Watch for Me by Twilight

by Kirsty Ferry

  ‘I think,’ said Aidan, so mock-seriously she giggled. ‘I love the way you laugh, Cassie.’

  ‘I love the way you make me laugh,’ she told him and felt him smile against her hair.

  ‘I actually think I love you.’

  ‘Do you? Because I actually know I love you.’

  ‘Excellent.’ She felt him smile again and he pulled her closer still. ‘I’ve bought his house as well, you know. I couldn’t resist. You’ll have to come with me when I start working on it. The solicitors are already on the case. I need someone who can draw a rather splendid project chart to keep me on track.’

  ‘Aidan!’ Cassie pulled away and smiled up at him. ‘How wonderful! It’s like it’s come full circle, back to you.’

  ‘And to you, as well, I’d like to think.’

  Cassie looked around her, delighted. ‘I couldn’t agree more!’ The old chair had also been repaired, she noticed, and the scratch marks polished out of the floor. Aidan had been very busy; probably on all those days he’d looked furtive and bustled around, and she hadn’t dared bother him, despite the fact she was desperate to be near him.

  ‘I wanted to make the whole room look loved again. Every inch of it.’ His voice was warm.

  ‘It’s magical.’ Cassie knelt down next to him and stroked her fingertips along the wood. She looked up at Aidan and smiled. ‘Thank you.’

  ‘You’re welcome. I’ve got a picnic basket as well. I thought we could take it down to the River and enjoy the peace and quiet later on. Much later on.’

  ‘We could go for a swim, but I don’t have my costume.’

  ‘Me neither.’ Then he grinned. ‘Do you think it matters?’

  She cast a glance up to the dressing gowns hanging on the coat hooks and grinned back. ‘No. I don’t think it matters at all. We have dressing gowns and towels, don’t we? What do you think Rob and Stella would have done in this situation?’

  ‘This.’ He took her head in his hands. He ran his thumbs down the side of her face and looked into her eyes. Her stomach shifted and that little squidge came very pleasurably back.

  ‘Or maybe this.’ His face moved so close, she could feel his eyelashes on her skin.

  She raised her face to his and smiled. ‘I think definitely they would have done this.’

  ‘And maybe they would have done more. We’ll have to see how it goes. But we’ll start with this for now, shall we?’

  And then, as they knelt on the floor close together with the light of what seemed like a million candles pooling around them, he kissed her.

  * The End *

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  Read more about the author including a preview of a novel here …

  In the glad revels, in the happy fêtes,

  When cheeks are flushed, and glasses gilt and pearled

  With the sweet wine of France that concentrates

  The sunshine and the beauty of the world

  Drink sometimes, you whose footsteps yet may tread

  The undisturbed, delightful paths of Earth,

  To those whose blood, in pious duty shed,

  Hallows the soil where that same wine had birth.

  …

  Drink to them – amorous of dear Earth as well,

  They asked no tribute lovelier than this –

  And in the wine that ripened where they fell

  Oh, frame your lips as though it were a kiss.

  Extract from ‘Champagne’, 1914–15, by Alan Seeger

  Thank You

  from Kirsty Ferry

  Thank you so much for reading, and hopefully enjoying, this novel – the next instalment in the Hartsford Mysteries Series. I hope you enjoyed Cassie’s Living History weekend as much as she did, although I suspect the divine Aidan had something to do with Cassie’s joy! I also hope you were pleased with the way things worked out for Stella and Rob. I was, even though I wrote it — because I’ve learned that characters do their own thing and you never can tell.

  Authors need to know they are doing the right thing as well, and keeping our readers happy is a huge part of the job. So it would be wonderful if you could find a moment just to write a quick review on the retail site where you purchased this ebook, Goodreads or any of the other websites to let me know that you enjoyed the book. Thank you once again, and do feel free to contact me at any time on Facebook, Twitter, through my website or through my lovely publishers Choc Lit.

  Thanks again, and much love to you all,

  Kirsty

  xx

  Read about Kirsty and her novels next …

  About the Author

  Kirsty Ferry is from the North East of England and lives there with her husband and son. She won the English Heritage/Belsay Hall National Creative Writing competition in 2009 and has had articles and short stories published in various magazines. Her work also appears in several anthologies, incorporating such diverse themes as vampires, crime, angels and more.

  Kirsty loves writing ghostly mysteries and interweaving fact and fiction. The research is almost as much fun as writing the book itself, and if she can add a wonderful setting and a dollop of history, that’s even better.

  Her day job involves sharing a building with an eclectic collection of ghosts, which can often prove rather interesting.

