Alice, Luis and Antonio stood in silence for a few moments.
‘Well, that was a bit of a surprise,’ said Alice eventually.
Luis smiled. A door slammed behind them. ‘I think Antonio has left the building,’ he said.
Chapter Twenty-Two
‘I saw this house,’ said Luis as they walked through the old town the following day towards the square. ‘But I had to stop myself from thinking about it. I want to concentrate on the farmhouse. I need to. But there was something about it … look it’s down here.’
They stood outside the grubby little yellow cottage with the dilapidated ‘for sale’ sign on the door. Alice smiled. ‘I noticed it too. Someone needs to love it. I had to give myself a good talking to. I haven’t sold my house in London yet. And I was going to be leaving.’
‘I had a call from the agent earlier,’ said Luis. ‘I have rented out the refurbished house. Looks like I am going to be a landlord. And someone is keen to buy the house I am living in. They just haven’t seen it yet! So all being well, I’ll be moving into the farmhouse soon.’
‘That’s wonderful news,’ said Alice. She stroked the wall. ‘I wonder if it’ll still be for sale when I finally sort myself out.’
‘We could do it together. I could buy it, and you could give me your half when you have sold your house.’
Alice threw her arms around him. ‘That’s such a lovely thought,’ she said. ‘But you haven’t signed on the dotted line for your other two yet, and I think the next house I make will have to be mine and mine alone. Just the next one though. Just because I have to.’
Luis kissed her. ‘You are very wise, Alice. So when you finally move into my beautifully and lovingly refurbished farmhouse, should I charge you rent?’
‘Yes. Or I’ll buy half of it … or ….’
‘You know it will all be all right, don’t you? I can’t see Adam fighting for long. I only saw him for five minutes but I could tell he had no commitment to anything.’
‘Well, we’ll see,’ said Alice. ‘When it’s finally done, which could take a while, will you come to London to help me move out? My house means so much to me. I’ll need you to hold my hand.’
‘Like I said, I will be with you every step of the way. Now say goodbye to the little yellow house,’ said Luis.
‘Goodbye little yellow house,’ said Alice. ‘For now, anyway.’
‘Later, do you want to see some friends of mine play? For the Latin music band I sometimes play in. It’s relaxed you know?’ said Luis. ‘Just fun.’ He took her hand and they continued down the hill.
Alice turned to glance at the little yellow house. It looked like it was glowing.
* The End *
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Thank You
Dear Reader,
Thank you for reading about Alice and her new adventure in Portugal.
If you have enjoyed reading this story it would mean a lot to me if you had a few minutes to share a review on the platform you purchased the book or on Goodreads, as this is a great way for people to find out about my books.
If you have any thoughts, comments or questions you can contact me via the contact details at the end of my author bio on the next page.
Hopefully I’ll see you again soon with a new story.
Chris x
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About the Author
Chris Penhall is a freelance writer and radio producer. Born in South Wales, she has also lived near London and in Portugal, which is where The House That Alice Built is set. It was whilst living in Cascais near Lisbon that she began to dabble in writing fiction, but it was many years later that she was confident enough to start writing her first novel, and many years after that she finally finished it! She is now working on her second.
A lover of books, music and cats, she is also an enthusiastic salsa dancer, a keen cook and loves to travel. She is never happier than when she is gazing at the sea.
Chris has two grown-up daughters and lives in the Essex countryside.
Chris is a member of the Romantic Novelists Association.
The House That Alice Built is Chris's debut novel and winner of the Search for a Star competition.
For more information on Chris visit her at:
Website
Twitter
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Dedication
This book is dedicated to Sarah and Hannah and my incredibly supportive family and friends.
To Gareth, Ann, Kevin and Barrie
And to Mark, who bought me my first writing desk.
You’re all fabulous and I couldn’t have done it without you!
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank the Choc Lit and Ruby team for the opportunity to release this story.
I’m incredibly grateful to everyone that has helped me along the way, and to Steph Roundsmith for all her guidance, Tony Fisher and Deborah Stephenson for reading my early manuscripts, taking the time to give me feedback and making me feel my story was something to be proud of, plus Heather, Judith (who helped me research the paddle boarding!), Sian, Bridget and my other friends who read the book and took the time to say they liked it! Thanks to the Choc Lit team for giving my story that extra polish, to my very wonderful Uni Chicks and their chaps who I’ve known forever and who have been there for me through everything – Jill, Sandra, Sue, Loui, Mark and Mike – my Essex friends, work buddies, Portugal lovers, Hay Ladies, salsa pals and all the good people I’ve met through the years – here’s to more of our dreams coming true!
Thank you to the Tasting Panel readers who passed the original manuscript of The House That Alice Built and made publication possible: Mel R, Bee M, Sharon D, Gillian C, Anne E, Alison R, Carol D, Maureen W, Allie L, Stephanie H, Dimi E, Yvonne G, Gill L, Hilary B, Alma H, Cordy S, Isobel J, Janine N and Leisha Q.
Copyright © 2019 Chris Penhall
Published 2019 by Ruby Fiction
Penrose House, Crawley Drive, Camberley, Surrey GU15 2AB, UK
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The right of the above to be identified as the Authors of this Work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
All characters and events in this publication, other than those clearly in the public domain, are fictitious and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher or a licence permitting restricted copying. In the UK such licences are issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, Barnards Inn, 86 Fetter Lane, London EC4A 1EN
ePub ISBN: 978-1-912550-18-0
The House That Alice Built Page 28