Bridie gave her a sideways glance as she stood. ‘It might be easier if I show you.’
‘Is it upstairs in your flat?’ she asked as Bridie headed to the stairs.
‘Not all of it, no. Stay there while I go and feed Barney, unless you want to say hello.’
Kate shook her head. ‘He’ll just get overexcited.’
Bridie headed upstairs. She returned with the shoebox after giving Barney a fuss and a bowl full of food. It would keep him quiet for all of a minute. Then he’d notice she’d gone again.
‘It’s in the shoebox?’ Kate asked.
Bridie smiled. ‘I’ll explain soon. I’ve just got to nip over to see if Reggie is in.’
‘The shoebox is for him?’
‘Um, no. I want to ask if he can pup-sit while we’re gone.’ Barney had already been out on a walk, and she didn’t want to over-exercise his little paws.
Kate rose from her seat. ‘Where are we going?’
‘You’ll see,’ Bridie said, walking to the door.
As Bridie opened the shop door, leaving a bemused Kate staring after her, a howl made them both jump.
Kate said, ‘I can see why you need a pup-sitter.’
Bridie nodded and headed across the yard, hoping she was doing the right thing by letting Kate in on her secret. Would she agree to keep her secret from their dad? That was the question, if Mum hadn’t told him already. But that was a risk she’d have to take. As Kate had said, she didn’t want any more secrets between the two of them – and neither did Bridie. But did that extend to their parents? She had no idea what Kate’s reaction would be to the theatre, or to their dad’s past.
Chapter 40
‘It’s a bit cold and dark for a walk along the promenade, Bridie,’ Kate complained.
Bridie clutched the shoebox and held her hood up against the wind. She didn’t have to show Kate the theatre straight away, but she had a feeling that if she didn’t, she’d change her mind and bottle out. Bridie didn’t want to do that, even though it was possible her sister would find out soon enough anyway, now their mum knew about the theatre. She wanted Kate to hear it from her, rather than discovering a secret Bridie had kept from her.
They arrived at the old theatre. Kate was surprised when Bridie showed her the key and opened the door, ushering her inside. She’d never been inside the theatre before.
Bridie paused in the foyer, telling her all about the solicitor’s letter she’d received out of the blue, and the visit to the solicitor’s office in Ipswich, where she’d been given the keys, and her secret benefactor’s wishes was for her to stage a play. She watched Kate walk around the foyer, taking it all in while Bridie explained that Jack had agreed to invest and would be sending in some tradesmen the next week to start fixing the roof and the electrics.
Bridie didn’t tell her sister that she’d signed a contract with Jack to do the work without consulting a solicitor. Kate didn’t ask. She was just shocked that Bridie had been given a property.
Bridie hoped it wouldn’t come between them – the fact that she’d had this property just fall in her lap, and it was worth quite a bit of money, with its location on the seafront.
Kate wasn’t envious – far from it. She surprised Bridie by telling her that she deserved a bit of good luck after Julian had cheated on her and ruined her stage career. She was genuinely happy for her.
Bridie said, ‘I think it was me who ruined my own career – quite spectacularly, really.’
Kate touched her arm. ‘Don’t think that. It was Julian’s fault. Just remember that he ruined things – not you.’
Kate had her husband, and the children, and a house, albeit with a mortgage, but they could always sell up and downsize. Bridie was well aware that her circumstances were very different; she had nothing to show for her fifteen years with Julian.
Kate rolls up her sleeves. ‘Now, where do you want me to start?’ she asked. ‘I want to help.’
'You want to help me get the theatre in order? You do know I’m intending to stage a play? I thought you didn’t like the theatre.’
Kate replied, ‘That’s because Mum and Dad discouraged it, and you know what I’m like – always doing as I’m told, even as an adult, wanting to please them. But now I’ve lost my job in London, and I’ve decided I don’t want to return, it’s made me think about a lot of things. Why did I tell Layla she couldn’t join the drama club at school?’
‘Because of me,’ Bridie replied. ‘You didn’t want her to follow in my footsteps and work in a precarious line of work when you never know if or when you’ll get another show.’
‘Yeah, well, there was that,’ said Kate, ‘although look at me. I was in a well-paid job in London, thinking it was secure, and they let me go. No job is secure. But it was more than that.’
