Innholdsfortegnelse for July 2024 i Take a Break Fiction Feast

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I pressed my mobile to my ear as I hurried out into the car park. Oh heck, is this yet another case of XL parenting? I wondered. By that, I mean the oversized, extra-tricky kind. ‘OK, if that’s the case, tape up the doors and windows and hide under the table.’ Sam laughed. ‘I might well try that. Molly’s discovered Ginny Rogers will be wearing the exact same prom dress next week.’ I drew up short on the gravel. ‘What?!’ The same duck-egg blue, tasteful little number? The one that took us two months to find? Grimly, I recalled the weeks of heartache and the howls of rejection… ‘My shoulders look massive in this dress, Mum. In this one, I look like a stick insect. And this is too pale…

Ever since I was a little girl, I have loved films. It started with Disney animations, like Cinderella and Snow White. Pretty soon I moved on to live action — fairy tales, adventure, romance and fantasy. I couldn’t get enough. By the time I was a teenager, I had plastered movie posters all over my bedroom walls. ‘When I think of the time your dad spent decorating your room for you,’ Mum huffed and puffed, ‘and now nobody can see an inch of your wallpaper.’ I didn’t just watch films — I absorbed them. My whole family groaned when I recited lines from Indiana Jones or ET or Pretty Woman, or even old black and whites like Casablanca or It’s A Wonderful Life. I loved the larger than life movie…

I gulped when I recognised my parents’ friend, Jeff, outside the main hotel entrance. From my position at reception, I could see him and his (rather glamorous) female friend outside the big glass doors. She looked kind of familiar but I couldn’t quite place her. They were about to come in, but the woman was on her mobile. Jeff was waiting for her to end the call. ‘I’m just — er, checking the rota,’ I said to my colleague, Helen, and quickly dipped into the back office. The last thing I wanted was Jeff seeing me. It would be embarrassing for us both. My parents probably hadn’t got round to telling him and his wife, Carol, that my new job was based here. The hotel was part of a national…

Read it! Our Fair Lily by Rosie Goodwin It all started with deciding on the name Lily for her protagonist. Rosie says: ‘I find that once the picture of a character pops into my head, the rest follows naturally. I love to write about real people — people who have flaws. After all none of us are perfect. I think that makes the characters feel more believable and relatable.’ Set in 1875, the story follows Lily Moon, the local miner’s daughter, who spends her days as a parlour maid for Lord and Lady Bellingham at Oakley Manor, on the outskirts of Nuneaton. She’s always been happy with her lot in life. But everything changes when she temporarily becomes lady’s maid to the Bellingham’s daughter, Arabella, who is pregnant with an…

Annie looked up and accidentally caught the waiter’s eye. And yet again, he smiled at her — a warm, gentle, seductive smile. She couldn’t believe it. Here she was, dining with her husband — who, it seemed, did love her after all — and at the same time, a sexy young Italian was coming on to her. ‘If you haven’t forgotten it’s our anniversary today, where’s my card?’ Oh, she felt as though she’d died and gone to heaven. And to think the day had started so badly. She’d been convinced that Martin had forgotten what day it was — and boy, had she been ready to give him a hard time. She’d been waiting, glowering, as he came home from work. ‘What?’ he’d asked as soon as he saw…

What is your worst fault?’ As Mike Wiltshire delivered the killer question, he gave Lucy a sympathetic look. Her interview at Penglass Security wasn’t going well. ‘Well, let me see…’ Lucy chewed the inside of her cheek. She had the perfect answer — unfortunately it was on an A4 pad in her kitchen, where she’d been preparing for the interview last night. ‘I’m quite forgetful,’ she said at last. As soon as she left the building, Lucy headed for the Westborough Centre. Even with her savings dwindling, the interview from hell had left her needing some retail therapy. When she reached the middle of town, Lucy pushed open the heavy glass door and stepped inside. Cocooned in the shopping centre’s familiar warmth, she felt better immediately. Despite the lunchtime crowds,…

Look at him, Mum, isn’t he gorgeous? I should never have left Mallorca. I should have stayed forever.’ In Clare’s kitchen, her daughter, who’d popped in to visit, scrolled through some pictures on her phone. Hannah’s holiday romance had been attractive all right — tall, with kiss-curl locks and eyes as dark as obsidian. Young Marco worked in a beach bar right on the sands. He was all muscles and white teeth. Clare, sitting across the table frowned. ‘Is he still ringing and texting?’ Her daughter nodded. ‘He calls all the time.’ She giggled. ‘He even sends hearts and flower emoticons. I have to go back, Mum, and soon.’ Clare did not confess to her own holiday romance months earlier. A full five years after her divorce, and at least…

