by Kerry Fisher
I hated the idea of Serena lounging about in Mr Peters’ flat, preparing to make a night of it, all come hither eyes and girlie giggles. I wasn’t about to be fobbed off with that. ‘But I saw her coming out of your building about a month ago. I’m not making that up.’
Exasperation was creeping into Mr Peters’ voice. ‘She goes to the beautician to have facials or whatever stuff you women have done. I heard her say that to you at the ball. That’s nothing to do with me. I swear I have seen her once since Bronte was found and that was at the ball.’
I didn’t know what to believe. Maybe that snog-fest look was an electrolysis thing rather than a Mr Peters thing. I stared at him. He wasn’t fidgeting or looking away like Colin used to when he was feeding me a line.
‘But you must have invited her to the ball?’ I said.
‘I hold my hand up to that. I don’t know what I was thinking. The headmaster had already caught a whisper that I was involved with you, probably from Felicity. Of course, I denied it flat out but he was watching me. Watching us. He’s keen on the whole community relations thing and had drawn up a list of the local great and good to invite to the ball from the police, council and various charities – including Serena. All the senior staff had to escort someone. You weren’t answering my calls, so I just took the easy option and chose Serena. I suppose I thought it would stop people gossiping. About you and me, anyway.’
He glanced at my Open University forms that I’d left on the side. A huge grin spread over his face, then he seemed to realise it wasn’t the moment. ‘Right, this doesn’t show me in a very good light. I also agreed to escort Serena because I thought it might make you a bit jealous.’ He looked down. ‘Maia, I wanted some sign from you that it wasn’t all a game. Then when I got to the ball, I didn’t want to make you jealous, I just wanted to be with you.’
His voice trailed off. He closed his eyes. ‘I could have punched that horrible Howard bloke. I could see him hitting on you but also trying to humiliate you and I just hated it. Then you told Frederica you were going back to Colin and I realised I’d missed my chance. I came outside to look for you, to try and talk to you but you’d already gone.’
‘Yeah. I went home to throw Colin out. And to cry my eyes out over you.’ I studied his face, trying to read the truth there. A little – what did Rose used to say? – ‘scintilla’ of excitement sparked somewhere deep inside me.
Mr Peters walked over to me. I caught the scent of his aftershave and a memory of him lying on top of me in his flat wafted into my mind. He stood within touching distance and I held my breath.
‘I must let you get on.’ He glanced behind him towards the open kitchen door. ‘Okay, this isn’t very northern lad, a bit gushy for a Boltonian boy, but I really like you.’ The man was blushing. Really blushing. ‘I don’t know how you got under my skin so easily. Anyway, I’d better go before you get the sack.’
‘I don’t think I’m likely to get the sack,’ I said. I stared at him to see if he was having me on. For such a bright bloke, it appeared he hadn’t completely understood my change in circumstances.
‘Who are the owners, anyway?’ he said.
‘A wonderful woman, a single mum, with two lovely children. She’s just missing the gorgeous boyfriend now.’ I started to laugh and moved in a bit closer. I could see the tip of the eagle’s beak poking out of his shirt.
Mr Peters looked confused. ‘What?’ He drew away from me slightly. ‘I’m thinking that I need to be concentrating on this conversation. It’s a bit tricky when you’re standing so close.’
He shook his head but didn’t try to stop me as I undid a couple of buttons on his shirt. I kissed the eagle and put my ear against his chest. His heart was thudding. When I looked up, those dark grey-green eyes were questioning me but he didn’t look like he was rushing to get away. I brushed his lips with mine. His hands threaded into my hair.
I murmured into his ear. ‘I thought you knew. This is the professor’s old house, you know, Professor Stainton, the one who left me the money for the school fees? I only found out a few weeks ago that she also left me the house. And rather a lot of money. It’s a long story, but she was actually my grandmother.’
He drew away from me. ‘Your grandmother? You’ve inherited all this? I thought you were, I don’t know, living on the top floor with the children or something. That’s brilliant. Oh my God. You’re not joking about owning it. And there was me, riding to the rescue, thinking you’d want to move into my two-bedroom flat. What a moron.’
I pulled him back towards me. My legs were trembling. Every nerve in my body was waiting to be soothed by him. He lowered his face to mine, kissing me softly, tiny little kisses, pausing every now and then to look at me with those headlamp eyes. I could feel him holding back, not wanting to scare me off. I needed more than that. ‘Zac, it’s okay.’ I felt his lips curve when I said his name. He pressed his mouth hard onto mine, kissing me until there was no room for any thoughts, just giddiness. I could practically hear the blood pumping round my body.
Zac buried his face in my hair. His hands were moving up my T-shirt and I was having to concentrate on keeping my breathing even. ‘How many bedrooms did you say there were?’ he asked.