  For more information on Kirsty visit:

  www.twitter.com/kirsty_ferry

  https://www.facebook.com/kirsty.ferry.author/

  Read about Kirsty’s novels including a preview of Watch for Me by Candlelight next …

  More Choc Lit

  From Kirsty Ferry

  Watch for Me by Moonlight

  Hartsford Mysteries series

  “It was the first full moon since that night. She waited and watched by moonlight, as she had promised …”

  When her life in London falls apart, Elodie Bright returns to Sussex and to Hartsford Hall; the home of her childhood friend, Alexander Aldrich. Once upon a time, Alex and Elodie were on the brink of something more than just friendship, but a misunderstanding left their hopes of a future together in tatters.

  After a freak storm damages the church roof at Hartsford and the tomb of Georgiana Kerridge, one of Alex’s eighteenth-century relatives, Elodie and Alex find a strange reconnection in a shocking discovery – and in the series of uncanny events that follow.

  Slowly they begin to piece together Georgiana’s secret past involving a highwayman with a heart of gold, a sister’s betrayal and a forbidden love so strong that it echoes through the ages …

  Purchase from your eBook provider or visit www.choc-lit.com for more details.

  Watch for Me by Candlelight

  Hartsford Mysteries series

  “The stars are aligning and it’s time again …”

  Working at the Folk Museum in Hartsford village means that Kate Howard is surrounded by all sorts of unusual vintage items. Of course she has her favourites; particularly the Victorian ice skates with a name – ‘CAT’ – mysteriously painted on the sides.

  But what Kate doesn’t realise is how much she has in common with Catriona Aphrodite Tredegar, the original owner of the skates, or how their lives will become strangely entwined. All Kate knows is that as soon as she bumps into farrier Theo Kent, things start getting weird: there’s the vivid, disconcerting visions and then of course the overwhelming sense that she’s met Theo before …

  Read a preview here ...

  Purchase from your eBook provider or visit www.choc-lit.com for more details.

  Some Veil Did Fall

  Book 1 in the Rossetti Mysteries series

  What if you recalled memories from a life that wasn’t yours, from a life before …?

  When Becky steps into Jonathon Nelson’s atmospheric photography studio in Whitby, she is simply a freelance journalist in search of a story. But as soon as she put
s on the beautiful Victorian dress and poses for a photograph, she becomes somebody quite different …

  From that moment on, Becky is overcome with visions and flashbacks from a life that isn’t her own – some disturbing and filled with fear.

  As she and Jon begin to unravel the tragic mystery behind her strange experiences, the natural affinity they have for each other continues to grow and leads them to question … have they met somewhere before? Perhaps not in this life but in another?

  Purchase from your eBook provider or visit www.choc-lit.com for more details.

  The Girl in the Painting

  Book 2 in the Rossetti Mysteries series

  What if you thought you knew a secret that could change history?

  Whilst standing engrossed in her favourite Pre-Raphaelite painting – Millais’s Ophelia – Cori catches the eye of Tate gallery worker, Simon, who is immediately struck by her resemblance to the red-haired beauty in the famous artwork.

  The attraction is mutual, but Cori has other things on her mind. She has recently acquired the diary of Daisy, a Victorian woman with a shocking secret. As Cori reads, it soon becomes apparent that Daisy will stop at nothing to be heard, even outside of the pages of her diary …

  Will Simon stick around when life becomes increasingly spooky for Cori, as she moves ever closer to uncovering the truth about Daisy’s connection to the girl in her favourite painting?

  Purchase from your eBook provider or visit www.choc-lit.com for more details.

  The Girl in the Photograph

  Book 3 in the Rossetti Mysteries series

  What if the past was trying to teach you a lesson?

  Staying alone in the shadow of an abandoned manor house in Yorkshire would be madness to some, but art enthusiast Lissy de Luca can’t wait. Lissy has her reasons for seeking isolation, and she wants to study the Staithes Group – an artists’ commune active at the turn of the twentieth century.

  Lissy is fascinated by the imposing Sea Scarr Hall – but the deeper she delves, the stranger things get. A lonely figure patrols the cove at night, whilst a hidden painting leads to a chilling realisation. And then there’s the photograph of the girl; so beautiful she could be a mermaid … and so familiar.

  As Lissy further immerses herself, she comes to an eerie conclusion. The occupants of Sea Scarr Hall are long gone, but they have a message for her – and they’re going to make sure she gets it.

  Purchase from your eBook provider or visit www.choc-lit.com for more details.

  A Little Bit of Christmas Magic

  Book 4 in the Rossetti Mysteries series

  Any wish can be granted with a little bit of Christmas magic …

  As a wedding planner at Carrick Park Hotel Ailsa McCormack has devoted herself to making sure couples get their perfect day, but just occasionally that comes at a price – in this case, organising a Christmas Day wedding at the expense of her own Christmas.

  Not that Ailsa minds. There’s something very special about Carrick Park during the festive season and she’s always been fascinated by the past occupants of the place; particularly the beautiful and tragic Ella Carrick, whose striking portrait still hangs at the top of the stairs.

