Katie Fforde - Artistic License

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.

Praise for Katie Fforde

A fairytale-like, gently witty read Heart-warming made for sunny days in the park Cosmopolitan

The mother-daughter bond the women develop is endearing and the heartache caused by a failed long marriage touchingly conveyed Sunday Telegraph

Acute and funny observations of the social scene The Times

A heart-warming tale of female friendship, fizzing with Ffordes distinctive brand of humour Sunday Express

Delicious gorgeous humour and the lightest of touches Sunday Times

A witty and generous romance Katie Fforde is on sparkling form Jilly Cooper for the grown-ups Independent

Further praise for Katie Fforde

Ffordes light touch succeeds in making this a sweet and breezy read the ideal accompaniment to a long summers evening Daily Mail

Old-fashioned romance of the best sort funny, comforting Elle

The romance fizzes along with good humour and is a good, fat, summery read Sunday Mirror

Joanna Trollope crossed with Tom Sharpe Mail on Sunday

A spirited summer read thats got to be Ffordes best yet Woman & Home

Can be scoffed at one sitting Tasty Cosmopolitan

Perfect holiday reading. Pack it with the swimsuit and suntan lotion Irish Independent

Fforde is blessed with a lightness of touch, careful observation and a sure sense of the funny side of life Ideal Home

Top drawer romantic escapism You

Warm, witty and entertaining as satisfying as a cup of hot cocoa on a chilly night Woman & Home

Katie Fforde produces gentle cheering comedies that feature heroines whose waistlines are not what they were and who are gifted with humorous self-deprecation Sunday Times

Katie Fforde writes entertainingly about country life and love Womans Journal

Lively and engaging Womans Weekly

Perfect for the beach Bella

Entertainingly written a fine romance indeed The Lady

Bright and airy Closer

A perfect piece of curl-up-on-the-sofa reading Real

A funny, fresh and lively read heat

Also by Katie Fforde

Living Dangerously
The Rose Revived
Stately Pursuits
Wild Designs
Life Skills
Thyme Out
Highland Fling
Paradise Fields
Restoring Grace
Floras Lot
Practically Perfect
Going Dutch
Wedding Season

Contents

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 authors and publishers rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

Version 1.0

Epub ISBN 9781446428191

www.randomhouse.co.uk

Published by Arrow Books 2009

13 15 17 19 20 18 16 14 12

Copyright Katie Fforde 2001

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 authors 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 publishers 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 2001 by Century

Arrow Books
Random House, 20 Vauxhall Bridge Road,
London SW1V 2SA

www.rbooks.co.uk

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 9780099415282

To Lyn Cluer-Coleman and to
The Stroud House Gallery.
With much love.

Acknowledgements

To Sue Wilson, photographer, Gilli Allan, writer and travelling companion (who isnt bossy and doesnt snore), and to Jane and Alan Ford for an idea. To Pam and Julian Swindell for taking us to Hollow Cottage in County Mayo. To Aix-en-Provence and New York for being so wonderful. But mostly to Lyn Cluer-Coleman for creating The Stroud House Gallery and letting me watch.

Chapter One

Thea was standing in the rubbish bin, trying to crush its contents enough to get the lid on, when she heard people approaching down the hallway. They were talking.

Come into the kitchen and excuse the mess, its always a tip, she heard as she crushed a pizza box beneath her heel.

Petal, her youngest and most demanding lodger, followed by a man Thea had never seen before, entered the kitchen.

Hi, Thea! What are you doing in there? Petal said, curious but not interested enough to hear the answer. This is my Uncle Ben. Oh, thats my phone.

While Petal searched in her bag for her fifth limb, Thea tried to step out of the waste bin without falling over. There was nothing to be ashamed of in compacting takeaway cartons, cereal packets and Pringles tubes, thus reducing landfill, but she could have done without witnesses. Petal, having dived on her mobile phone like a gull on a fast-food leftover, went out of the room, talking hard.

Thea, unreasonably annoyed, reached for the wall to balance herself. The bin teetered and her foot penetrated the layer of cardboard to the substratum of detritus beneath. Trying to pull herself free, the heel of her shoe caught round the loop of a drinks can holder and Thea began to lose her balance. For an instant she had an image of herself lying prostrate on the floor, surrounded by eggshells, banana skins and coffee grounds. She put out a hand, groping for something to hold on to, but couldnt reach the wall.

The stranger, seeing her predicament, crossed the room and caught the flailing hand and then her body, steadying the bin and holding Thea upright.

Maybe, if she hadnt been in such a bad mood, she could have seen the funny side and laughed up at him. As it was, she just blushed furiously while he supported her, unwilling to see if he was laughing at her. Thank you so much, she muttered to the bin, as she rammed the lid back on. What a ridiculous thing to have happened.

Petal quite often managed to make Thea feel more disagreeable than the most caricatured seaside landlady and she felt very tempted to tell her so-called uncle that it was all Petals fault; she had promised to get some new bin liners, having used up Theas entire roll. But although this was the truth, it would be extremely petty, and it was bad enough to appear bad-tempered and ridiculous in front of strangers without being small-minded as well.