and wrapped the pieces up. ‘I’m used to doing this sort of thing,’ he said, smiling at Helen now. She was clearly impressed by him.
    Chloe helped him carry the pieces out and he laid them flat in the back of his large estate car. On their return to the auction room, he helped her mother book the clock in and then reassembled it where the staff said they wanted it to stand.
    The auction room was open and the goods destined for the next sale were on show to the public. Adam took them round, pointing out the interesting pieces and chatting about them. Chloe was fascinated, and she could see her mother was too. He certainly knew a lot about antiques. But it wasn’t just that. His eyes kept trying to meet hers and were full of admiration. Her mother was right, he was charming. Chloe was enchanted.
    It was well after midday when they left. Adam paused as they were about to pass the doorway of the pub next door. ‘Are you hungry?’ he asked, including them both. ‘How about a bite to eat in here?’
    ‘It’s very kind of you, but no thanks,’ her mother told him briskly. ‘Chloe and I have things we must do this afternoon.’
    By then, Chloe knew he was attracted to her, he was making that fairly obvious. It wasn’t that he was giving her all his attention, because he was being careful not to let her mother feel neglected, but she noticed that he turned to listen with extra care to everything she had to say.
    She made up her mind. ‘I have nothing to do that can’t wait,’ she said, ‘I’d love to have a bite to eat with Adam.’
    Her mother straightened up, stiffly rigid.
    Adam perked up and asked with suitable diffidence, ‘Would you mind if Chloe and I . . . ?’
    Chloe could see she’d shocked her mother. Helen was looking from her to Adam with indecision stamped on her face. She wanted to refuse to let them