ABRA WAS HOME WHEN Rafferty reached their new semi. After enquiring hopefully, he learned that she hadn’t yet managed to have a word with his two brothers about Ma’s present, but she promised to keep trying.
Although they’d moved in in early July, they were still in the throes of decorating, Rafferty having proved reluctant to make an early start, in spite of Abra’s entreaties. After dinner, though, he felt an inexplicable urge to get on with it. Perhaps this nest-building was a pointer that he was at last getting broody? Wouldn’t that please Ma?
Abra had already chosen the paint. It was stored in the box-room. So, once dinner was over, he donned some old overalls, and got to work. The small bedroom was to be done out in a neutral lemon, Abra had decreed.
So lemon it was. Give her her d
