by Fay Keenan
‘I’m listening,’ she said.
‘I was going to wait until later, when we had a bit more time alone, but actually now seems like the perfect moment to do it,’ Alex said. He reached out a hand and drew Sophie back closer to him. Fumbling in his jeans pocket with his other hand, he smiled. ‘I’m sorry it’s not in a box, but I wanted to keep it close by, for the right moment.’ He took the palm of Sophie’s left hand in his and held it for a moment. Looking into her eyes, he smiled gently. ‘I want to ask you to marry me, Sophie. Will you do me the honour of accepting?’
Sophie felt her knees give way as Alex opened his palm and, lying there, was a gold band with a huge, deep emerald at its centre. Surrounding the emerald was a garland of diamonds that glittered in the spring sunshine. She opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came. Looking from the ring to Alex’s handsome, expectant face, she tried again. ‘Of course I accept,’ she said. ‘I absolutely, totally and utterly accept, right here, right now!’
With trembling fingers, Alex slid the ring onto Sophie’s left hand. ‘It was my grandmother’s engagement ring,’ he said. ‘Mom gave it to me as a keepsake shortly before she died.’ He laughed shakily. ‘She said she wished she could be around to see who I ended up giving it to. But I think she’d definitely approve of you.’
‘I hope so,’ Sophie replied, before bringing Alex’s mouth down to hers to seal his proposal with a kiss.
They broke apart again to the sound of applause coming from the kitchen. There, assembled in the window, were both sets of families.
‘It’s about time you got your act together,’ Matthew called, sipping the tea that Anna had made. ‘Now we can officially welcome Sophie into the family.’
‘And welcome Alex into ours,’ Lily said wryly, from where she was sitting at the kitchen table. ‘Not before time.’
Alex laughed. ‘I hadn’t intended it to be a spectator event,’ he said, sliding an arm around Sophie as they wandered into the house, ‘but I’m glad you are all here to share it with us.’
‘Me too,’ Sophie replied. ‘After all, that’s what being part of a family is all about.’
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Acknowledgements
As usual, there are so many people who have made the writing of this book easier, and possible. Firstly, I’d like to thank the amazing team at Aria Fiction for all of their help, encouragement and support. Thank you to my editor, Sarah Ritherdon, Vicky, Nicky and Lucy, and Sue Smith and Rose Fox for their expertise and input. In a similar vein, Sara Keane, my agent, for her continuing support, guidance and encouragement.
This time I have several cider professionals to thank, too. A huge thank you to Martin Thatcher of Thatcher’s Cider for being so interesting and engaging to interview and providing me with a real insight into how a multi-national cider firm works from the ground up. Likewise, Julia Barton for answering my many questions, and the tour of the business (and allowing me access to one of my favourite locations to write about, the oak vats!). Finally, another huge thank you to Richard Johnson, Chief Cider Maker for Thatcher’s, who is an absolute fount of cider knowledge and expertise, and brilliant to talk to.
There are two real Weimaraner dogs I have to include in the acknowledgements – my own, Bertie (who became Barney in this book) and the gorgeous Niyah, owned by my dear friend Taj. Mad they may be, but they’re also the best dogs in the world.
As ever, the family has been amazing at dealing with me when I’m in thrall to a story, and Nick, Flora, Rosie, Peter, Linda, Helen, Michael, Luke and Penny all know just how much I appreciate your support and patience (and in some cases, proof reading!).
Friends, too, have been incredibly patient, and my thanks to Carly, Beth, Tony and Steph, among others, for being brilliantly supportive and constructive early readers. The same goes to Caroline Morris – thank you so much for staying with Little Somerby. I’m blessed to have such a fantastic network around me. I am also fortunate to include the wider circle of inspirational friends from the Romantic Novelists’ Association, who have been so wonderfully supportive throughout, especially Rachel Brimble, Teresa F Morgan, Alison Knight, Nicola Cornick and Jenny Kane.
Thanks, also, to the many and varied ‘character models’ for this novel, especially Keanu Reeves and Adam Driver, who gave me a visual for Alex, and Gwendolyn Christie and Elizabeth Debicki for Sophie. And finally, Paul Gross, aka Constable Ben Fraser of Due South, who not only gave me Alex’s last name, but also my first teenage crush, and set the benchmark for heroes for a lot of impressionable viewers of 1990s TV, myself included.
Finally, thanks to you, the readers, who have come back for another trip to Little Somerby. I am beyond grateful to each and every one of you, and I hope you’ve enjoyed spending time in the village once again.
About Fay Keenan
FAY KEENAN was born in Surrey and raised in Hampshire, before finally settling back in the West Country. When Fay is not chasing her children around or writing, she teaches English at a local secondary school. She lives with her husband of fourteen years, two daughters, a cat, two chickens and a Weimaraner called Bertie in a village in Somerset, which may or may not have provided the inspiration for Little Somerby.
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Addictive Fiction
First published in the United Kingdom in 2018 by Aria, an imprint of Head of Zeus Ltd
Copyright © Fay Keenan, 2018
The moral right of Fay Keenan to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988.
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 both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
This is a work of fiction. All characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
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A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN (E) 9781786694904
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