LAURA ZIEPE lives in Brentwood in Essex with her husband Terry, three-year-old twins Harry and Darcey, and two dogs. Laura has always loved writing from a young age and was often writing stories from as young as eight. After leaving sixth form and working in office jobs for a year in London, Laura decided to go to university. Unsure what to study, Laura’s oldest friend asked her what her ideal job would be. Immediately answering ‘author’, Laura followed her dreams and chose a degree in Creative Writing and English at St Mary’s University in Twickenham. As well as writing books, she is a freelance make-up artist and loves travelling as much as she can. She has previously written three novels, ’Tis the Season to be Single, Essex Girls and Made in Essex and hopes to be writing for many years to come. You can follow Laura on Twitter @lauraziepe or on Instagram @lauraziepewriter.
The Morning After the Wedding Before
LAURA ZIEPE
HQ
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd.
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF
First published in Great Britain by HQ in 2019
Copyright © Laura Ziepe 2019
Laura Ziepe 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 e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, 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: 9780008330958
E-book Edition © 2019 ISBN: 9780008318499
Version: 2019-05-24
Table of Contents
Cover
About the Author
Title page
Copyright
Dedication
Chapter 1: Holly
Chapter 2: Holly
Chapter 3: Emma
Chapter 4: Holly
Chapter 5: Kim
Chapter 6: Holly
Chapter 7: Emma
Chapter 8: Kim
Chapter 9: Holly
Chapter 10
Chapter 11: Holly
Chapter 12: Emma
Chapter 13: Kim
Chapter 14: Holly
Chapter 15: Kim
Chapter 16: Emma
Chapter 17: Holly
Chapter 18: Emma
Chapter 19: Kim
Chapter 20: Holly
Chapter 21: Emma
Chapter 22: Kim
Chapter 23: Holly
Chapter 24: Emma
Chapter 25: Emma
Chapter 26: Kim
Chapter 27: Holly
Chapter 28: Emma
Chapter 29: Kim
Chapter 30: Emma
Chapter 31: Emma
Chapter 32: Holly
Chapter 33: Kim
Chapter 34: Kim
Chapter 35: Emma
Chapter 36: Holly
Chapter 37: Six Months Later – Holly
Chapter 38: Emma
Acknowledgements
Extract
Dear Reader …
Keep Reading …
About the Publisher
To Stacey.
Always in my thoughts.
Forever in my heart.
As Holly looked around, hypnotized by the scene in front of her, she had a good feeling about this trip. It wasn’t as though she hadn’t been to a pool party on holiday before; she’d been to dozens when she’d been in her early twenties. It was just she’d never been to Las Vegas before; the swimming pool was absolutely enormous, the sun blazing, music blasting, the place was heaving with young people and it was a twenty-four-hour party paradise. She felt so pleased that her college friend, Emma Langford, had chosen Vegas as her wedding destination. Holly being a single mother to two young children, it was exactly the kind of place the doctor ordered. The wedding was the perfect excuse to escape toddler tantrums for this oasis of indulgence.
‘Emma?’ Holly called out hesitantly, as she made her way over to the slender girl in the white bikini taking a selfie. The girl she was calling had her back to Holly and hadn’t heard her voice over the loud music. Holly knew Emma had lost tons of weight, but they hadn’t seen each other in six months. Was that really her?
Emma turned round, her pretty face exploding into a huge smile. ‘Holly, you came!’ She laughed, gripping her in a tight hug, pushing her sunglasses back into her long, dark hair. ‘It’s so good to see you. I’m glad you found us okay, especially seeing as this place is so packed. Where’s Kim?’ she questioned, suddenly noticing that Holly was alone.
‘She’s taking a nap in the hotel room,’ Holly explained. They’d only landed about two hours ago and her best friend, Kim, had felt too tired to venture out. Kim was also a mother to two children: Mylo who was three, and Willow, nine months. They were a similar age to Holly’s children, Lottie and Jacob. Kim had been more excited about catching up on some sleep than anything else and had sprawled out the moment they got into the hotel room and discovered their giant beds. ‘I’m hoping Kim will come out later. You look amazing, Emma, honestly, absolutely stunning. I hardly recognize you,’ Holly told her earnestly, her eyes sweeping up and down in admiration. ‘I can’t believe you have nearly half a million followers on Instagram now too; it’s absolutely amazing. You must be