Love Lives [antikvár]

Chapter IhJimmy opened Rachel's bedroom door as quiedy as he>could and peered inside. There his dad's girlfriend was, half hidden under the double duvet, alone on the double bed. In the half-light of the new day her thick black hair lay tousled across the pale-yellow pillowcases, reminding Jimmy of the clumps of seaweed that got tossed up on to the beaches during the winter storms.Rachel had redecorated in here six months ago. Gran's old rose-patterned wallpaper had been too sickly sweet for her taste. It had been like sleeping in a box of chocolates, she'd complained. So now the walls were a neutral cream and Gran's crinoline dolls had been relocated from the dressing table to a cardboard box at the back of the white laminated wardrobe.It made Jimmy sad, the way his gran's past had been so easily wiped out, but at the same time he was glad that Rachel had fixed things up the way she liked. This was her home as much as his now, and he knew his gran was never coming back.Calm, Jimmy thought, that's what this room felt like now. It had a clean, sweet smell to it, a combination of fresh laundry and aromatherapy candles, which the rest of the flat lacked. Plastered with posters, Jimmy's room smelt of deodorant and cigarettes. A jumble of toys and clothes, his stepbrother Kieran's room smelt of nappy sacks, Calpol and milk. Both had a busyness to them, which made relaxation outside of sleep almost impossible. But this