Christmas to Come: a heartbreaking coming of age saga set in London's East End Carol Rivers (best sales books of all time .txt) 📖

harsh words. 'Everything has a price tag in this life and you'd do well to remember that. As it turns out you've been a good investment for this cafe. You can charm the customers round your pretty little finger and you know the figures backwards.' She grinned. 'You remind me of yours truly when I was your age.'

'Were you working here then?'

'I've never worked anywhere else!'

'Did you ever want to do something different?'

Gina looked surprised. 'By the time I left school I knew the business backwards. Mum had to scrimp and scrape to get this business going, and I was right alongside her, barely out of nappies when she did it; washing, drying, clearing up, cooking, you name it we did it. Dad was away at sea and no help at all. The most he could boast was a girl in every port.'

'Didn't your mum mind?'

'She was too busy trying to keep us afloat. Mum was terrified of poverty and had good reason to be. She was the ninth child of a family of fourteen, immigrants from Spain, poor devils, who risked life and limb to get here, believing the English streets were paved with gold. After discovering the hard way they weren't, most of them died destitute. But Mum got taken in as a little kid by this old widow who used to run this place as a sweet shop. She helped in the shop and looked after the old girl until she died, then turned it into a cafe. Dad was a customer and she married him in between one of his trips away, God help her, poor love. They never had any more kids after me, she was terrified she'd end up with fourteen. So in a way I s'pose Dad had every reason to wander.'

'Did she look Spanish, like you?'

'She did once, but she worked so hard she had bags under her eyes the size of Bow bells. I watched all her beauty fade and I promised myself I'd never end up like that.' Gina frowned gravely. 'And if it's one bit of advice I'd give you for free, it would be to take good care of that skin of yours. It's flawless now but it won't last forever.'

Bella nodded quickly. 'I'm going to buy a good cream.'

'You want olive oil, love. Use it every day. I've got some in the kitchen. Help yourself.'

'Thanks.' Bella smiled hesitantly. 'Despite all you've said about being paid to keep me, I'm still grateful. You've been good to me and Terry. We've two nice rooms and a bit of privacy that we never had before. And Lenny's kept Terry out of trouble down the lock-up and even says he's a good worker. Plus I've got money in my purse and food in my stomach.' She paused, smiling shyly. 'And best of all Micky and me are back on speaking terms, something I thought wasn't going to happen.'

At this, Gina laughed. 'Oh Bella, you don't know your Micky very well, do you? He doesn't do nothing that don't pay him. He is in love with himself and why not? He's a good-looking bugger and knows what he wants. He clocked what an asset you are to him and he wasn't about to let you escape. It's second nature to Micky, collecting people. Having control over them and reaping the rewards from their labours. Which, I assure you, are substantial.'

'But it was me who had to ask Micky for help,' Bella argued.

Gina frowned, leaning forward. 'Look, Bella, you know my Lenny means the world to me, don't you?'

Bella nodded, suddenly ill at ease as Gina's black eyes gazed straight into hers. 'Well, he's a good man underneath, but he couldn't walk a straight line to save his life. When we first met I tried to persuade him to come into the business. But oh no, he turned his nose up at waiting tables on other blokes. Micky convinced him they were going to make a fortune on the booze. The result is Lenny winds up doing all the hard slog and Micky does what Micky does best. He sits back and applauds.' She sighed deeply, scooping the receipts together and tucking them into the pocket of her apron. 'Anyway, I've given up fighting Lenny's battles now. Come to the conclusion I'm better off like Mum, feathering my own nest. Lenny will have to learn his lessons. Just as you will.'

Bella frowned hesitantly. 'But I thought you liked Micky.'

Gina shrugged. 'He's an inescapable fact of life and I accept him.'

'That's a funny thing to say.'

'Bella, you think you owe him. But you know, you don't. Your first responsibility it to yourself – number one. Now, here's your wages, you've earned it.'

Bella gasped. 'Three pounds?'

'You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours. Do you know we plated over two hundred and forty fry-ups this week? That's not counting rolls and sandwiches. You do the sums. At one and four a breakfast, we hit the jackpot. And considering we're still on rationing, that's not bad. All I can say is long live the black market. Now take it.'

Bella grinned as she accepted the money. 'I know what I'm going to buy.'

'What?'

'A new dress for Christmas.'

'You deserve it. You're a beautiful girl and you should have beautiful dresses to wear.'

'I've still got all the clothes you gave me when I came here. I didn't have nothing, just a bundle of rags. If it wasn't for what you bought up the market for me and Terry – '

'I wouldn't have found myself a nice little waitress, would I?'

Bella knew that behind Gina's hard front there was a heart of gold. 'This is the best job I've ever had. And the best place I've ever lived.'

'In that case, you've got my sympathy.' Gina grinned as she rose to her feet. 'Now come on, we've all that washing up to do before tomorrow. As soon as the door opens, they'll be lining up on the pavement for their grub. And