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First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins Publishers 2018
Copyright © Bella Osborne 2018
Cover illustration © Kim Leo
Cover design © Cherie Chapman Book Design 2018
Bella Osborne 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 authorâs imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
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Source ISBN: 9780008258221
Ebook Edition © December 2018 ISBN: 9780008258184
Version: 2018-11-21
Three months earlier
âHappy pre-versary!â Anna called from the kitchen.
âWhat?â asked Liam, screwing up one side of his face as he removed his coat. He walked through to where Anna was bouncing on her toes with excitement.
âOne year today will be our wedding day. So, I made you this. Ta-dah!â Anna stepped away from the table and kissed Liam lightly.
Liam pulled away. âRight,â he said, rubbing his neck. His eyes alighted on the amorphous brown mass behind Anna. âWhat the hell is that?â He took a hasty step back and stared. âIt looks like some sort of ⦠demon? Have you been binge watching Game of Thrones again?â
Anna was hurt. Sheâd spent hours carefully crafting something special for him. âItâs a hedgehog.â
âMade from what? Poo?â
âItâs chocolate cake.â Anna put her hands on her hips but, remembering they were covered in chocolate icing, she wished she hadnât.
âItâs got teeth?â he said, peering closer.
âHedgehogs have teeth,â said Anna, feeling defensive.
âO-kay.â He didnât sound convinced. âAnyway, I wanted to talk to you.â
âWhat about?â asked Anna, turning her attention to aligning the hedgehogâs wonky eyes.
âThose teeth are like my grannyâs dentures.â
âYou wanted to talk to me about dentures?â She smiled at him.
âNo. I think we need to take a break.â
There was a pause as Anna frowned. All she could focus on was that maybe she shouldnât have used glacé cherries for the eyes. They were demon-like. Chocolate buttons would have been better.
âAnna?â prompted Liam.
âYes, fine.â
âReally? You agree?â
âYes. I think itâs a good idea,â she said, over her shoulder. âYouâve been working crazy hours recently and I could do with a break too. Iâve always wanted to go to New York but I donât think I could cope with the flight.â She turned around to see Liam was staring hard at the floor. âDid you have somewhere in mind? Itâll be cold and wet wherever we go in this country at this time of year.â
Liamâs eyebrows inched higher with her every word. âI donât mean a holiday, Anna.â Beads of sweat were forming on his top lip. His voice was gentle, his expression pained. âI mean a break from each other.â
And that was it. Her engagement, her future, her neat little life unravelled by one sentence. She hurled the hedgehog cake at Liamâs face and truly wished it had been made of poo.
âAre you sure about Majestic Mayonnaise?â asked Sophie, brandishing the tester pot.
âWell, obviously.â Anna playfully waved her loaded paint roller at Sophie.
âHey, Iâm pregnant!â
âBarely.â
âTen weeks actually, which means itâs the size of a large green olive.â
âWhich apparently means you can only supervise the decorating, rather than provide any actual help,â said Anna, smudging paint across her cheek as she attended to an itch.
âIâm sorting this out.â She pointed at the box in front of her, the words âRandom Crapâ emblazoned on the side in Annaâs handwriting. âIâd love to help with decorating but this is about you starting a new chapter without Liam and I donât want to intrude.â
âTwo years I wasted on him. What is it with me always picking the same sort of commitment-phobe? Liam makes it four in a row. Four!â said Anna, emphasising her point by holding up four fingers. She was beginning to think she was either a serial monogamist or she was destined never to find