Pedigree Mum
The e-book bestselling author, Fiona Gibson is back.Laugh-out-loud funny from the author that bought you Mum On The Run.Fiona’s writing deals with the real life cringe-worthy moments we all know so well…A straying husband. A broken heart. And a crazy rescue dog in a town of posh pooches…When Kerry Tambini upped sticks with her family to a new home on the coast, she couldn’t have been happier. Then husband Rob made the biggest mistake of his life…Stranded with her children in snooty Shorling, Kerry has plenty on her plate. So how can she say no to the kids' pleas for a dog when they're missing their father dreadfully? Will adopting a wayward hound lead Kerry to a new love – or has she bitten off more than she can chew?As she steps back into the dating world Kerry must juggle her family, her neurotic dog and try to fit in with the local pedigree mums, making her a true heroine for our time.
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FIONA GIBSON
Pedigree Mum
Copyright
Avon
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd
77–85 Fulham Palace Road
Hammersmith, London W6 8JB
First published in Great Britain by HarperCollinsPublishers 2013
Copyright © Fiona Gibson 2013
Fiona Gibson asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
A catalogue record for 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 ebook 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: 9781847562616
Ebook Edition © February 2013 ISBN: 9780007478439
Version: 2014-12-09
Dedication
For the delectable Miss Wendy Rigg
Contents
Chapter Two: Four months later
Chapter Thirteen: Jack’s, three weeks later
Chapter Twenty-Five: December 1, the first snowfall
Chapter Fifty-Six: Four months later
Chapter Seventy: Three months later
Children and Dogs … Are they really that different?
My Inspirations for Pedigree Mum
20 Quick Questions for author Fiona Gibson
PART ONE
Arrival
‘Welcoming a new addition into your home is a decision not to be taken lightly. The impact on your family will be enormous.’
Your First Dog: A Complete Guide by Jeremy Catchpole
Chapter One
So it actually exists. The perfect family day out, as peddled by the glossy magazines, featuring unfeasibly photogenic parents and children enjoying beach picnics in the sunshine – ithappens in real life, Kerry realises. To her left, a family entirely populated by curly-haired blondes are tucking into a Niçoise salad from a huge transparent pink bowl. They’ve even brought salad tongs (pink to match the bowl) and it appears to be fresh tuna, not tinned. There’s also a huge pastry oblong which looks like one of those savoury French tarts, with anchovies draped all over it – Kerry is amazed to see it being happily consumed by persons under eight years old – plus a dazzling array of fresh fruit.
At another gathering, kids in Breton tops are tucking into what looks like a week’s worth of five-a-days at one sitting, and not your boring old apples and tangerines either. Kerry spots mangoes, papayas and gnarly little testicle-like things that might possibly be kumquats or maybe ugly fruits … God, she doesn’t even know the names of the more exotic varieties. Is it any wonder she can’t persuade her own children to acquaint themselves with pineapple? Here on Shorling beach, in the glorious April sunshine, no one is whingeing or picking out bits they don’t like. There appears to be not one Cheesy Wotsit on the whole beach.
As for acceptable picnic attire, Kerry realises this is Petit Bateau territory, with a liberal sprinkling of Boden and Gap. It’s also clear that Mia, who at seven years old favours scruffy denim shorts and has already splattered ice cream down her T-shirt, doesn’t quite belong. And it’s a miracle that Freddie, who’s wearing the hideous black and orange tracksuit that’s permanently welded to his lithe five-year-old body these days, hasn’t been politely asked to leave the beach. Kerry might be feeling paranoid, but she’s sure that kumquat-slicing mum over there is giving her children a look of distaste, as if fearful that they might pitch up beside them and start slugging Fanta and ripping open packets of Jammy Dodgers.
