One Summer's Night

by One Summer's Night (retail) (epub)

  ‘That’s what Mirren said, sort of. They’ve been together since we were all at school. I think that’s part of the problem. She’s tried to fight it but the romance has been gone for a long time. Maybe it was never really there in the first place?’ Kelsey suddenly cocked her head and allowed herself to laugh. ‘Doofus? Really?’

  ‘Get over here.’ Jonathan held the covers open for Kelsey and she slipped in beside him.

  ‘I’ll ring her and Preston tomorrow, see how they’re both doing,’ she said. ‘You know, Mirren still thinks I’m going home tomorrow. I didn’t get a chance to tell her about Norma’s office.’

  ‘You mean your studio,’ said Jonathan, proudly, letting his fingertips explore the side of Kelsey’s face and her hair.

  ‘Yeah, my studio,’ Kelsey chewed her bottom lip with excitement. ‘My studio! It sounds weird.’

  ‘It sounds perfect. I can’t wait to see it up and running in December.’

  Kelsey shuddered as a thrill of nerves ran up her spine. She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

  ‘What was it you wanted to show me?’ asked Jonathan, seeing that Kelsey was anxious and wanting to save her from it.

  ‘Oh yeah.’

  Reaching down to the pile of photographs on the white carpet, she grabbed one by the corner and handed it to Jonathan.

  ‘This. I took it the day we met. You’d just been dragged away by Peony.’

  Jonathan inspected the bright image of two white chairs on either side of a café table under a pink striped awning.

  ‘Wow! You took this that day? It’s beautiful. Peony was so mad because I’d taken a two hour lunch break just so I could talk to this incredibly beautiful woman when the show was opening in a few days and we hadn’t managed a single tech run-through.’

  Kelsey smiled at the memory.

  ‘But that was nothing compared to the argument we had when you came to photograph me at the theatre when I should have been working with the technician on the lighting for our scenes! Wow, she was mad. I just couldn’t concentrate on anything but you.’

  ‘At least somebody was trying to be professional. Poor Peony,’ said Kelsey, thinking of how she’s misread her completely. She handed the picture of the pink café to Jonathan. ‘You should hang on to this. That’s where you should meet me, when you come back again.’

  ‘You got yourself a date.’ Jonathan reached his hands around her back, pulling her close. ‘But I’m not leaving town just yet,’ he grinned, looking hungrily at her lips.

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  ‘Love comforteth like sunshine after rain’

  (Venus and Adonis)

  On the third day of September Kelsey was behind the camera lens again.

  ‘By virtue of the authority vested in me, I take great pleasure in pronouncing you husband and wife. You may kiss your bride.’

  Gianfranco smiled his broad, gappy grin as he bent his head to kiss Norma. His lavender-grey jacket strained across his biceps, his neck muscles bulging against the white shirt collar. Norma, in a deep purple skirt suit and tall red stilettos, let him dip her backwards as they kissed like movie stars to the delight and applause of their friends. Her severe red bob was tucked back behind her ear and secured with a cluster of tiny lilac roses and slim pheasant feathers, echoing the small posy she held in her, now bejewelled, ring hand. Kelsey had never seen them so happy.

  As the wedding party made their way out of the registry office, Kelsey led the way, shuffling carefully in reverse with her dad’s camera held to her eye, the scent of freesias and clouds of pastel confetti blowing in the breeze, her camera clicking with each backward step.

  ‘Easy now,’ Jonathan murmured in a low voice, his hands cradling Kelsey’s hips. He nuzzled his face into her hair as he helped guide her backwards, keeping her from stepping into the long flower beds that lined the path.

  ‘How do the paparazzi manage this? And their subjects are usually trying to run away from them.’ Kelsey laughed as she bumped clumsily into Jonathan’s long legs. She turned to face him, tall and elegant in his dark suit.

  The newlyweds were now on the registry office steps surrounded by friends and family taking their own snaps of the happy couple.

  ‘I think that’s my duties as official wedding photographer discharged, don’t you?’

  Now she could focus on Jonathan again. Holding each other tightly with the dopey smiles of the newly in love, Kelsey saw the flicker of passion light Jonathan’s eyes and a sudden serious look of intent. They gazed at one another frozen and breathless for a second, before he kissed her hard and long, unseen by the cheering crowd facing the wedding party.

  ‘I will never stop wanting you,’ breathed Jonathan in his deep drawl, his eyes closed, still slowly brushing his lips over Kelsey’s.

  ‘I hope not,’ she sighed.

  * * *

  ‘I didn’t even know you could get purple Rolls Royces,’ exclaimed Kelsey in surprise. Norma and Gianfranco were saying their last farewells to the wedding guests outside the Osprey Hotel, making their way through the crowd one by one. Norma was weeping and talking at one hundred miles an hour to each person in turn. Myrtle and Valeria were by Kelsey’s side.

  ‘Don’t forget this,’ said Jonathan, handing Kelsey the silver horseshoe ornament suspended on delicate lilac ribbons.

  Myrtle leaned in and whispered in her ear. ‘So, no Will then, hon? Is it true? I heard he’d set off for America this morning? An audition somewhere? Was it Iowa?’

