by Rosie Howard
Helen tapped him on the shoulder and then, when she had his attention, she dropped to one knee. Maddy started forward, thinking her mother had fallen, but Ben held her back.
Jonno, still standing on the table, saw her and tapped his glass for silence again, gesturing towards her as people looked at him.
Into the silence, Helen said: ‘Patrick. Never mind the business deals, I’ve got a proposal for you …’ At this, there were whoops and cheers.
Someone shouted, ‘Go on, Patrick, about time you made an honest woman of her,’ but Jonno gestured for silence and Helen continued:
‘We’ve done it all back to front. We have a beautiful daughter, and I’ve spent twenty-five years away from you, doing what you insisted was best for me. I know what’s best for me; what’s best for me is to spend the rest of my life with you. No more wasted time, Patrick. Will you marry me?’
Patrick reached for her hands and clasped them both in his, lifting her to her feet and drawing her close. To the frustration of the crowd, he murmured softly to her, wiping the tears gently from her eyes, and then going back to clasping her hands. She listened, smiling, occasionally breaking into a sob of laughter. Tears were running freely down Patrick’s face too, as they talked – too quietly for anyone to hear – their eyes fixed lovingly on each other.
The crowd grew restless. ‘Go on, Patrick, don’t leave us in suspense,’ one person cried. ‘Yes, come on,’ shouted another. ‘The poor woman’s waited twenty-five years for this.’
Patrick and Helen ignored them all until – eventually – Helen wiped away the mascara from under her eyes and turned to the crowd.
‘He says “yes”,’ she said quietly.
As the cheering went on around them, Ben spun Maddy towards him and tightened his arms around her.
‘Merry Christmas,’ he said, kissing her softly and lingeringly on the lips, before turning her bodily to face the window.
‘Looks like you got your wish, too.’
Outside in the high street, as their friends in the pub chatted, drank and cheered, the snowflakes drifted silently, crowding down from the sky and falling softly and thickly onto the ground.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
It is a privilege to be in a position where I am not only allowed to write but am actively instructed to do so. It is a solitary pursuit but never lonely – partly because of my characters’ voices in my head and partly because I have such a fantastic and supportive team around me.
This is all the fault of my agent and friend Julia Silk, who encouraged me to create the world of Havenbury, into which I escape most days. I thank her and all at MBA Literary Agency, for their skill, enthusiasm and knowledge.
I also want to acknowledge the extraordinary support of all my family and friends, who provide gin and laughs and even take the trouble to read the damned thing – Alex, Claire, Clare, Kate, Nancy, Carolyn, Charlie, Catherine, Georgie, Sarah, Anna, Vicky, Kim, Helen, Sharon, Lisa et al – you know who you are … to say nothing of my stalwart husband and children, who have to endure all those late and hastily cooked suppers.
I am grateful to the several clever people who keep me writing by preventing bits of me from dropping off. They are all amazing – Louise, Hannah, Petra, Kevin, Carole – goodness what a lot of you there are! Special thanks to osteopath Jon, who doesn’t bat an eyelid at being asked exactly which bones you might break under various violent circumstances.
And finally, a million thanks to the entire fabulous Allison & Busby team, including my lovely editor Lesley Crooks, Susie Dunlop and Kelly Smith, and the marketing team who – fortunately – know so much more about ‘that sort of thing’ than I do.
I salute you all.
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About the Author
After obtaining a degree in music, ROSIE HOWARD pursued a career in PR, campaigning and freelance journalism but realised her preference for making things up and switched to writing novels instead. She lives in a West Sussex village with her husband and two children in a cottage with roses around the door.
rosiehoward.com
@RosieHowardBook
By Rosie Howard
The Homecoming
Copyright
Allison & Busby Limited
12 Fitzroy Mews
London W1T 6DW
allisonandbusby.com
First published in Great Britain by Allison & Busby in 2018.
This ebook edition published in Great Britain by Allison & Busby in 2018.
Copyright © 2018 by ROSIE HOWARD
The moral right of the author is hereby asserted 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 without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent buyer.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 978-0-7490-2217-4