Innholdsfortegnelse for Christmas 2023 i Take a Break Fiction Feast

Hair raising Ellie flew down the stairs two at a time, her hands clamping the towel to her head. ‘Mum! Help! Emergency!’ she cried. Ellie’s mum Rachel ran from the kitchen to the bottom of the stairs. When she saw her 15-year-old daughter, her mind flooded with fear. ‘What’s happened?’ But before Ellie could answer, Jade, her daughter’s best friend, cut her short. ‘I’m so sorry,’ she said, her words smothered in guilt as she followed Ellie down the stairs. ‘I didn’t mean it, I really didn’t mean...’ She trailed off and her apologetic eyes shot to Ellie. ‘It was an accident,’ she added. ‘It doesn’t matter whether you meant it or not!’ Ellie roared before turning to Rachel again. ‘It’s an emergency... Help!’ With a mother’s split-second instinct, Rachel…

COMPLETE OUR PICTURE ARROWWORD FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WIN £200 TO ENTER BY TEXT* text FIC13, then a space, then your name, house number/name, postcode and answer, all separated by a space, to 65115. Text entries charged at 50p per text. Normal messaging rates apply. TO ENTER BY PHONE** call 0905 669 0129 (You must be 18 or over and have the bill payer’s permission. Calls cost 50p per minute plus network access charge. UK only) and when asked for the issue number key in 13. TO ENTER ONLINE log on to TAKEABREAK.CO.UK/COMPETITIONS THE COMPETITION CLOSES AT MIDNIGHT ON THURSDAY, 11 JANUARY 2024. *Keep texts under 160 characters or you may be charged for more than one text. If you enter after the closing date you will not be entered…

What on earth are you doing sitting here in the dark?’ Helen’s best friend, Suzy, had asked when she’d called round the night before. ‘I’m watching TV, eating chocolate and everything else fattening I can lay my hands on!’ Helen had said, defiantly. ‘Why?!’ ‘Because it’s the only way I know of getting through each miserable minute of trying to get over Will,’ Helen told her. ‘But you don’t just want to get over him, do you? You want to get even with him!’ said Suzy. ‘And the best revenge is to show him you’ve bounced back, happier than ever. That you need him like you need a hole in the head.’ ‘I don’t know if I can…’ ‘Of course you can!’ said Suzy. ‘That’s why I’ve fixed something up…

Christmas with my family used to be such a wonderful time. Everyone piled over to Mum and Dad’s on Christmas Eve, we stuffed ourselves with mince pies and mulled wine and sang along to the midnight carol service on television. Then Mum would get up early on Christmas morning to put the turkey in the oven, and we kids and partners would have a lie-in before joining her in the kitchen to do our bit. Laying the table was always my job. Out came Mum and Dad’s special canteen of cutlery that had been a wedding present all those years ago. Out came the good china and the crystal glasses. ‘Show me how to fold the napkins, so they stand up in little points, Janice,’ my sister Louise would ask…

Sue smiled as she made her lunch plan. She was a little nervous, but also full of optimism. If things went well on Sunday, then it could be the start of a really good relationship. Tom, her son, was bringing his girlfriend Jessica to meet Sue for the first time. When she’d first heard the girl’s name, Sue hadn’t been at all enthusiastic — that’s what both the annoying assistant at her dental practice and a particularly unpleasant former colleague were called. Of course, Jessica was a very popular name for young women and from what Tom had said — and he often did talk about her — his Jessica was perfectly lovely. By the time her son suggested bringing her for lunch, Sue was sure that this Jessica would…

What do you think?’ My sister Bree asked, waving her left hand in my face. My heart sank. ‘You’re engaged?’ ‘Yep. Liam proposed last night. I said yes!’ I smiled, yet I found it difficult to congratulate her. She deserved so much better than layabout Liam. But they’d only been together three months and she was still in the blissful, loved-up stage. As she was into angels and astrology, she claimed it was fate that had brought them together... Hmm. It was actually a dating app. Liam was attractive, trim, caring, confident and funny. In fact, he seemed perfect. There was only one snag — he was unemployed. After being made redundant from a factory a year ago, he hadn’t had a job since. ‘He applies for lots of different…

