The Colour of Summer (The House in the Clouds Book 3) by Victoria Connelly

Author:Victoria Connelly [Connelly, Victoria]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-06-20T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

July came round so much faster than Edward had imagined it would and, suddenly, he was waking up on the morning of his father’s funeral. He wasn’t sure if the brilliant sunshine was a blessing or a mockery. Either way, it didn’t make him feel better. The service was in the afternoon at quarter past two. A strange, in-between time, he thought. The crematorium was obviously a busy place to give such a precise time using the quarter hour. Edward has pushed for an earlier slot, but there hadn’t been one available and so he had the agony of a morning to get through.

He took a shower, shaved and put on a pair of jogging pants and a T-shirt, eyeing up the clean shirt and suit he’d be wearing later. He’d dropped a suit round to Oscar the week before, telling him he’d want it back, just in case Oscar thought about trying to sell it on eBay. Oscar had taken it from him and Edward had stepped briefly into the old family home. It had felt odd to be there. The curtains were drawn tight against the summer sun which seemed a shame, but it was a lot tidier than when their father had been alive. Oscar had clearly made an effort.

Edward couldn’t manage much of a lunch before the funeral and so he just had a couple of slices of toast and a cup of tea. Luckily, he hadn’t changed into his suit when there was a knock on his door. It was Abi, and he was relieved not to be dressed head to toe in black. It would have necessitated another lie and he really didn’t want to lie to her any more than he had to.

‘Hi Edward!’ she sang, her face full of enthusiasm for the summer day that was leaving Edward feeling nothing but cold.

‘Hi Abi. Come in.’

She entered his apartment and they kissed, taking a moment to enjoy the physical sensation of each other.

‘I thought we could go out somewhere. A walk maybe? Or, well, I was actually thinking of going to Sissinghurst. We enjoyed Great Dixter so much, didn’t we? I thought we might explore a few more of the great gardens together. What do you think?’

‘Oh, Abi – I’d love to, but I can’t.’

‘Don’t tell me you’re working – not on a gorgeous day like today?’

‘No, I’m not working.’ He sighed. ‘I’ve got somewhere I have to be.’

‘You can’t get out of it?’

‘Not really.’ He thought of the funeral and the dark hours that lay ahead of him, and then he thought about Abi and how wonderful it would be to go walking in the sunshine with her. They’d find some shady nook and sit down together and he’d kiss her underneath the deep green leaves of the summer trees, and the rest of the world would vanish.

‘That’s a shame.’ She glanced out of his window. ‘Although it is probably a bit late for Sissinghurst now. We should really spend the whole day there.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.