She waited, needing every word, wanting every last thing said.
‘I hinted at, well, I hinted at my feelings this afternoon, at the house, but I guess I wasn’t sure of what to say, how to say it . . . It had been so long, but still I felt so strongly . . .’
His body seemed tense from vulnerability and Apple didn’t know what to do, wanted more than anything to touch him.
‘You scare me, Apple,’ he said quietly, and seemed almost amused by his own revelation.
‘Scare you?’
‘It’s silly, it’s . . .’ His gaze fell then shot up again. ‘But it’s real. My fear is real because my feelings are real and I’m scared by their intensity.’
Apple waited, her breathing shallow.
‘Every day I was away, Apple, you were there: your smile, your hand touching my arm, your laugh, I don’t know – that bewitching look of determination you get, things about you that, when I considered not seeing them again, made me feel . . . unwell.’
Apple wanted to press up against him, for them to feel as one.
‘So much has happened since we met, and it wasn’t until I was alone, away from all this, that my feelings became clear, and then I was immediately terrified that I was alone in them. How I feel about you makes me feel . . . vulnerable, I feel so vulnerable.’
‘I feel vulnerable, Charlie! Look at you. Look at all this. You could have anything, anyone you want. How can someone like me ever be more than a passing novelty to someone like you?’
‘A novelty?’ Charlie’s laughed. ‘Am I a child? Surely you know me well enough to know—’ He stopped, pausing before he said simply, ‘I’m sure of my feelings. I’ve never been more sure of anything. It’s you I’m not sure of, how you feel.’
Apple laughed aloud. ‘Charlie, you give me butterflies if you so much as walk into a room. You fill me with a happiness I can’t describe. You’re kind and caring and wise, and you make me feel like I’m everything, like I’m so much more than I am. I just never thought you could feel anywhere near how I feel.’
She paused, and the breeze rustled the silk of her long skirt.
‘Charlie, I’m out of my mind in love with you.’
He searched her face, frowning. Then his eyes flickered, cheeks indenting almost imperceptibly as he smiled, and Apple lifted her hand, fingers feathering his cheek.
He gripped her hand. ‘Say it again.’
‘That I’m in love with you? Charlie, you must know. I’ve been in love with you for, well, for a lot longer than I should admit . . .’
‘How long?’
‘Long . . . long.’
‘Long, long,’ Charlie echoed, and there was a beat before he kissed her, his hands gripping her wrists then tangling in her hair, pulling her close as he tasted her mouth, cheek, ear. ‘I am so in love with you.’
Apple jumped up, ran down the path towards the cottage and, when she reached the door, she spun around and let him crush against her. They kissed as they fell inside and Apple started climbing the stairs before Charlie pinned her against them, tussling with her skirt, his breath hot on her throat until she scrambled up again.
She reached the landing, and then in his room she finally stood, panting, as he came to fill the doorway.
‘You were in that bed last time I was here.’ He closed in on her.
Apple undid her skirt and his gaze followed it to the floor. ‘I was naked,’ she said. ‘And I woke up to a stranger bumping around in the dark, taking his pants off.’
Charlie began taking off his pants. She backed up against the mattress and he gripped her thighs, shunting her up the bed as he bore down – certain, strong.
‘But then you left,’ she said into his mouth.
‘Like any good gentleman does when he finds a vulnerable woman in his bed.’
Apple slid off her underwear, felt him tremble when she pressed against him. ‘I hate good gentlemen.’
There was a beat, then he said, ‘Good. Because the last thing I’m going to be, right here and now, is a gentleman.’
Acknowledgements
My debut novel, The Dangers of Truffle Hunting, was published in 2017, but it wasn’t the first manuscript I ever wrote. The first true manuscript I ever wrote came to life years earlier and is actually in your hands now as my ‘second’ novel, The Rules of Backyard Croquet.
The Rules of Backyard Croquet was at first self-published, and the love and support given to that first incarnation helped pave the way for my eventual book deal for The Dangers of Truffle Hunting with one of the ‘big five’. So I owe a great deal of gratitude to all who loved this book that first time around: promo-happy friends and family, fashion bloggers and Instagrammers, and magazines who championed and publicised my story when it was accompanied only by my beseeching notes and no fancy publisher’s logo.
Thank you to my mother, Jenni Overend, for her very, very, very early edits. She died before I was ever published, yet she read the first draft of The Rules of Backyard Croquet and her notes continue to influence the way I write now. How I wish your voice was still at hand, dear friend.
