[Churchminster #3] Wild Things (42 page)

‘Hmph.’

Calypso pulled the stem off a long piece of grass as she walked past it. ‘Who are those flowers in the kitchen from, by the way? They’re gorgeous.’

‘Oh, just a well-wisher.’

‘A bloody generous well-wisher! I wish someone would send me flowers like that.’

They walked on in silence for a few moments, before Clementine spoke again. ‘Actually, darling, there was something I wanted to talk to you about. Camilla and I didn’t know whether to or not, but I think it’s best if you find out from us.’

Calypso stopped and looked at her. ‘What do you mean? Is it something I’m not going to like?’

Clementine sighed, ‘Let’s go back, and I’ll show you.’

Ten minutes later, they were in the cosy sitting room at Fairoaks, the one Clementine used herself when she wasn’t entertaining. The comfy sofa and calming colours were doing nothing to quell Calypso’s growing discomfort.

‘What is it?’ she demanded. Her voice was emotional. ‘No one’s died, have they?’

‘Heavens, no!’ Clementine said hurriedly. She reached into her large handbag and pulled out a
magazine
. ‘Camilla came over and gave this to me last night. She’d kept it out of your way and wasn’t sure what to do with it.’

Clementine handed it to Calypso. Calypso stared at it for a moment; it was one of those celebrity American trash mags that Camilla subscribed to.

‘IT’S OVER!’ screamed the headline on the front cover. Calypso felt sick as she recognized the people in the photo underneath. It was a paparazzi shot of Rafe and Daphne at a red-carpet do, looking impossibly glamorous. There was a big split down the middle of the picture. Calypso’s stomach did an involuntary somersault.

And then in smaller print underneath: ‘
How Hollywood’s golden couple hit the rocks! Full story inside!
’

Wordlessly Calypso flipped to the page and started reading. It was juicy stuff. Rafe had been sensationally dumped by his socialite fiancée Daphne Winters, after she allegedly found him in bed with their pretty young housemaid. Although Rafe and Daphne’s spokespeople both issued a ‘No comment’, the fact that Daphne’s daddy, the big studio boss, had dropped Rafe from his latest film had sent the rumours flying.

‘
Rafe also had this fling with a mystery woman a while ago, and it got pretty heavy,’ said a source close to the star. ‘Daphne had been pretty pissed about this other woman, that as soon as she realized he’d been unfaithful again, she called time on their engagement
.’

So Daphne wasn’t as invincible as she had made out, after all. Calypso looked up, eyes hurting. ‘First me and then the housemaid, eh? How classy, I feel really good now.’

‘Darling, I know it hurts but this must only prove you really are better off without him.’

Calypso gave a short laugh. ‘So why do I miss him so much?’

‘You loved him, Calypso,’ Clementine said gently. ‘That feeling isn’t going to go away overnight.’

‘Well, I wish it bloody would!’ Calypso smiled sadly. ‘I’ll tell you what, Granny Clem, I’m off men for life after this.’ Her iPhone starting ringing on the table where she’d chucked it. Calypso reached across to answer it. Her face lit up. ‘Actually, hold that thought.’ She skipped out of the room saying: ‘Hey, Isaac! How’s it going? I was just thinking about you, actually …’

Clementine smiled as her granddaughter’s chatter faded down the corridor. Getting up, she walked over to the bureau and unlocked the drawer. The card from the flowers lay there, just as she had left it.

‘
Hey sexy. Have you forgiven me yet? I’m coming back over to the UK for a bit and I’d love to meet up. Call me. I still think about you. Rafe X
’

Clementine had met enough leopards in her life to know they never changed their spots. Without a second thought, she dropped the card in the bin, with the rest of the rubbish.

THE END

Acknowledgements

First and foremost, thank you to the two lovely women in my life who make this all happen, my editor Sarah Turner at Transworld and my agent Amanda Preston. Also a huge thanks to Emma Messenger, who gets more ‘ideal’ with every Churchminster story, Jo Hoare for her amazing tractor driving and the Grandpa Hoare shooting-stick stories, Kate Towns and Josh Yudkin for all their expertise on film sets, and Tim Barrett-Jolly for his wine knowledge. (With a name like that he should be in one of my books.) Much appreciation to Michelle Beynon and the staff of Cardiff hospital, to Gill Linley, the First Lady of the Cotswolds and to Christian Lang for his French translations, Oh, and I have to make an apology to
heat
magazine’s Kay Ribiero for implying in the last book that the lift sex scene idea was anything to do with her. Kay, your name has been cleared! All my lovely friends and readers, you’re brilliant, every last one of you. Finally, thank you to JT for putting up with my ‘creative’ moods, and the Carnegie clan, the best bonkers family I could wish for.

About the Author

Jo Carnegie has worked as Deputy Editor for
heat
magazine, interviewing stars from George Clooney, Simon Cowell and Will Smith, to Posh and Becks and Cheryl Cole. As well as still writing for
heat
, she writes for many other publications and is also a regular contributor on radio.
Wild Things
follows her first two novels,
Country Pursuits
and
Naked Truths
. She lives in London and Cardiff.

For more information on Jo Carnegie visit her website at
www.churchminster.co.uk

Also by Jo Carnegie

COUNTRY PURSUITS

NAKED TRUTHS

and published by Corgi Books

TRANSWORLD PUBLISHERS
61–63 Uxbridge Road, London W5 5SA
A Random House Group Company
www.transworldbooks.co.uk

WILD THINGS
A CORGI BOOK: 9780552160865
Version 1.0 Epub ISBN 9781409095330

First publication in Great Britain
Corgi edition published 2010

Copyright © Jo Carnegie 2010

Jo Carnegie has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.

This book is a work of fiction and, except in the case of historical fact, any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorized distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

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