The Christmas Café (30 page)

‘What do you mean?’ Tait was curious.

Kim smiled. ‘I told you I’d let you know if I thought of anything else, and I have.’

‘What do you need?’ Tait asked, expecting to be sent to the kitchen to fetch something.

‘I need you to dance with me.’ She placed her other hand around his waist.

‘Really? You want to dance with me? That’s great!’ He beamed.

‘She loves you, Tait, and she always has. Isn’t that right, Kim?’ Alex couldn’t help himself.

‘Yes. That’s about the sum of it.’ Kim looked up into the face of her surfer and nodded.

Tait pulled her towards him. ‘You are kidding me! You are so out of my league!’

‘That’s what I said!’ Flora shouted as she passed the couple. ‘And no shenanigans, you two!’

‘Oi!’ Kim laughed but was quickly silenced by the kiss that Tait planted squarely on her mouth.

‘I think you’re fabulous,’ Tait whispered, coming up for air.

‘I’m funny too, really funny!’ Kim laughed as they were pulled into the dancing throng.

Mr Giraldi tapped his cane in time to the music as his grandchildren danced around him in a circle. He cast his eyes skyward, knowing how much Angelica would have loved it.

John reached out his hand and took Bea’s inside his. ‘Reckon you remember how?’ he asked, with a lick of fringe dangling in his eyes.

Bea nodded.

‘Go easy on her, John, she isn’t as young as she used to be!’ Wyatt leant on his father’s shoulder and whispered in his ear above the music.

‘She is to me, son!’ He smiled.

‘You’d have liked Peter.’ Wyatt felt it was right to mention the man who had raised him.

John turned to face his boy and looked him in the eye. ‘Liked him? I love the man! He cared for the people most precious to me. I will forever be in his debt.’

Wyatt threw his arms around his dad and hugged him close. Those in close proximity clapped. Bea could hardly see through the fog of her tears.

John pulled her into the middle of the room and the two began to dance. With every step the years fell away until they were young and in love, with their whole lives ahead of them. Bea looked up into the face of the man she loved. His words filled her head like the sweetest music. ‘I don’t think there is anywhere else on the whole of God’s earth that I would rather be.’

He held her close as they spun round, whispering into her ear, ‘I waited for you, my love, and I was not tired by waiting. Happy Christmas, Beatrice.’

She closed her eyes and placed her hand on his chest, feeling the rhythm of his heart as it danced beneath her fingers. ‘Happy Christmas, my John.’

~

We hope you enjoyed this book!

Amanda Prowse’s next book is coming in spring 2016

For more information, click one of the links below:

About Amanda Prowse

About the
No Greater Love
sequence

About the
No Greater Courage
sequence

An invitation from the publisher

Every morning, when Bea wakes up, she places her hand on the empty space on the other side of the bed. She looks out of her bay window at the blue Sydney sky. And then she says ‘sorry’ to the man who was her husband for thirty years.

A widow at fifty-three, Bea does not believe in second chances. But when an email from a cafe-owner in Edinburgh leads her to take a trip to Scotland in the depths of winter, Bea is drawn back to a secret past – and a secret love – that she has long ago tried to forget.

‘A cracking page-turner’

The Bookseller

‘This story of a woman’s fight to rebuild her shattered life is captivating, heartbreaking and superbly written.’

Closer

‘An absolutely gripping read... the characterisation is done superbly.’

Iain Dale, LBC Radio

‘Great novel – let’s get it to number 1!’

Gok Wan

‘Poppy Day is a brilliant book, I couldn’t put it down.’

Carol Vorderman

‘A rattling good book to curl up on the sofa with, I thoroughly recommend Poppy Day by army wife Amanda Prowse. She has turned her own fear and anxiety into a page-turning novel of loss and courage.’

Lorraine Kelly,
The Sun

‘A modern day love story.’

Daily Mail

‘A deeply emotional story of a woman who will stop at nothing to save the man she loves... A fast, unputdownable read, Amanda Prowse adeptly fuses a tale of love and courage with the stark realities of war, both on the field and at home.’

Red

‘This romantic story of courage and determination is simply captivating.’

Closer

‘Army wife turns fear into fiction.’

Sunday Mirror

‘Set to become a bestseller.’

RAF News

‘Heartbreaking, but uplifting.’

Carol Vorderman

A
MANDA
P
ROWSE
has always loved crafting short stories and scribbling notes for potential books. Her ambition is to create stories that stop people turning off the bedside light, with characters that stay with you long after the last page is turned.

Amanda’s first novel,
Poppy Day
, was self-published in October 2011 and achieved a #1 spot in the eBook charts. She was then signed up by publishers Head of Zeus and her second novel,
What Have I Done?,
became a #1 bestseller in 2013, and gained rave reviews from readers.

Amanda lives in the West Country with her husband Simeon, a soldier, and their two sons Ben and Josh. She has now published five novels and four short stories, which share a common theme of ordinary women doing extraordinary things for love. After many years, she finally has her dream job – a full-time writer.

You can follow Amanda on Twitter
@MrsAmandaProwse
, become friends with her on
Facebook
, or visit her website
www.amandaprowse.org

Amanda Prowse’s
No Greater Love
sequence is a series of contemporary stories with love at their core. They feature characters whose histories interweave through the generations: ordinary men and women who do extraordinary things for love. They are stories to keep you from switching off the bedside lamp at night, stories to remember long after the final page is turned...

Poppy Day

Ever since hairdresser Poppy Day married her childhood sweetheart, Mart, she’s been deliriously happy. Now Mart is fighting in Afghanistan, and Poppy is counting the days until he returns.

It takes one knock at the door to rip Poppy’s world apart. Mart has been taken hostage, and it’s too dangerous for the army to rescue him.

Poppy is determined to bring him home herself. But her journey will lead her to a heartbreaking dilemma. What price will she pay to save the man she loves?

Poppy Day
is available
here
.

What Have I Done?

Kathryn Brooker is the very picture of a fulfilled wife and mother. Anyone who peered through the downstairs sash window at the four figures sat easily around their scrubbed-pine kitchen table would see a happy family without a care in the world. They would envy Kathryn her perfect life.

But they would be wrong. Kathryn is trapped in a nightmare. And she is about to do something to change it. Something only a truly desperate woman would do...

What Have I Done?
is available
here
.