Thank you to my team at HarperCollins who’ve done so much to help reinvent and reshape this story – brilliant editors Mary Rennie, Anna Valdinger and Dianne Blacklock. Thank you to cover designer Hazel Lam for allowing me to exercise the neglected designer within – you’re the perfect collaborator.
Thank you to the incredible women in my life who continue to support me and make me smile. Life would be grey without your colour.
My family: your love and belief is a ridiculous blessing.
James Reid: I’m growing very fond of you. Will you go out with me?
Anyone seeking magic, joy and the road less travelled: just go. You have nothing to lose.
An Excerpt from The Dangers of Truffle Hunting
Is life too short to play it safe?
Kit Gossard’s life is neatly mapped out. A secure photographic job. A partner ready to commit. A wedding in the family vineyard for her mother to preside over. So why the apprehension? Why a hunger for something . . . more?
Then someone new appears. Earthy, reserved, magnetic, this new man brings out feelings she has long suppressed, and suddenly Kit can’t contain her simmering discontent. Black truffle hunting, illicit pastry lessons, vine fruit on flesh – Kit is seduced.
It feels right. Before it all goes wrong.
Artful, sexy, sophisticated, The Dangers of Truffle Hunting explores how a man can be more to a woman than a destination.
‘A gorgeous book full of earthy, sumptuous pleasures, The Dangers of Truffle Hunting is glamorous, voluptuous and bursting with passion for two of the most divine things in life: love and food’ Kelly Doust, writer and novelist
‘An enjoyable summer read with some well-developed characters – Rosa and her French cooking school are just divine!’ Australian Bookseller & Publisher
About the Author
SUNNI OVEREND is a graphic design graduate and the daughter of the late, award-winning children’s author Jenni Overend. Sunni worked briefly in creative advertising before building an online fashion store, and concurrently wrote several contemporary fiction manuscripts. Her first novel, The Dangers of Truffle Hunting, was published in 2016. She lives with her architect husband in Melbourne, where she writes full time. Find out more at sunnioverend.com
#TheRulesOfBackyardCroquet
@sunnioverend
Praise for The Dangers of Truffle Hunting:
‘[This book] is insanely attractive. It has it all – lust, love, fame, wine, rich people, the whole shebang. It had me rooting for the protagonist and left me heart-warmed throughout’ Fashion Journal
‘Overend delivers a triple whammy: a novel that succeeds on three counts. The romance is steamy and sensuous, the Australian vineyard negotiations topical and compelling, and the glimpse of how foodie magazines operate both detailed and hilarious’ Country Style
‘The Dangers of Truffle Hunting is a moreish treat. Sumptuous, seduct
ive and darkly funny, it pulls you in from page one’ Genevieve Gannon, author of Husband Hunters
‘Delicious. Sunni Overend has a gift for evocative writing and reading The Dangers of Truffle Hunting is a feast of the senses: you can taste the food, you feel what Kit feels. I read this book in two nights with very little sleep, I just couldn’t get enough of it’ Tess Woods, author of Love at First Flight
‘It’s Overend’s way with words that had us picking the book and giving it prime position as our #1 read’ Vogue
‘Exotic and exciting . . . well developed characters . . . richly detailed . . . enjoyable summer read . . . just divine!’ Books+Publishing
‘This saucy read from Melbourne author Sunni offers an irresistible recipe likely to appeal to romantics and foodies alike’ The Weekly Review
‘The perfect romantic summer read’ Brisbane News
‘Sunni Overend’s The Dangers of Truffle Hunting provided me with way too many guilty pleasures’ Clare Wright, winner of the Stella Prize for The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka
Copyright
HarperCollinsPublishers
First published as March in 2013
First published in Australia in 2018
by HarperCollinsPublishers Australia Pty Limited
ABN 36 009 913 517
harpercollins.com.au
Copyright © Sunni Overend 2018
The right of Sunni Overend to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright Amendment (Moral Rights) Act 2000.
This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced, copied, scanned, stored in a retrieval system, recorded, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
HarperCollinsPublishers
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ISBN 978 1 4607 5211 1 (pbk)
ISBN 978 1 4607 0698 5 (ebook)
A catalogue record for this book is available from the National Library of Australia
Cover design by Hazel Lam, HarperCollins Design Studio
Cover images: Flamingo by Corina Nika – Cocorrina;
plant by DEA / G. CIGOLINI / Getty Images
The Rules of Backyard Croquet Page 31