Summer of Love
Authors: Katie Fforde
About the Book
Sian Bishop has only ever experienced one moment of recklessness – a moment that resulted in her beloved son Rory. It’s not that she doesn’t love the outcome of that wild night, but since then she has always taken the safer route. So when dependable, devoted Richard suggests a move to the beautiful English countryside, she leaves the hustle and bustle of the city behind, and she throws herself into the picture-postcard cottage garden, her furniture restoration business, and a new life in the country.
Her good intentions are torpedoed on a glorious summer’s evening with the arrival of Gus Berresford. One-time explorer and full-time heartbreaker, Gus is ridiculously exciting, wonderfully glamorous and a completely inappropriate love interest for a single mum. But Gus and Sian have met before …
Sian has no use for a fling, she simply mustn’t fall in love with the most unlikely suitor ever to cross her path – even if he has now crossed her path twice. But who knows what can happen in a summer of love …
About the Author
Katie Fforde lives in Gloucestershire with her husband and some of her three children. Recently her old hobbies of ironing and housework have given way to singing, Flamenco dancing and husky racing. She claims this keeps her fit. She is the bestselling author of fifteen previous novels.
KATIE FFORDE
Summer of Love
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
This eBook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.
Version 1.0
Epub ISBN 9781409023722
Published by Century in 2011
2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1
Copyright © Katie Fforde Ltd 2011
Katie Fforde has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work
This novel is a work of fiction. Names and characters are the product of the author’s imagination and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition, including this condition, being imposed on the subsequent purchaser
First published in Great Britain in 2011 by Century
Random House, 20 Vauxhall Bridge Road
London SW1V 2SA
Addresses for companies within The Random House Group Limited can be found at:
www.randomhouse.co.uk/offices.htm
The Random House Group Limited Reg. No. 954009
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 9781846056505
My darling husband, with love.
Also by Katie Fforde
Living Dangerously
The Rose Revived
Wild Designs
Stately Pursuits
Life Skills
Thyme Out
Artistic Licence
Highland Fling
Paradise Fields
Restoring Grace
Flora’s Lot
Practically Perfect
Going Dutch
Wedding Season
Love Letters
A Perfect Proposal
Acknowledgements
Research is always important to me but when I told my family and friends that I was going on a bushcraft course with Ray Mears’s company they really thought I’d gone too far this time. It was one of the best weekends of my life. Thank you to everyone concerned – the brilliant staff who didn’t laugh when I couldn’t find my tent in the middle of the night, the wonderful people on the course with me who protected me from every little discomfort and for the organisation by all concerned. Can’t recommend it highly enough.
To
mysinglefriend.com
who were so helpful and taught me all about internet dating in a safe way. Not that I tried it myself, of course!
To my wonderful agents at A. M. Heath who all do so much for me. In particular Bill Hamilton and Sarah Molloy.
Also my amazing publishers, Cornerstone, Random House. Editors, Kate Elton and Georgina Hawtrey-Woore who are endlessly tolerant and patient as well as being truly inspiring.
Charlotte Bush and Amelia Harvell who are not only brilliant at their jobs but tireless as well.
To the amazing sales and marketing team who just do better and better each year. They include Clare Round, Sarah Page, Rob Waddington and Jen Wilson.
As always to Richenda Todd who is the best copy editor ever, and so say all those who are lucky enough to have her saving their blushes.
Honestly, writing the book is the easy part!
Chapter One
‘Er, hello!’
Sian put down her fork and looked over the garden wall. A woman was smiling at her, holding a bottle of wine in one hand and a jam jar full of flowers in the other.
‘Hello!’ said Sian.
‘I hope you don’t think I’m appallingly nosy but I noticed the furniture van drive away yesterday and thought I’d pop round and welcome you to the village. I’m Fiona Matcham. I live in the house up the end.’ She swung the wine bottle vaguely in the direction of the lane.
‘Oh,’ said Sian. ‘Would you like to come in?’ She suspected that her visitor meant the Big House, a beautiful building that her mother had raved about when she’d come down to help Sian move in.
‘I don’t want to stop you working, but I could come and watch you.’
Sian laughed and wiped her hands on her shorts. She’d managed to get all the strawberry plants in that her mother had given her. ‘No, no, I’m quite happy to stop. I’m Sian Bishop.’
‘Hello again, Sian.’ Fiona waved the jam jar at her. ‘Here, take these.’ Fiona Matcham handed Sian the bottle and the flowers over the wall and then walked up to the gate and let herself in. ‘Oh! You’ve got a boy! How lovely! I love boys!’
Rory, who was digging with his little spade in the soil his mother had loosened for him first, looked up and stared quizzically at Fiona from under his blond fringe.
‘You’re doing good work there, aren’t you? Are you going to grow something?’ Fiona Matcham addressed Rory while producing a jar of jam from the pocket of her loose linen jacket.
‘Yes,’ said Rory seriously.
‘We’re hoping to grow our own vegetables now we’re in the country,’ said Sian. ‘Rory’s got that patch, and I’m going to have a bigger patch in the back garden. We’ve planted strawberries. Salad we’ll do later. Rory, would you like to stop for a drink now? Or carry on while I make tea?’
‘Carry on while you make tea,’ said Rory, turning back to his digging and ignoring them both.
Sian knew her son felt shy and would probably join them when he realised the tin of chocolate biscuits his grandmother had left had been produced. ‘You would like a cup of tea?’ Sian asked her guest. ‘I’ve kind of assumed …’
‘Oh yes, tea would be lovely. If you don’t mind.’
Sian had already decided that this woman, who seemed to be in her mid-fifties, wasn’t the sort who would be critical of a house not in perfect order, or why had she brought the wine? The flowers, too, were artistic and original – and no doubt from her own garden, not a conventional bouquet. Sian was inclined to like her already.