It’s not fair!’ moans Tilly as soon as she gets in the car. Pulling away from the parking bay near the school gates, I try not to roll my eyes at my eight-year-old daughter’s favourite mantra. ‘What’s not fair, love?’ I ask soothingly, inching into the queue of traffic. In the back seat, Tilly folds mutinous arms. ‘Lucy Watson’s going to play Mary in the school nativity. I’m only second sheep from the right!’ ‘Well,’ I say, trying to make light of it, ‘I only made it to background palm tree in my school nativity play, and the paper leaves tickled my nose so much, I sneezed all the way through!’ Tilly is too fired up to see the joke. ‘But I know all the lines, Mum, like, “Joseph, get…

Cathy gazed at the man in the suit sitting at the bar. ‘Isn’t he just gorgeous?!’ she asked her friend Jules. ‘No,’ said Jules. ‘What? But look at him, even in this light you can see how handsome he is.’ ‘Too handsome!’ said Jules. ‘And he knows it. He knows he can have any woman in the bar, treat ’em mean and they’ll take it.’ ‘Jules!’ Cathy laughed. ‘You can’t be too handsome!’ ‘You can,’ said Jules. ‘You must know men like that are only after one thing.’ ‘Yes — me!’ ‘Cathy, you don’t want him. You can’t trust men like him.’ ‘I would…’ said Cathy. ‘Oh! He’s coming over! Leave us, Jules, please!’ ‘What?’ ‘Please! Now! Quick!’ Jules sighed and got up. ‘Hello there,’ said the stranger, focusing all…

Sophie slowed down as she passed the pyramid of shiny, yellow boxes. They were pricey — £12 for 10 choccy truffles, each box tied up with velvet ribbon. But she could just imagine sinking into a bath of rich bubbles, glass of different bubbly in one hand, succulent truffle in the other… Enough! She really should stop dawdling through her favourite spot in the whole department store — handmade confectionery — and scamper on down to the food hall, where she’d originally been heading. Back to the world of two-for-one offers on veg, and battling with those rolls of fiddly plastic bags that were harder to get into than a safety deposit box. The thing was, she hadn’t just come up to the first floor to ogle the chocolates. There…

And on to the final item on the agenda, the Christmas party…’ Gemma hated the Wednesday morning office meetings, and as her boss droned on, she allowed her attention to wander. She was planning to have lunch that day with her friend, Callie. The big question: should she stick to her pre-Christmas diet in order to get into that slinky dress she’d bought in the hope of snagging Liam from marketing’s attention? ‘So, we’re all agreed then? Gemma will organise the office Secret Santa again this year. Well done, Gemma. I know you’ll do a great job.’ Gemma returned to the present with a start. ‘What? No! No way! Er… I mean, I did it last year. Shouldn’t someone else have a turn?’ she said desperately. Why, oh why, hadn’t…

True crime A friend will help you move house. A best friend will help you move a body.’ Cat had read that in a book. Or heard it on TV — she couldn’t remember which. Now, she looked down at the body stuffed into the chest freezer — those so-familiar eyes now cold and dead — and closed the lid. Twenty-four hours earlier… Cat sat at her kitchen table, hugging a cup of tea. Her best friend, Bev, studied her. ‘You don’t look great.’ Cat couldn’t bear to look at her. Not after what she’d just found out. ‘I think I might be coming down with something,’ she lied. Bev seemed oblivious to the coolness in her friend’s voice and began to relate some anecdote about her day. ‘You were…

