Belle, Book and Christmas Candle by Sharon Booth

Author:Sharon Booth [Booth, Sharon]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Green Ginger Publishing
Published: 2018-11-30T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

Celeste put her arm around me and pulled me into a hug. 'Don't worry,' she said, 'it will be all right.'

I couldn't, for the life of me, see how. 'It's going to be a disaster,' I told her. 'Honestly, I've never seen anything so bad in all my life. He's going to be booed off stage.'

'I'm sure the crowds at Castle Clair are more polite than that,' she said firmly. 'And even if they're not, I feel positive that he will improve before the show.'

'You didn't see him,' I said grimly. 'I can't imagine he'll improve enough in the next few days. Believe me.'

The truth was, it had been the most uncomfortable, awkward evening of my life. Yet, it had all started so promisingly.

Jethro's house was beautiful. Unlike my sisters, I really loved new-builds, and this one was spectacular. Five bedrooms, two with en suites, triple garage, large garden, conservatory, study, large family bathroom, a massive kitchen/diner, separate dining room and double-aspect lounge. I was in love. With the house, obviously.

'This is gorgeous.' I wasn't sure my family would agree. It wasn't just the relative newness of the building, but the mess everywhere. Books and papers were piled all over the place, and I could imagine my mother throwing up her hands in horror and declaring that the place needed a good decluttering. But I wasn't my mother. It didn't matter to me. I still loved it.

He seemed to relax. 'You like it? I thought you might hate it, what with your family owning that glorious old Elizabethan house.'

I pulled a face. 'Castle Lodge isn't my sort of place. It's dark and creepy and ancient. This is much more my sort of thing.' I blushed, suddenly realising it sounded as if I was angling to move in. As if! Luckily, he didn't seem to notice. He was too busy making me a hot chocolate "to warm me up after the cold outside", even though I'd arrived in a heated car, was wearing a thick jumper and quilted coat, and his house clearly had an exceptionally efficient boiler and central heating system, judging by the way I practically melted as I stepped through the front door.

We'd sat at his posh, glossy breakfast bar, sipping hot chocolate, and I confessed that I'd only just discovered that he was the JJ Richmond.

He'd looked rather embarrassed at that. 'It's no big deal,' he assured me. 'Besides, those days are over.'

'You're still not writing then? Even after our trip to the museum?'

'Even after our trip to the museum,' he said. 'I've made a page or two of notes but that's it. I don't know if it will ever go any further.'

'I'm sure it will,' I said. 'Anything's possible.'

'You haven't seen my magic act yet,' he said. 'You might revise your opinion after that.'

I'd honestly thought he was exaggerating, but an hour later, after sitting through the most excruciating performance I'd ever witnessed, I had to admit, if only to myself, that it was highly unlikely that he'd ever be able to pull this off.

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.