Love Nest Read Online Free PDF Page A

only concern. She had work to do with Bridget too. Time to focus on that.
    The door opened, letting in a blast of freezing air.
    ‘Hiiii!’ called Bridget from the threshold.
    She was wearing a rainbow-striped jumper, a blue beret with sequins on it and no make up. She had two pigtails tied with rubber bands and she had put on a bit of weight since the last time Gemma had seen her at Christmas, before another long trip to India. Weren’t you meant to lose weight there with all the curries and dysentery and stuff? ‘Stop it,’ Gemma told herself. Bridget wasn’t a dancer, she could be any weight she wanted.
    Most of the time Gemma felt a bit sorry for Bridget, but every now and then she couldn’t help being just the tiniest bit admiring of the casual way she flouted the norms. Sometimes she suspected her sister was a much braver creature than her. Alex, of course, disagreed.
    ‘She’s not brave. She’s lazy, rude and disrespectful.’
    ‘That’s harsh.’
    ‘Well, look at her, gadding off to Goa for six months whenever she fancies it, to discover herself. She treats life like a holiday.’
    ‘Why shouldn’t she?’
    ‘Because holidays have no meaning unless they’re a break from reality.’ Sometimes Gemma wondered if her husband was jealous of Bridget’s falafel-munching, festival-attending, anti-globalization-marching existence. After all, it couldn’t be more different from his own, which was like a hurdle race. Swotting to win a scholarship to Belfast’s top private school and then to get into Oxford. To qualify as a barrister, to fight to get a pupillage and then win tenancy of his chambers and now his sixty- to seventy-hour weeks working late almost every night and at weekends, to be on top of his briefs, rarely taking a holiday in case a big case came up.
    But if Bridget agreed to Gemma’s request, he’d have to change his tune. She hadn’t told him they were meeting. The plan was to surprise him with the most incredible news.
    ‘Oh, sorry!’ Bridget cried, as she trod on the foot of an elderly lady, who tutted in annoyance. Bridget steamed on, having not even noticed.
    ‘Hey!’ She pulled her sister to her bosom in a clumsy, patchouli-scented hug.
    ‘Great to see you. You look fantastic. How are you?’ Gemma suspected she was going overboard on the gushiness but she was nervous. Everything hinged on the next twenty minutes or so.
    ‘ Really good!’ Bridget cried, sitting down. ‘I’m thinking about doing a degree. I’ve been looking at all the different courses.’
    ‘Oh, wow!’ Gemma said, though more from duty than real enthusiasm. For years announcements like that had fired her up. She’d get all excited on Bridget’s behalf, helping her pursue whatever her latest dream was by investigating it on the internet, sending off for brochures, making calls on her behalf. But by the time all the information was placed in front of her Bridget had long moved on to the next fad, so Gemma had stopped bothering.
    ‘I’m thinking of doing a course in popular and world music. There’s one at Leeds. Or maybe film and television. Or women’s studies. Hi.’ Big smile to the waitress. ‘A cappuccino, please. Ooh and maybe a slab of that yummy-looking chocolate cake. Anything for you?’
    ‘I’m fine.’ Gemma waved the waitress away with a polite smile. To stave off the nagging of ‘ Why not? Are you eating enough?’ that inevitably accompanied such exchanges, she quickly added, ‘So no more travelling for now?’
    ‘Oh no, definitely some more travelling. The plan’s to earn some money – there’s a job in a sandwich shop going. Once I’ve earned enough I thought I’d go to Indonesia for some meditation. But not for a while. Say September, when the weather cools down a bit. So you’re stuck with me for the next few months.’
    ‘But what about the university course? Doesn’t term start in October?’
    Bridget waved airily. ‘I wasn’t planning on starting this year. Maybe