A set up Won’t be a mo, Mum,’ I said, as we set our drinks down on a table at the back of The Crown. ‘Just nipping to the loo… You coming, Jess?’ ‘No, I’m OK,’ my sister muttered, until she noticed the look in my eyes. ‘Oh, yeah, I need to go too,’ she said, grabbing her bag from the table. Mum laughed. ‘You girls — still going to the Ladies in pairs, I see. Just like you used to do as teenagers.’ Before disappearing through the loo door, I glanced back at Mum. She was smiling at her phone, probably at some silly Facebook post from one of her friends. These days Mum’s whole life revolved around observing other peoples’ lives on Facebook. She didn’t seem to have…

‘I didn’t expect to see you two here. I thought you’d decided to stay home’ Paula put the last of her things into her suitcase, pushed down on the lid and zipped it up. ‘I’m still not sure we should be doing this.’ ‘What?’ asked Malcolm. ‘Going to Spain for Christmas? ‘No… Without telling my sister. We’ve been spending Christmas Day together for as long as I can remember.’ Malcolm came over and put his arm round her shoulders. ‘We talked about this, sweetheart. When we first thought about going away, you showed her the brochure. She could have come with us if she’d wanted to.’ Paula nodded. ‘I know, she said she’d rather spend Christmas at home with her boyfriend.’ She pulled a face. ‘I never did like Murray,…

When Sue and Steve invited Milly round to their place for Christmas dinner, she refused and said: ‘I’m going to Jackie and John’s.’ But she was lying. When Jackie and John invited Milly round to their place for Christmas dinner, she lied again. ‘I’m going to Sue and Steve’s.’ ‘But why?’ Jackie asked. ‘Last year, they had all those coloured fairy lights strung around the house, and you hate festive bling.’ ‘I’m not a big fan,’ Milly admitted. ‘But you’re just as bad. Last year, your bungalow looked like the flight deck of the Starship Enterprise.’ ‘We bought those lights from a mail order company that specialises in them,’ Jackie huffed. ‘And we did our display for charity. We dressed up every night as Santa and Mrs Claus. We stood…

James quietly eased the front door open and sneaked into the hallway. He could hear the television in the living room and assumed Lucy was watching something. Perfect, he thought. Having just returned from town with Lucy’s Christmas gift, he was anxious to hide it without being spotted. The only question was, where? The garage? The loft? The spare bedroom? After a moment’s deliberation, he settled on the spare room. Unless they had visitors, Lucy rarely went in there. James crept up the stairs, taking extra care to avoid the creaky step. On reaching the spare bedroom, he eased the door open, then delved into the shopping bag and took out a bottle of perfume. Crawling under the bed, he hid it in one of the boxes of old CDs…

When Angie got home from work, the house looked like a battlefield. There were dirty socks, magazines, crisp packets, empty lager cans and half-full coffee cups everywhere she looked. Well, she wasn’t doing anything about it! Not after the day she’d had. She’d just made herself a cuppa when the doorbell rang. If that’s someone selling kitchens… It wasn’t. It was worse. ‘Hello, Angie!’ her mother-in-law beamed. ‘I just thought I’d come and pick up my dry cleaning from you. Save you the bother of calling round with it.’ ‘Oh, sorry,’ said Angie. ‘I didn’t have time to collect it.’ Julia frowned. ‘But I was going to wear the suit tomorrow, when I meet Elaine in town.’ ‘You run round after them far too much. I mean, you have a…

Stop checking the window, Graham.’ ‘I can’t help it. He’s usually here by now. Maybe he’s not coming this year.’ Sylvia laughed. ‘I hardly think so. Uncle Jack’s been turning up on the 23rd of December ever since my auntie died — that’s 11 years now.’ Graham sighed. He loved spending Christmas with family and friends. Every year they invited different people to come and stay, but they never invited Uncle Jack. There was no need — because, year after year, he simply turned up. Most people would have called first or sent a text, but not Jack. Usually he turned up empty-handed too — not even a bottle of wine to go with the Christmas dinner. He never joined in with any party games and spent so much time…