A Seaside Affair (43 page)

Authors: Fern Britton

Tags: #Fiction, #General

It was his sixth call from Penny since she’d left twenty minutes before.

‘Darling, she’s fine. I’m fine. Don’t worry. Jenna and I are watching the live pictures of everyone arriving on the red carpet. Richard’s just turned up. I think this one is … yep, Emma Thompson.’

‘She’s in the car ahead of us!’ said Penny, looking through the tinted windows as the British star stepped out of her car into the glare of the waiting flashbulbs.

‘So, you’re next?’

‘Yes, oh God. Here we go. The car has stopped. I’d better hang up. Love you both.’

Simon and Jenna sat rapt as they saw their friends disgorge from their limo. Brooke came out first, followed by the others, then after a small tussle with her shawl that had got stuck in the heel of one of her stilettos, out stepped his beautiful wife.

‘Look, there’s Mummy!’ He pointed to the screen. Jenna gave a hiccup and a big, gummy smile. Simon watched as Penny blinked under the pop of the photographers’ flashbulbs, but then she steadied herself, hitched up her skirt and stood in the blaze of light, grinning and putting two thumbs up for the camera.

A reporter stuck a microphone towards her and asked, ‘Any messages for the folks back home, Miss Leighton?’

Penny thought for a moment, before saying joyfully, ‘Not a bad turn out for a seaside affair!’

The End

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

It’s a very cold day in January and the rain is lashing the Cornish coast as I type. The storms are so bad that ancient, landmark pieces of coastline are being torn down by the powerful waves.

If this book were real, the much-loved Pavilions Theatre of Trevay would be in deep threat. Built up on the cliffs above the beautiful fishing village, the dressing rooms would be leaking and the orchestra pit under a foot of water.

Dear Piran, Penny, Simon and Helen would roll their sleeves up and gather together a staunch work party to bail it out, though …

In
A Seaside Affair
, our old friends battle to save the theatre from a rather different, but no less destructive, threat. I have spent the last year immersed in thoughts of Trevay and its people; it has become so real to me, and to some of you, that I hope you enjoy this next bit of their story.

I grew up in the theatre and worked as a stage manager when very young. A lot of what I describe here has happened or certainly could happen given the right circumstances!

As always, I couldn’t have got through the emotional maze of characters and plot without the immense wisdom of my editor Kate Bradley and the calming influence of my agents John Rush and Luigi Bonomi. I may not always look as if I am taking on board your steadying hands, but boy, do I appreciate them. You three are the tops.

Liz Dawson, you are the best publicist and the best of women too.

Thank you, Phil, for bringing me endless cups of tea and listening to plot dilemmas while you’re trying to watch the football.

And thank you to the kids who keep me from going completely up my own bum, and the cats who always make me laugh.

Finally to my parents who are both ninety this year. You are incredible and I owe everything to you.

Fern

About the Author

Fern Britton began her career as a television presenter in 1980 after completing a stage management course at the Central School of Drama. In 1985 Fern became the presenter of the popular
Coast to Coast
, which led to presenting roles on prime time television shows, the most iconic of which was on ITV’s flagship show
This Morning
. Fern’s warmth, humour and empathy have made her incredibly popular and she has become a much sought-after presenter. In 2008 Fern released her autobiography
Fern: My Story
, which was a huge bestseller, and her first novel,
New Beginnings
, was the biggest selling debut of 2011. Fern is deeply committed to a number of charities, in particular those working with and for women, children and childbirth. She lives with her husband Phil Vickery, the well-respected chef, and her four children in Buckinghamshire.

By the same author:

Fern: My Story

New Beginnings

Hidden Treasures

The Holiday Home

If you enjoyed
A Seaside Affair
, why not buy Fern Britton’s latest short story,
The Stolen Weekend
?

Best friends Penny Leighton and Helen Merrifield have swapped their hectic London lives for the leisurely pace of life in the pretty Cornish village of Pendruggan.

Penny is in constant demand and juggling her life as a vicar’s wife alongside her day job as a hotshot TV producer is exhausting.

Helen is at the end of her tether. Cornwall has been battered by the worst storms in living memory and the roof of her little cottage is in a terrible state. Her other half, the brooding Piran, isn’t being much help.

So the two women cook up a scheme to get back to London for a weekend of blissful indulgence. But the best laid plans often go awry and for the Pendruggan ladies and the men they leave behind, their stolen weekend will turn out to be the very last thing they expect …

Click
here
to buy now

Copyright

Published by HarperCollins
Publishers Ltd

77–85 Fulham Palace Road

Hammersmith, London W6 8JB

www.harpercollins.co.uk

First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins
Publishers
2014

Cover illustration © Robyn Neild

Cover layout design © HarperCollins
Publishers
Ltd 2014

Fern Britton asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

Source ISBN: 9780007468560

Ebook Edition © April 2014 ISBN: 9780007468584

Version: 2014-03-12

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