  ‘No,’ Valeria butted in. ‘It was Oklahoma, wasn’t it? I heard he left with an actress from one of the visiting companies.’

  Kelsey gaped at Valeria. ‘You’re kidding?’ She looked up at Jonathan, anxious to see his reaction.

  ‘Well, the Oklahoma Players do need a new male lead. I’ve told them I’m leaving after Love’s Labour’s Lost in the spring. I’m going to try out for some British companies, see if I can get some work that lets me stay here.’

  ‘What? And you’re telling me this now?’ Kelsey gasped, her eyes filling with happy tears.

  ‘I only told the director late last night. You were sleeping, and then the wedding kinda took over this morning. You’ve got to hand it to the guy, your buddy Will is a fast worker.’ He laughed, before adding, with a quizzical expression, ‘Peony did send me a message about some guy she met the day after the gala. He’s already declared his undying love for her, apparently. I haven’t heard from her since, which is probably a good sign.’

  Despite knowing the role he had played in keeping her apart from Jonathan this summer, Kelsey tried to think generous thoughts of Will. He was finally getting the break he had worked so hard for. She looked hopeful for a moment. ‘You know, maybe he really does like her. He did say she was hot, come to think of it. He can’t only be interested in the acting job, right?’

  Jonathan placed his arm around her shoulder, pulling her close to his side with a wry smile, his eyebrows raised. ‘Who knows?’ he said.

  ‘Shouldn’t you warn her?’

  ‘Hmm, I think we’ve learned to butt out of each other’s love lives from now on. And you saw how she can take care of herself when she needs to.’

  ‘Maybe just have a quick brotherly word?’

  ‘All right, I’ll see her in a day or two for the Hamlet rehearsals, I’ll talk to her then.’

  ‘OK, but be gentle, Peony’s had a hard time this summer.’

  They exchanged a slow kiss before Norma and Gianfranco finally got round to saying goodbye to them.

  ‘Well, dearie, we’re off!’ Norma extended her arms to Kelsey for a tight embrace.

  Knocked off balance by Norma’s whirlwind energy, she steadied herself before speaking. ‘Congratulations, both of you. Have a lovely honeymoon. Have a lovely life! And thank you, Norma, for everything.’ Her eyes flooded again as she handed the horseshoe over.

  ‘Now, no crying, my dear. This is the happiest day of my life, and yours too, I think.’ She held her purple gloved hand out to
Kelsey. In her palm was a key. ‘I’m not the only one getting a good luck charm today.’

  Kelsey took the key in one slow, deliberate action, curling it up tightly in her palm as Norma leaned in, whispering as best she could when it didn’t come naturally. ‘It’s yours now. You can let yourself in. The alarm code is the year Shakespeare was born.’

  Within minutes, the bride and groom were being driven away by their smart chauffer, heading for the airport and a new life in Italy. Norma waved a hankie out the open window before turning away and falling into Gianfranco’s arms in the back seat.

  ‘Yorick?’ said Valeria decisively with a hand clap.

  ‘You wanna go, Kelsey?’ asked Jonathan. ‘It would be nice to drink some champagne. My flight’s not until five a.m., I can take my hangover with me.’

  ‘You go ahead,’ she ushered in a calm voice. ‘I just want to check something out, OK?’

  ‘OK, I’ll see you there.’ Jonathan wrapped his arms around her and kissed her tenderly. ‘I’ll be waiting.’

  Kelsey nodded and watched as he crossed the street, running to catch up with Lukas, Valeria, and Myrtle.

  Walking slowly to the end of the street, Kelsey turned left and crossed the road at the busy little roundabout by the bank and the fancy shopping arcade. Turning her back on the River Avon, her pace quickened as she approached the street where Shakespeare once lived and there on the corner stood the tall building which had, until a few days ago, housed the Norma Arden Historic Tours Agency. There was a ‘LET’ sign in a second-floor window. Her window. Looking down at her fist she unfurled her fingers. The key glinted in the September light.

  ‘Fifteen sixty-four,’ she muttered under her breath. ‘The year Shakespeare was born.’

  Climbing the steps, she looked at the door buzzers to her left. Norma had removed the little card with her own name on it and replaced it with a new one, written in neat purple biro:

  Kelsey Anderson. Photographer.

  Breathing deeply, she turned the key in the lock, pushed the door open, and punched the number into the alarm system. For a second she stood still, trying to take it all in.

  It would be a long autumn ahead, full of change and learning new skills and waiting for Jonathan to come back to her, but she was ready, and for now she was contented, standing sure and steady on her own two feet at the threshold of her new life.

  A Letter From Kiley

  Thank you so much for reading One Summer’s Night. It’s the first of two books following Kelsey Anderson as she embarks on an exciting new life in beautiful, theatrical Stratford-on-Avon.

  If you loved reading One Summer’s Night I’d be so grateful if you’d leave a review. Reviews can really help new readers discover my books. And thank you again for reading my debut novel and for your support, it’s hugely appreciated.

