It's Raining Men (48 page)

‘I thought you’d never ask,’ replied Lara, shaking the wet drops off herself before crossing his threshold.

She walked through the kitchen to see Gracie dozing in a furry pink bed at the side of the wood-burning stove.

‘She looks comfortable,’ said Lara.

‘She’s settled in well. She’s found a new home that fits her better than the other one.’

Lara raised her head to him. Like me, she thought. Oh God, why didn’t he just grab her and kiss her? She was aching for him to do so. To be this close to him and not have him want to hold
her was torture. She should go. If he had been pleased to see her, he would have let her know by now.

‘As you might have gathered, she is the world’s most rubbish guard dog,’ said Gene, making polite conversation. ‘She never barks when anyone comes to the door. Only when
they leave, funnily enough.’

Lara swallowed hard to push down the tears rising inside her. She could fall in love with Gene Hathersage. She was halfway there already. Dammit. He was pleased to see her, but not
that
sort of pleased.

‘Well, I’ll witness that for myself now, then. Nice to see you again, Gene,’ she said, her voice wobbly. ‘I’ll be away.’

‘Oh, no, you won’t,’ said Gene Hathersage, taking her hand and pulling her into his big woodman’s arms. ‘You’re not going anywhere.’

Whitby Examiner

MAJOR AWARD FOR SEASIDE VILLAGE

North Yorkshire seaside village Reines de la Mer has been granted the national award for best rejuvenated seaside village. Reines de la Mer was known locally as Ren Dullem for
many years, but has reverted back to its original name as it appears in the Domesday Book.

Lord Edwin Carlton told the
Examiner
that the success was all down to RISE, a company the village employed from its own personal budget to oversee the major changes needed to bring the
village up to spec.

The founder members of RISE, Mrs Lara Hathersage, Mrs May Hathersage and Frau Clare Wolke, are equally generous in their praise. ‘The village is full of wonderful people, beautiful
buildings and amazing scenery. All we are doing is polishing a jewel,’ said Lara. ‘We have a long way to go, but the award makes us all proud that our achievements have been
recognized.’

‘Everyone is delighted,’ May commented. ‘Business is booming.’

‘Our next project will have to be the school,’ said Clare. ‘There has been a baby boom in the village with ten girls being born in the last six months alone. Our nursery needs an extension.’

Frau Wolke, wife of international German banker Ludwig Wolke, has herself just given birth to her first child, a daughter called Regen, which is the German word for rain. The Wolkes are based in
Dubai.

According to local folklore the bay was once inhabited by mermaids and today’s villagers continue to uphold the claims.

‘Early French inhabitants of the village named it in honour of the creatures so that they would not sink their fishing vessels,’ said Milton Bird, a local inventor. ‘Mermaids
don’t just live in Cornwall, you know. We’ve had them up north as well.’

Miss Jenny Dickinson, owner of the Mermaid Café, said, ‘For many years no one even knew that Reines de la Mer existed so it is completely unspoiled and holidaymakers can be assured
that we shall never let it lose its charm.’

‘The area was renowned for smugglers but we shall never know if the myths about mermaids are true or not,’ said Lord Carlton with a twinkle in his eye. ‘But isn’t it
wonderful to believe in a little magic in life?’

Just a few million essential thank-yous I need to distribute, if you’ll bear with me.

Thanks to the fabulous team behind me: my agent Lizzy Kremer at David Higham Associates, Harriet and Anne and everyone else there who sorts me out, and at Simon and Schuster: my editors Suzanne
Baboneau and Clare Hey, my buddy and PR guru Nigel Stoneman, Ally Grant, Alice Murphy, S-J Virtue, Maxine Hitchcock, Dawn Burnett, Rumana Haider, Dominic Brendon, Gill Richardson, Kerr MacRae, Ian
‘God’ Chapman . . . simply everyone. You’re all a joy to work for and with – I’m lucky to have you.

Thanks to my wonderful copy-editor Clare Parkinson who reduces me to rubble with her cleverness. She’s written this book so if you’re not happy with it – I’ll forward on
her email.

Thanks to Jill Craven at my local library for her passion and devotion to the job of getting people into libraries. Jill, you’ve been there selflessly helping me from the beginning and I
wish you a big hit of karma.

Thanks to all my readers who write the loveliest kindest emails to me. You’ve put many a smile on my face and made me feel that I was right to pack in the accountancy job. The world of
numbers is a much safer place without me.

Thanks to P & O Cruises, and my dear friend there Michele Andjel, for all their fantastic support and sharing their ships with me. One day heaven, for me, will be an eternal ride upon the
waves with a glass of ice wine in my hand on one of your ‘girls’.

Thanks to wonderful people who support my charities and supply beautiful gifts at my launches so we can raise a bundle for www.yorkshirecatrescue.org and The Well, a complementary therapy centre
for cancer patients in Barnsley: Slurp.co.uk, stmoriz.co.uk, callulaglass.co.uk, Douwe Egberts coffee, Walkers of Scotland, Andy at beatsonhouse.co.uk, Jason at the Holiday Inn, Gillian at
costumehistorian.co.uk, Rob Royd farm shop. . . and many more – you’re all just brill.

Thanks to Stu at nm4s.com who looks after my gorgeous website. Thanks for making it idiot-proof which, with me in charge, it needed to be.

Thanks to my lovely friends and family for their unconditional love and support: Mum, Dad, Maggie, Traz, Cath, Tracey, Spam, Hels, Kaz, Paul, Alec, Fraz, Peter, Chris and Jude and my two lads
for putting up with my bad tempers when I’m near a deadline and not hating me too much.

And last but not least, thanks to Pete – for giving me my very own happy story ending.