  And then an encounter with a tall, handsome and strangely familiar man in the drawing room on Christmas Eve sets off a chain of events that transforms Ailsa’s lonely Christmas into a far more magical occasion than she could have ever imagined …

  Purchase from your eBook provider or visit www.choc-lit.com for more details.

  Every Witch Way

  Time for a Halloween road trip …

  Nessa hates her full name – Agnes – which she inherited from her great-great grandmother – but is that all she inherited? Because rumour had it that Great-Great Granny Agnes was a witch, and a few unusual things have been happening to Nessa recently …

  First, there’s the strange book she finds in her local coffee shop, and then the invite from her next-door neighbour Ewan Grainger to accompany him on a rather supernatural research trip. What ensues is a Halloween journey through Scotland in a yellow camper van (accompanied by a big black cat called Schubert), a mystical encounter in an ancient forest and maybe just a touch of magic!

  Purchase from your eBook provider or visit www.choc-lit.com for more details.

  Summer at Carrick Park

  A summer wedding, fifty cupcakes and a man she thought she would never see again …

  When Joel Leicester walks into the hotel where Rosa Tempest works, she can’t believe her bad luck. Out of all the hotels in all of North Yorkshire, the man who broke her heart would have to walk into Carrick Park!

  The last time Rosa saw Joel it was after a whirlwind holiday when they’d been greeted at his flat by a woman claiming to be his fiancée. Rosa never stuck around to hear Joel’s side of the story but now, six years later on, Fate has another trick up its sleeve as a potentially disastrous summer wedding at Carrick Park can only be saved by Joel and Rosa working together …

  Purchase from your eBook provider or visit www.choc-lit.com for more details.

  Read about Choc Lit next …

  Introducing Choc Lit

  We’re an independent publisher creating

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  Where heroes are like chocolate – irresistible!

  Quality stories with a romance at the heart.

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  Read a preview of Watch for Me by Candlelight here ...

  For Bombardier James Edwin Brown,

  1894–1917

  Acknowledgements

  Watch For Me by Twilight is a very special story. Firstly, it is centred on Cassie Aldrich’s preparations for her Living History weekend at the wonderful Hartsford Hall in Suffolk – which is also the background to Kate and Theo’s romance in Watch For Me by Candlelight. And secondly, it is also a tribute, of sorts, to three very brave young men.

  Cassie’s Spa area itself was inspired by parts of three National Trust properties: Lanhydrock in Cornwall, Upton House in Warwickshire and Standen House in West Sussex. All three properties have wonderful outdoor pools, which the owners used for entertainment and family fun. Upton House also has a Picture Gallery, converted from their squash courts, but Standen House is probably the one Cassie could relate to the most. At Standen, an outdoor swimming pond was recently discovered by some groundsmen, when they almost fell into it during some undergrowth clearance. Apparently, the National Trust also have plans to restore the pool for public use, which should be very exciting and a lot of fun for future visitors!

  Then we come to the young men who inspired the rest of the story. The first man is someone I encountered many years ago at a stately home. In the house was a painting of the family, posed just before World War Two. There was a young man sitting with them, who wasn’t a member of the family, but he was accepted as one. He’d been very close to them, and was in love with the daughter of the house. He asked her to marry him. She refused. He joined up in a fit of pique and was killed shortly afterwards. The young man was a famous poet, but I have never managed to find out his name again, although their story has haunted me e
ver since and I’ve wasted far too many hours on the internet trying to find him. I wish I’d written his name down when I was there – so I live in hope that one day someone will tell me his name. Whoever the young poet was, he inspired this story.

  The second man is someone I stumbled upon during my hours of research. Drummond Allison was a Lieutenant in the army, and he was killed in action at the age of 22 in 1943, leading a daylight infantry charge on Monte Camino, Italy. He was also a poet and had something of an eye for the ladies. However, he wrote many poems to his mysterious muse Cynthia, and her identity has always been a little bit of a mystery – until a photograph of Drummond in his uniform turned up in a lady called Cynthia Clarke’s possessions. You can read more on Richard A Warren’s blog about it, and more on Tim Kendall’s War Poetry blog about Drummond. Also, the historian Dr Ross Davies was very helpful with my enquires into Drummond and has written a book about him entitled Drummond Allison: Come, Let us Pity Death (2008).

  The third person is far less well known. He’s a member of my own family, and was a Bombardier in 113th Siege Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery. His service number was 376175. James Edwin Brown was born in 1894 and died on Monday, 26th November 1917. He lies in Potijze Chateau Grounds Cemetery and is commemorated on the war memorial in Swalwell, Gateshead, Tyne and Wear. He was 23 years old, and died alongside Gunner WJ Callow, who was 36. James left a young wife, May Blanche, who was 22 years old. Their son, James Richard John, had been born earlier that year, and they had only been married since the summer of 1916. Before he became a soldier, James worked in the Tyneside shipyards. May was my Gran’s aunt, and my Gran was named after her, which I think is rather lovely.