Chapter Five
G roggily, Tilly opened her eyes before immediately shielding them with her hand.
She must have left a gap between the curtains when she’d drawn them last night because a sliver of unforgiving morning sunlight was piercing her skull.
Rolling over to show her back to the sunlight, Tilly drew in a deep breath as she hugged the pillow, her lungs filling with the comforting scent of lavender, her aunt’s favourite fragrance and Elsie’s fabric conditioner.
After having her senses overwhelmed with the sheer number of people who had been at the dinner yesterday, Ian had helped her collect some bags from her car before she’d excused herself from the celebrations below.
Everyone had been as lovely as Elsie herself, not that she had any hope of remembering most of their names, but after spending the last seven years basically holed up with her aunt in her house, she wasn’t used to meeting that many people, let alone having them all in one room.
Plus, of course, yesterday’s events and the bailiffs turning up had absolutely shattered her.
She must have had the best night’s sleep she’d had in... forever, but despite that, there was still a part of her who wanted to stay under the duvet all day, who wanted to forget how much her life had been pulled apart, a part of her who would happily curl up and never face the world again.
But that couldn’t be today. Elsie had taken a huge gamble on her, offering her this voluntary position out of the blue without knowing a thing about her, and she wasn’t about to let her down.
Tilly needed to show her and everyone else who had so kindly welcomed her at the dinner table that she was beyond grateful and that she could be relied upon.
Picking up her mobile from the bedside table, Tilly sighed.
She only had an hour until opening time, and she still had to shower as well as collect her car from the car park she’d left it in and park it behind the bakery where Ian had shown her last night.
Placing it back down, she slipped out of bed and padded across the floorboards before standing in front of the dressing-table mirror.
Tilly peered at her reflection and pulled at the dark bags under her eyes.
She wasn’t sure if it was her imagination, but they certainly looked a little less puffy than they had when she’d brushed her hair before getting into bed last night.
Could one decent night’s sleep really make that much difference?
Standing up, she rolled her shoulders back.
Although she’d been comfortable in her aunt’s house, she hadn’t been able to properly relax there for months, years even.
When her aunt had been alive, Tilly had always been listening out for her in case she’d needed her during the night so hadn’t slipped into a deep sleep and since she’d passed away and Tilly had struggled to pay the rent due to Gwen’s pension stopping and her own carers benefits ceasing, she’d not been able to fully relax, always waiting on the inevitable knock at the door.
It was strange, but having the bailiffs turn up had been a slight relief of sorts.
In a way. She’d given up the will to fight the eviction months beforehand after realising she couldn’t just waltz back into the world of work as easily as she’d hoped, and now the fight was well and truly over.
What came next, she wasn’t sure, but one thing she was certain of was that Elsie and her voluntary position might just be the break in her lack of luck she needed.