  I began writing One Summer’s Night a few days after hearing the campus where I’ve taught English Literature for the past decade was closing down. I’d always dreamed about writing this book, ever since I was a tour guide living and working in Stratford. As one door closed, another opened and I finally had the opportunity to go for it, my dream job as a writer, and tell the story I’d been carrying around in my imagination for so many years.

  At first I told myself I was writing this book just for me, to see if I could do it, but by the time I had a first draft I knew I wanted to share it with readers.

  One Summer’s Night is written straight from my heart and is wrapped up in the many happy memories I have of arriving in Stratford aged twenty (a baby!) and finding friends, adventure, and fun – not to mention my husband and my home – there.

  One Summer’s Night follows Kelsey on a similar journey to mine as she leaves Scotland with only her beloved vintage camera, and finds her feet, and her true career path as a photographer, in the theatre town. Her new life isn’t picture perfect though. Two gorgeous actors are vying for her affections and there’s confusion and heartache in store for her. Will she find true love before the summer ends?

  You’ll find the Stratford that Kelsey discovers isn’t always a strictly faithful rendering of the town – there are secret gardens and inglenook fireplaces in cosy pubs, a tour guide agency and a studio theatre that only exist in Kelsey’s world - but you’re not after a guide book, I hope. Hopefully you’re here for a heart-warming and uplifting romantic comedy to chase away the last of the winter blues.

  I’ve always voraciously read romantic novels – and I always will. My firm favourites are Jenny Colgan and Rowan Coleman’s Scarlett Bailey novels, and right now I’m obsessed with Holly Martin and Jeevani Charika’s books. But until I started writing myself I had no idea what an amazing community of readers, bloggers and reviewers there was out there, just waiting to make me feel welcome! I’m always up for romantic book chat on Twitter – try stopping me! So please, come meet me for a chinwag @KileyDunbar

  One Summer’s Night has embedded within it my love of Shakespeare, which began in Mrs Marr’s English class in high school and was nurtured whilst sitting, goose bumped and open mouthed, in the cheap seats at Stratford’s Royal Shakespeare Theatre.

  I hope my love for the poetry and the place shines through in my story, and you enjoy reading One Summer’s Night as much as I enjoyed writing it, and I hope you love Hera Books too.

  I knew as soon as I heard that two kickass women, already publishing legends, were launching their own company I wanted to be on board, and it’s my dream come true to work with Keshini Naidoo and Lindsay Mooney. Your interest in our book means the world to us. I’m excited, not to mention terrified, to be able to share it with you. So, thank you, for being here right at the beginning, supporting us.

  Lots of Love, Kiley x

  Twitter: @KileyDunbar

  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Kiley-Dunbar-Author-Book-Page

  Acknowledgments

  I started writing One Summer’s Night whilst on holiday with my little family in August 2017 and it’s their awesomeness I acknowledge first. Thank you Nic and the babies for loving me, for giving Mummy some peace to write and for all the cups of tea. You are my best people and my wee world.

  Michael McGill always thought I could do this and he showed me how. Thank you so much for cheering me on every step of the way, Angel. I love you.

  Keshini Naidoo, my editor, and Lindsey Mooney at Hera Books have my gratitude forevermore for just ‘getting’ me and my writing, for inviting me on board and taking my life in a whole new exciting direction. Thank you Keshini for the thoughtful, careful edits and for making One Summer’s Night an immeasurably better book. I hope it makes you and Lindsey proud.

  Thanks also to Jennie for those meticulous copy edits and for saving me from a lifetime spent cringing about sneaky mistakes and glaring oversights.

  I’m so grateful to the Romantic Novelists Association and specifically to my New Writers’ Scheme 2018 reviewer and all of the committee. The RNA’s insight, support and feedback changed my life.

  My friend Liz read an early draft of the opening chapters of One Summer’s Night and gave me valuable notes. She came with me to my first ever writers’ conference when I didn’t have the bottle to go alone and patiently replied to my many messages asking for advice. She also selflessly drank all the wine with me. Thank you.

  Mark Stay and Mark Desvaux helped me in a million practical and inspiring ways. They reassured me and made me laugh when I was flailing, and they brought me into a supportive community of writers. They are also responsible for my Hobnobs habit.

  Thanks Mum and Dad and all the family. I love you lots and hope you enjoy my book. And thanks Amos for all the cuddles and nose boops.

  Sara, Laura, Kelly, Kirsty, Joanne, Barbara and Angi never once raised an eyebrow when I told them I was writing this book, and they are sweethearts the lot of them. Thanks also to my completely brilliant students and the colleagues and friends at uni who kept me going as I worked the day job whilst writing half the night.

  The Dream Team,
big and small, were always there for me, and I love them all.

  Thank you too, most of all, lovely readers, for coming with me and Kelsey on our summery, Shakespearean adventure to Stratford. I hope you adore this book, it is yours now.

  First published in Great Britain in 2019 by Hera

  Hera Books

  28b Cricketfield Road

  London, E5 8NS

  United Kingdom

  Copyright © Kiley Dunbar, 2019

  The moral right of Kiley Dunbar to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

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

  ISBN 9781912973026

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places and events are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.