I didn’t get to reply. The kids came barging through the front door, charging into the kitchen and doing a cartoon screech to a halt as they clocked Zac.
‘Hello, sir. How are you?’ Harley was all smiles and mud. Even Bronte broke into a big grin, her cheeks flushed and eyes bright from the fresh air.
I pretended to look for something in the fridge so I could adjust my T-shirt. Zac’s shirt was gaping open but he managed to look cool and trendy rather than undressed. Zac took it all in his stride. ‘Morning, you two. Just popped in to discuss a few things with your mother. I gather you’re quite enjoying living here.’
Harley rushed out hundreds of details, how he was going to get a quad bike, how he was playing tennis every day, what fish he’d caught, before flying off upstairs to ring the servants’ bell in his bedroom which showed up on a panel in the kitchen. Bronte contented herself with getting out Rose’s book of wild birds and showing him a picture of a kingfisher she’d seen at the stream. He was so easy with them, so interested.
Half an hour later, I walked out to the car with him. ‘Will you tell the children?’ he asked, as he opened the door.
‘Tell them what?’
‘That I’m your new boyfriend?’
‘Are you my new boyfriend?’
‘I’d like to be. That is, if you don’t mind dating the lower classes now you’re part of the aristocracy.’ He had his arms folded, rocking backwards and forwards on his heels.
I reached for his hand. ‘I like a bit of rough.’
He laughed and pulled me into his arms. ‘Maia, I don’t want to let you go again. I’ve faffed about, got it all wrong and I just want a chance now to behave a bit bloody normally.’
He kissed me gently, then not so gently. He glanced over my shoulder, back to the house. ‘I’m going. You need to talk to the children before they see us together. I love you.’
‘Love me? You haven’t even had dinner with me.’ I had yet to learn that smart-arse remarks weren’t always the answer to embarrassment.
He shook his head. ‘Go. Go now. Tell the children I’m going to be around for a very long time. I’m serious.’
I didn’t feel like a cleaner. I felt like a princess. And that was nothing to do with money.
Want to read another gripping page-turner from Kerry Fisher?
Buy the bestselling The Silent Wife now!
The Silent Wife
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Would you risk everything for the man you loved? Even if you knew he'd done something terrible?
'A heart-wrenching and gripping tale. I was hooked from the very first page.' Write Escape
Lara’s life looks perfect on the surface. Gorgeous doting husband Massimo, sweet little son Sandroand the perfect home. Lara knows something about Ma
ssimo. Something she can’t tell anyone else or everything he has worked so hard for will be destroyed: his job, their reputation, their son. This secret is keeping Lara a prisoner in her marriage.
Maggie is married to Massimo’s brother Nico and lives with him and her troubled stepdaughter. She knows all of Nico’s darkest secrets – or so she thinks. Then one day she discovers a letter in the attic which reveals a shocking secret about Nico’s first wife. Will Maggie set the record straight or keep silent to protect those she loves?
For a family held together by lies, the truth will come at a devastating price.
A heart-wrenching, emotionally gripping read for fans of Amanda Prowse, Liane Moriarty and Diane Chamberlain.
Hear More From Kerry
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Also by Kerry Fisher
The Silent Wife
The Secret Child
The Island Escape
After the Lie
The School Gate Survival Guide
A Letter from Kerry
I want to say a huge thank you for choosing to read THE NOT SO PERFECT MOTHER. If you did enjoy it, and want to keep up-to-date with all my latest releases, just sign up at the following link. Your email address will never be shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.
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I wrote a large chunk of this book during the wonderful online novel-writing courses at the University of California (UCLA). I had very young children at the time and those courses were the little bit of life I carved out for myself. And where the magic happened: I started to believe, for the very first time, that I might actually get published. Luckily, I didn’t realise how long it might take. This, my debut novel, is very special to me as it was the reward for persevering through many rejections. This book first came out in the UK four years ago and it’s lovely to revisit it, four books later. I am so delighted that my brilliant publishers, Bookouture, have taken the decision to release THE NOT SO PERFECT MOTHER in America – and that is largely down to the support I’ve had here. Book clubs that have chosen to read my novels – everywhere from Minnesota to New Jersey – have sent me some fantastic photos of their gatherings and I’ve also received many individual messages. I can’t tell you what a huge privilege it is to have so many readers in the States. Thank you.
This is a book about fitting in – or not. When I was younger, I often had periods in my life where I felt on the periphery of the popular people, never quite possessing the mysterious qualities to belong properly. Thankfully, I’ve been lucky enough to find my tribe now and have lived long enough not to care about the rest. But I remain fascinated by the ways in which human beings judge each other and especially the pack mentality that leads seemingly nice people to exclude anyone they perceive as different. Of all of my characters in all of my books, I love Clover the most for her innate generosity of spirit and her complete disregard for what people think of her. In my next life, I’m going to ‘Be More Clover’.
