Everything is Beautiful by Eleanor Ray (best classic romance novels txt) 📕

‘Charles Frederick, stop kicking that football at once,’ commanded a woman’s voice from inside the house. ‘You’ll break something.’

It was exactly what Amy had been thinking, and she was pleased to see that the boy obeyed her. He nestled the ball under his arm and bent down to pet Smudge, who’d left Amy’s front garden to entwine himself around the boy’s legs.

The men left a pile of boxes on the pavement and all the adults disappeared inside the house. The voices stopped. Presumably Rachel and the men had been invited in for tea and maybe a piece of the cake. Amy found she was hungry herself and almost wished she’d been friendlier and could join them all. She decided to prepare a snack. She was pretty sure she still had a lump of cheddar in the fridge, and some crackers somewhere. She’d eat with Scarlett. She watched the older boy attempt to pick up Smudge, but the cat made a run for it.

She heard a thud. The heartbreaking sound of something being smashed. Amy closed her eyes and put her hand to her head, fearing the worst. A sob broke out.

It all came from outside, she told herself. Not her house. She opened her eyes and looked. Sure enough, one of the boxes had fallen. The smaller child was on top of it, his face crimson and his mouth bellowing in anguish. He must have tried to climb the boxes and had knocked one over.

Amy hated the thought of anything at all being broken, but at least it was nothing of hers. The larger boy abandoned the cat and the ball and grabbed his brother in a big hug. The little boy held out his hands and his brother inspected them and dusted them off. The ball rolled away, making its escape from the scene of the crime.

‘Charles Frederick!’ Amy watched as their mother charged out of the house, ignored the small crying child and started to lambast his older brother. ‘What did I tell you about kicking your football here?’

The boy muttered something inaudible, but Amy could tell from the hang of his head that he was taking the blame.

‘It’s the last straw,’ the woman continued. ‘I warned you. Didn’t I?’ Amy listened. There was something in the tone of voice that she didn’t like at all. For a moment she hesitated, wanting to keep the neighbours at arm’s length. Then she rushed out of her house, forgetting to close the door behind her.

‘It wasn’t him!’ she declared to the woman, who scowled at her for a moment before turning her gaze to the smaller child. He was holding his brother’s leg and had a little scrape on his knee that attested to his guilt. Amy found herself temporarily distracted by his T-shirt – a dinosaur sniffing anachronistically at a lighthouse.

‘Daniel Joseph!’ said the woman. ‘Was it you?’ The smaller child cowered and started to cry again. Amy felt terrible. This little boy getting in trouble wasn’t what she intended, even if he was to blame. A trickle of clear snot joined forces with the tears on his face. He paused from his crying to lick it up and Amy found herself feeling a little nauseous.

His mother looked momentarily sickened too. ‘Get your brother a tissue,’ she said to the older boy.

‘It was me,’ said Charles Frederick, wiping his brother’s nose with his sleeve. ‘I knocked over the boxes. That woman is lying.’

‘You mustn’t accuse strange women of lying,’ said his mother. She turned to Amy and squeezed out a smile. ‘I’m so sorry about that. I don’t know where he gets his manners from.’ She wiped her hands on her jeans and reached one hand out to Amy, who was wondering what to feel about the ‘strange woman’ comment. ‘I’m Nina. These two are my partner’s children.’ She shrugged a little, looking as though she was feeling better now Amy knew that they were not her offspring.

Inspiration struck Amy. ‘It was Smudge,’ she said.

‘Excuse me?’ said Nina.

‘Smudge knocked over the boxes,’ she said triumphantly. ‘Rachel’s cat,’ she added in explanation, seeing Rachel emerge from the house at the commotion, with a little cream at the corner of her mouth.

‘Oh gosh, I’m so sorry,’ said Rachel. ‘Of course I’ll pay for any damage.’

‘No need, I’m sure it’s nothing,’ said Nina pleasantly. Amy looked at the two women, uncomprehending. How could they be so relaxed when something could be damaged? ‘Let’s go back inside.’

‘Don’t you want to check the box?’ asked Amy. ‘What if one of your things is broken? A bottle, maybe, or a glass? You might need to repair it.’

‘What if it’s one of my diggers?’ asked Charles, looking anxious.

‘It’s not going to be urgent, is it?’ laughed Nina. ‘Will you join us for cake?’

Amy’s stomach rumbled but she declined. ‘I’d really feel better if you checked in the box,’ she said. Rachel gave Nina a knowing look, and Amy had the impression that she’d already been a topic of conversation.

‘This is your new neighbour, Amy Ashton,’ said Rachel, sounding apologetic.

‘Can I look in the box?’ Amy was feeling increasingly sick. ‘I have some glue . . . ’

Nina shrugged and walked to the box. ‘A few mugs and some toys were all that was in here,’ she dismissed, as she opened it. ‘Nothing valuable.’ Amy followed her, peering over her shoulder. A jumble of little yellow cars looked back at her. No, not cars. Diggers.

‘Are my JCBs okay?’ asked Charles, rushing over to the box and leaning in so far it seemed he might tumble inside. ‘My remote-controlled metal die-cast excavator was in there!’ He began to take out the toys one by one, including several still in their original boxes. He lined them up on the pavement. Smudge came over and gave them a curious sniff.

‘We’re trying to move into the house, not onto the kerb,’ said Nina. ‘Take those inside.’

‘They’re all OK,’ said