As Heather closed her front door, she let out a sigh and wondered if she should just have said no when the young woman next door had asked her if she could look after her eight-year-old son, Liam, for an hour or so. She’d certainly been tempted to refuse, partly because she’d barely spoken to her neighbour before. But Katie had been desperate, so she’d stuck a smile on her face and pretended that she’d be happy to help. ‘Mind you, I don’t know what we’ll do,’ she’d said. ‘Oh, you won’t need to do anything,’ Katie assured her. ‘He’s got his phone so he can just play games.’ Heather frowned. ‘But won’t he be bored?’ ‘No, he’ll be fine,’ Katie said. ‘His gran usually gets jigsaws out when we…

Her lucky day I want to come with you, Sarah,’ Mum said, when I told her my news. ‘I don’t like the idea of you going on your own.’ I felt my blood pressure rising. ‘I wish you’d treat me as an adult.’ Mum and I seemed to get on each other’s nerves, lately. I needed her support, but also needed her to recognise my independence. ‘I just thought with Steve away this week…’ she began, her voice wobbling. Mum had been in a similar situation 42 years ago. I held her hand, trying my best to understand. ‘I’d love you to come, but don’t go all Mumsie on me.’ Now here we were, sitting in the waiting room at the local medical centre, sipping lukewarm weak tea from disposable…

Little detectives What’s up, love?’ Joe asked, noticing his wife’s frown as she peered at her phone over the breakfast bowls. Saffron looked up with a tremor in her chin. ‘Hmm? Oh, it’s nothing. Alfie, elbows off the table, please. If you’ve finished your cereal, upstairs to brush your teeth. We don’t want to be late for school.’ Alfie clattered his spoon into his bowl rather than point out that he’d been told hundreds of times it was rude to look at your phone at the table. Keeping his eyes peeled, as befitted a detective of any standing, he noticed that his mum’s lower lip had wobbled as she put her phone down — and he’d sneaked a quick look at the screen while she was busy tucking her chair…

As Miranda swam another length of the pool, she found herself thinking how much happier she’d been since she’d resolved to get more exercise. She’d been miserable back then on New Year’s Eve, but she’d started to feel so much better as soon as she had taken up swimming at the leisure centre. And as for cold water swimming, that had totally changed her life. Miranda had gasped the first time she’d waded into the sea at her local beach in Suffolk, but she’d soon got used to the cold shock response, and she’d made so many friends sitting talking to people afterwards. There was always coffee and cake, and she’d felt welcomed right from the start, she remembered, as she reached the end of the pool and turned round.…

No more games Sian frowned at the letters on the board. It wasn’t that she didn’t like playing Scrabble — she did, very much — but she’d been going out with Paul for almost a year now and she’d hoped for something a little more romantic. As the junior vet at a practice that served several large farms, her boyfriend was often the one on call. That made it very hard to plan anything in case he had to cancel. Paul had cooked a wonderful meal for her birthday as well as showering her with a plethora of gifts, including chocolates and a gorgeous pure white orchid. Now he was sitting, head bowed, as he tried to figure out where to go next. As she gazed at him, her heart…

Where is everyone, Lynsey?’ asked Carl. I glanced around the empty workstations, at the piles of insurance documents ready for inputting. ‘No idea,’ I replied. ‘I don’t have a crystal ball.’ ‘Well, consult some tea leaves or something, then. I want this work finished by the end of the day.’ ‘In your dreams,’ I muttered as he stomped back into his office. Boss or not, I’d had enough of his bad temper. When he’d first joined the company six months ago, I’d thought him attractive, and hoped there could be something special between us. But ever since the branch managers’ meeting last week, he’d been banging about like a bear with a sore head. ‘What’s got into him?’ asked Tania, appearing from behind the vending machine. ‘No idea…’ I stared…

Simon stomped into the house, scowling. ‘What’s the matter with you?’ asked Suzy. ‘Stay like that and you’ll turn the gravy lumpy.’ ‘You know I’ve just bought a new high-powered lawnmower?’ ‘You’ve been going on about it enough,’ she sighed. ‘How could I forget?’ ‘You two are like a couple of kids. “My car’s bigger than your car!”’ ‘Well, Andy next door has only just gone and bought an even bigger one.’ ‘Well, he has got a bigger lawn, darling,’ Suzy reasoned. ‘No he hasn’t!’ Simon cried. ‘Not when you add in all our little bits out the front.’ Suzy stopped stirring the gravy and gave him a pointed look. ‘Does it really matter?’ ‘Of course it matters! He only got it because he heard me talking about the one…

When her husband came home from work, Donna dashed into the hall and pulled him into the kitchen. ‘I’ve had enough, Rory,’ she said. ‘Your dad’s so set in his ways. He’s just told me he doesn’t do takeaways!’ ‘Well, he’s probably never tried one,’ Rory replied, loosening his tie. ‘And he’s not willing to try one now!’ Donna cried. ‘I listed all the things we could have, and he just sat there pulling faces.’ ‘Well, he’s used to Mum’s cooking,’ Rory shrugged. Donna sighed. ‘I know, and I realise he’s feeling totally lost without her, but I look forward to my Friday takeaway.’ ‘I know you do,’ Rory said, leaning against the sink. ‘Where is Dad anyway?’ ‘He’s in my chair in the living room, listening to an audio…