I hope you enjoyed THE NOT SO PERFECT MOTHER and would be very grateful if you could write a review if you did. I’d love to hear what you think, and it makes a real difference to helping new readers to discover one of my books for the first time.
If you have time I’d be delighted to hear from you – you can get in touch on my Facebook page, through Twitter, Goodreads or my website. Whenever readers are kind enough to contact me, I am reminded why I love my job – pure motivational gold!
Thank you so much for reading,
Kerry xx
After the Lie
An addictive and gripping read about love, life and living a lie.
One little lie can make one big difference …
Lydia has the ‘right’ kind of friends, her children are at the ‘right’ kind of school and she’s married to the ‘right’ sort of man – kind, steady, reliable Mark. Her wedding business is flourishing and even though she is at loggerheads with her mother, she couldn’t ask for anything more from life.
But the truth is that Lydia has been lucky. She has been living a lie for years and Mark has no idea who he is really married to. But nothing lasts forever and the past has a funny way of catching up with the present. When the person who knows all of Lydia’s dark little secrets turns up at the school gates, his presence threatens to blow Lydia’s life apart.
What is Lydia’s terrible truth? Once the secret is out, you can’t put it back …
A powerful and heartbreaking story, perfect for fans of Liane Moriarty and Jane Green.
Praise for After the Lie:
‘Kerry Fisher’s novel is woven with funny and amusing narratives, it is also filled with moments that fill you with dread as Lydia tries to keep the lid on her shameful secret, that she has kept from her husband and her well-to-do friends. I loved this book. We all have childhood memories that have the “cringe-factor” and ones we try not to remember, but Lydia’s secret is beyond anything I can imagine having to go through and Ms Fisher captures Lydia's fears perfectly.’ Postcard Reviews
‘Five out of five stars. Past collides with present in this compelling book…as is the way with secrets they have a way of getting out eventually with results that no-one can predict…’ Portobello Book Blog
‘This was such a riveting story...having now read two of Kerry’s books I am becoming quite a fan. Kerry’s books are so true to life that you feel as if you are one of the family. A thought-provoking, poignant and funny book that doesn't disappoint.’ The Book Magnet
Read on for an exclusive extract of After the Lie…
The Island Escape
“Funny, warm and beautifully written - I loved it.” MILLY JOHNSON
**Can one woman’s marriage survive her best friend’s divorce? Veronica Henry meets Erica James in this gorgeous summer read.**
Get it here!
Octavia Shelton thought she’d have a different life. One where she travelled the world with an exotic husband and free-spirited children in tow.
Instead she’s married to safe, reliable Jonathan, and her life now consists of packed lunches, school runs and mountains of dirty washing. She’s not unhappy. It’s just that she can barely recognise herself.
So as Octavia watches her best friend’s marriage break up, it gets her thinking. What if life could be different? What if she could escape and rediscover the person she used to be? Escape back to the island she visited years ago? And what if the man she used to love was there waiting for her?
The Secret Child
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Just for a moment, I was young and invincible again, back before I made the decision that changed the rest of my life…
Susie did something that she knows she will always regret: giving her baby son up for adoption, to keep her infidelity secret from her family.
Louise, Susie’s daughter, feels the effects of that decision echoing down through the years – her mother has always been difficult, too strict with her but not strict enough with her sister Grace, who is wild and out-of-control. And Danny, Susie’s husband, adores her, but has always sensed something wrong at the heart of their marriage.
When tragedy strikes the family, and a chance discovery threatens to bring the truth to light, the sisters’ relationship is put to the test as they are faced with an impossible choice…
From the bestselling author of The Silent Wife, The Secret Child is a heartbreaking and unputdownable novel about family secrets and lies. Perfect for fans of Liane Moriarty, Jojo Moyes and Diane Chamberlain.
Acknowledgements
The fabulous thing about writing new acknowledgements at a distance of four years is seeing how many of the people who helped me get published in the first place still play a major part in my life. Authors Adrienne Dines and Jenny Ashcroft still talk me down from the writing shelf of despair and point me in the right direction when I temporarily los
e my own plot. My lovely family - Steve, Cam and Chaela - are improving year-on-year at following the instruction of not disturbing me when I am writing ‘unless your leg is hanging off’!
As I mentioned in my author letter, I owe a huge debt of gratitude to my teachers at the UCLA – Jessica Barksdale Inclán, Lynn Hightower and Robert Eversz. Lynn gave me the best piece of writing advice ever – ‘This is fiction: we can skip the boring bits’ – please be kind enough to keep it to yourself if you feel I haven’t nailed this advice yet! I also had some very useful feedback from fellow online students – Carol Starr Schneider, Karen Gekelman, Rochelle Staab and Romalyn Tilghman – all of whom I have now had the good fortune to meet in person.