Moving On by Rosie Harris Page B

I see you?’ she asked as Karen walked with her down the hall towards the front door.
    ‘I have a very busy schedule for the next month or so but I’ll try to be in touch before Christmas,’ Karen murmured. She kissed Jenny on the cheek. ‘I’m so sorry I can’t stop and talk to you now, Gran. It’s just unfortunate …’ Her voice faded away.
    ‘I understand,’ Jenny said quietly. ‘Make it as soon as you can because I really do want to know how you are getting on, Karen, and what your plans are for the future and so on, my dear. I also want you to come across to Wallasey and see my flat. I thought you would have done so long before this.’
    ‘I know, I know,’ Karen said contritely, ‘but I have been very busy. Really I have Gran.’
    By this time they were at the door and Jenny found herself once more in the street and the door closed behind her. She hesitated for a moment, feeling bewildered. Karen hadn’t shown her round her new home or even offered her a drink, yet she knows how far I’ve come to see her, she thought, feeling slightly resentful. She didn’t even ask me if I knew the way home, she thought, as she made her way back to the bus stop.
    Jenny felt very curious about the house where Karen was living; it was not only in an expensive area but extremely tastefully furnished. She was also puzzled about the young girl who had answered the door. She wasn’t old enough for her to be the person Karen was sharing with so who was she? Was she a maid? Surely such a luxury as having a servant was well out of Karen’s pocket.
    Jenny felt concerned and hoped that Karen hadn’t let her inheritance go to her head and was living beyond her means. It wasn’t only the grand house but Karen’s appearance.
    She realized that she probably had to look glamorous when she was at work but the watch she’d been wearing and the diamond stud earrings looked to be very expensive.
    As the ferryboat ploughed its way across the Mersey, cutting through the heavy fog that had come down suddenly, Jenny felt both worried and despondent. Perhaps she should have tried harder to keep their house because it had been Karen’s home as well as hers. Selling it and not keeping more of an eye on Karen was letting Eddy down she thought guiltily.
    She really must ensure that she kept in closer touch with Karen so that she knew more about what was happening in her life. She might be twenty and independent but she had led quite a sheltered life while she’d been growing up and she hoped she wasn’t moving into the wrong sort of company.
    Then she had a brilliant idea. They were having a Christmas party at Merseyside Mansions in December and they’d been told they could invite a friend or relative. If Karen hadn’t paid her a visit before then she would send her an invite to the party.

Thirteen
    The Christmas party at Merseyside Mansions was planned for Friday the seventeenth of December. So many people were eager to help with the preparations and to decorate the communal lounge that Jenny held back.
    She knew she no longer felt confident about going up ladders or standing on steps to fix the decorations or put up the fairy lights and thought that the men were more capable of doing that sort of thing anyway.
    She would have been quite willing to help to decorate the Christmas tree but so many of the other ladies were already intent on doing so that she felt it was better to keep out of their way.
    Outside caterers had been hired to supply a spread of sandwiches, cakes, mince pies, biscuits and cheese and other seasonal titbits. They would also be there to pour out the mulled wine and soft drinks and hand them around. The concierge would be there to supervise them.
    There was really nothing at all for her to do except send an invitation to Karen and hope that she would come. She’d already written a letter telling her the anticipated date and she had phoned her several times since and left messages on her answerphone to let her