Time After Time by Karly Lane

Author:Karly Lane [Karly Lane]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Published: 2023-03-17T00:00:00+00:00

‘Merry Christmas,’ Alice said, putting on a brave face as the video panned around and captured her family, gathered around the table at her parents’ house. It was Christmas morning in the UK and Christmas evening back home, where her family had been waiting for her to wake up so they could call her.

She waved at her nieces and nephews. ‘Look at all those gorgeous faces. Gosh, I miss you guys.’

‘We miss you, Aunty Alice,’ Teagan, Toby and Cicily’s daughter, said, and that was followed by a chorus of more we miss yous that was almost her undoing. She found out what they all got for Christmas and was taken for a walk by Max, Charlie’s two-year-old, when he took off with the phone, causing an impromptu game of chaseys as they tried to get the phone back before he disconnected the call.

By the time she’d spoken to everyone, it was time to go, so they could finish their Christmas dinner.

When she hung up, Alice felt drained from keeping a smile on her face despite the fact her heart felt battered, bruised and broken all over again. She should just stay in bed—go back to sleep and wait the whole day out. But it was Christmas. With a drawn-out sigh, Alice got up and headed for the kitchen to make coffee.

The day before had been a disaster. Although she hadn’t finished the bottle of wine, she’d drunk enough and cried enough to make her sleepy and had napped for a solid three hours, waking in the afternoon to find a note from Frankie informing her he’d gone to a meeting and wasn’t sure when he’d be back. Her mind fleetingly went to that near kiss and she wondered if maybe that had something to do with the fact he’d left without saying goodbye in person. Then she abruptly dismissed the idea. A man like Frankie Esquire wouldn’t flee into the night over something as simple as a kiss—and he certainly wouldn’t have lost any sleep over it. His departure was more likely to do with the most recent drama in the Gigi saga. She decided to put the whole kiss thing out of her mind for her own sanity.

In the living room, she stopped and admired the beautifully decorated Christmas tree with its twinkling little lights and shiny baubles, feeling a tiny flicker of something happy unfurling inside her. Beneath the tree, there was something that hadn’t been there the previous day—presents. Or to be more exact, the presents that had been under her tree in her flat.

She dragged the first brightly coloured package towards her and smiled as she unwrapped it, discovering a bounty of items she’d been craving ever since leaving Australia, including chocolate, Tim Tams, Vegemite and a huge tin of Milo.

Another package revealed her siblings had all put in and sent a gorgeous charm bracelet with all her nieces’ and nephews’ names made into tiny charms. The gift brought on a fresh wave of homesickness, and she clasped the bracelet tightly to her chest as she blinked back tears.

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