Swansea Summer Read Online Free PDF Page B

have only just gone.’
    ‘Last-minute check around?’
    ‘No. Last-minute gloat.’ Impulsively she kissed his cheek. ‘You’ve done us proud.’
    ‘You and Jack did all the hard work.’
    ‘Only after the builders moved out. We could never have afforded to rent a place like this without your help. Would you like some tea?’
    ‘Not on top of beer, love, but thanks for asking. You’ll make Jack a thoughtful wife.’
    ‘There’s sandwiches in the fridge.’
    ‘Now you’re talking.’
    Switching off the last light, she locked the door and followed her father up the stairs and into the kitchen. It was immaculate. Ever the practical one, Lily had insisted on washing the plates and glasses, and packing the leftover food into greaseproof paper before stowing it in the fridge.
    ‘Cheese or ham sandwiches, or pasties and sausage rolls.’
    ‘Ham sandwiches please, love.’
    Helen laid the sandwiches on a plate, found the mustard, set out a place setting and retreated to the window seat that overlooked the back gardens. A sliver of new moon shone down from a clear starlit sky. ‘Marry on a new and waxing moon, never a waning one.’ Where had she heard that? It sounded like something Lily’s Auntie Norah would have said. It would have been awful if she’d remembered that and seen an old moon. Drawing her knees to her chin, she curled herself into a ball.
    ‘No second thoughts?’ John asked.
    ‘None.’ She smiled.
    ‘If you’re marrying Jack just because of the baby …’
    ‘The baby’s a bonus, Dad, or should I say Granddad.’
    ‘Now that is going to take some getting used to.’
    ‘I am unbelievably lucky and I know it. I have Jack and the baby, and you for a father. Unlike poor Judy; she was saying tonight how much she misses Swansea and hates London.’
    ‘She hasn’t been there long.’ John sat at the table and helped himself to a couple of sandwiches.
    ‘Long enough to be miserable.’
    ‘You can’t make the whole world happy, love, so why don’t you just settle for Jack and, speaking of which, as you’re getting married tomorrow, isn’t it high time you were in bed?’
    ‘I’m too excited to sleep.’
    ‘Tomorrow will be here soon enough.’
    ‘It can’t come soon enough for me.’ Leaving the seat, she picked up the sandwiches he hadn’t eaten.
    ‘I’ll clear up, love.’
    ‘You sure, Dad?’
    ‘I’m sure.’ He watched her as she went to the door. ‘Going for another last look round downstairs?’
    ‘I just want to make sure everything’s tidy for when we come back,’ she smiled self-consciously.
    ‘Adam’s heavier than he looks,’ Brian grumbled, as he and Sam manoeuvred his comatose body down the outside basement steps.
    ‘If I do any permanent damage to myself, I’ll know who to blame,’ Sam gasped, as Jack unlocked the front door.
    ‘Complaints, nothing but complaints.’ Jack switched on the light. Walking through the kitchen to the passage, he opened the connecting door to the upstairs.
    ‘Where you off to, Jack?’ Martin asked suspiciously, as Brian dumped Adam in an easy chair and rubbed his aching arms.
    ‘To borrow a couple of things from Katie.’
    ‘At this time of night?’
    ‘She won’t be in bed.’
    ‘What’s he up to?’ Brian picked up the kettle, filled it and set it on the stove to boil.
    ‘I have no idea.’ Martin studied Adam. ‘If we take him home in this state, his mother will never let him hear the end of it. Either of you any idea how to bring him round?’
    ‘Black coffee’s the only remedy I know.’ Sam opened the door to their food cupboard.
    ‘The only way we’d be able to get it down him is to lie him on the floor and pour it into his mouth, and he’d choke. What do your lot do with the drunks you pick up off the streets?’
    ‘Throw them in a freezing cell and leave them until they come round.’ Brian reached for the cups. ‘You want tea or coffee?’
    ‘Tea and cheese sandwiches.’ Sam looked towards the corner