The Daughters Of Red Hill Hall Read Online Free PDF

centres.
    ‘OK then, if you like,’ she said, and linked her arm through his. It was certainly a pleasant enough evening for a night-time stroll.
    ‘So, is that it? If nothing comes up on Google about the infamous shooting does that mean you won’t be able to find out any more about it?’ Ben asked.
    ‘Not at all. Next step is to search the newspaper archives. Thankfully a lot of old newspapers have been digitised and are available to search online. You need a subscription though, and the museum doesn’t have one. So I need to talk to Roger on Monday, and see if he’ll agree to fund one. If he doesn’t, I’ll probably buy a month’s subscription myself and research it from home.’
    ‘Do you think he’ll agree? Better if you can do this during work hours, isn’t it?’
    Gemma laughed. ‘Better for me, definitely! The more time I spend on this the less time I have to spend on boring fossils. Yes, I think he’ll probably go for it. He seems as interested as I am in finding out the background to these pistols.’
    They turned away from the street and into the park. An inviting path meandered through well-kept flower beds, and the scent of early roses filled the air. Ben led the way, and Gemma realised they were heading towards ‘their’ bench. It was where they had sat for an hour or more on the night they first met. Gemma remembered it so clearly. She and Nat had been sharing a bottle of wine in the pub, when Ben and some of his colleagues from the sports centre came in and sat at the next table. Nat had been chatted up by a hunky lifeguard, and had left early with him, leaving Gemma feeling stranded amongst people she didn’t know. She’d ended up talking to Ben, and when he’d offered to walk her home she leapt at the chance.
    On that occasion it was Gemma who’d led him the long way home, just so she could spend a bit more time with him. They’d sat on this bench in the rose garden at the edge of the park and talked for hours under the moonlight. It wasn’t until the early hours that they decided they ought to go home. By the time Ben left Gemma at the door to her flat, kissing her deeply as they said goodbye, she’d fallen well and truly in love with him.
    At the bench, Ben stopped. ‘Shall we sit down for a moment? Remember the night we met and sat here talking for hours?’
    ‘I’ll never forget it,’ Gemma said, snuggling up to him. It was a cool, clear night, with a crescent moon casting just enough light to see by. But Ben pushed her gently away.
    ‘I, erm, there’s something I want to say, Gem.’ Once again he was looking shifty. Gemma wondered what he was holding back. Surely he didn’t want to call time on their relationship? They were good together, they never argued, they made a perfect couple – all their friends said so. Nat always said they were made for each other. And he wouldn’t have chosen to come here, to this bench with so many memories, to finish with her, would he?
    He clasped her hands on her lap. ‘Gem, darling, it’s been six years…’
    ‘Seven,’ she interrupted.
    ‘Seven? OK then, seven years. Gem, they’ve been the best years of my life. But, it’s not enough for me any more.’
    Oh God, he was going to say he didn’t want their relationship to be exclusive, wasn’t he? Gemma felt a pang of dread course through her.
    Suddenly he dropped to his knees in front of her. ‘Gemma, darling, will you marry me?’
    ‘Marry you?’
    ‘Yes, you know, I mean, like, put rings on each other’s fingers, walk up the aisle of a church together, all that stuff. Live together. Have kids. Grow old together. The works.’ He looked up at her, his deep brown eyes beseeching her to say yes. Relief flooded through her like a tsunami. Well of course she was going to say yes! She’d been making up her mind to propose to
him
, next leap year, hadn’t she?
    She slipped off the bench to kneel in front of him, and put her hands on his shoulders. ‘Darling Ben. Of course I