Authors: Gil McNeil
‘Yes, darling.’
‘So was I, a bit. But now it’s all right, isn’t it?’
‘Yes, love.’
He picks up the beakers of juice and starts walking very carefully towards the door.
It’s moments like this when I wish Nick was here. He was so much bolder than I was; he’d be making a joke of it by now,
teasing Archie and making me relax. He could be the brave, exciting one who encouraged them to take risks, and I could be the one in the background with a drink and sandwich. He was always planning impromptu picnics, and then halfway through a sandwich he’d get bored with it and throw it over his shoulder, which the boys thought was brilliant. And now I have to be the one who makes the sandwiches, and then throws them in the sand.
But at least this year has shown me I can cope with almost anything as long as the boys are all right, although God knows what kind of stunts they’re going to pull as they get older. Although you never know, they might be the kind of teenagers who hold doors open for old ladies and take up interesting quiet hobbies, like stamp collecting or excessive numbers of pen pals. The house will be magically transformed into a temple to shabby chic, instead of just being shabby, and the shop will start making proper money and everything in the garden will be lovely, including the tragic old rose bush by the front door, which will burst into bloom. It might not be much of a plan, and it might not be how I thought it was going to be, but I think we’ll be all right. And if it’s not then I’ll just have to make it up as we go along; like I always do.
Gil McNeil is the author of the bestselling
The Only Boy for Me, Stand By Your Man, In The Wee Small Hours, Divas Don’t Knit and Needles and Pearls. The Only Boy For Me
has been made into a major ITV prime-time drama starring Helen Baxendale and was broadcast in 2007. Gil McNeil has edited five collections of stories with Sarah Brown, and is Director of the charity PiggyBankKids, which supports projects that create opportunities for children. She lives in Kent with her son and comes from a long line of champion knitters.
By the Same Author
The Only Boy for Me
Stand By Your Man
In the Wee Small Hours
Needles and Pearls
‘A portrait of childhood to rival Roddy Doyle’s and an angst-ridden love life to match Helen Fielding’s.’
Glamour
Most people would think Annie Baker had it all: an idyllic life in the country and a fabulous job as a film producer. And so would she, if it weren’t for the men in her life. Her six-year-old son Charlie gets traumatized if she buys the wrong kind of sausages. Her tempestuous boss Barney is a Great Director, but keeps getting stuck with dog-food commercials, and as for Lawrence, well, he just wants to get her fired. And then she meets Mack …
‘A joy: a laugh-out-loud account of Annie Baker’s life and loves … a heartbreaking, funny look at parenting and passion’
Elk
Life just keeps getting more complicated for Annie Baker. Her sister Lizzie’s pregnant and wants Annie to be her birth-partner – she’s planning an active labour, in water, with lots of candles and music – while Kate from the village has somehow ended up having an affair with her own ex-husband. And as for the men in Annie’s own life, it just gets worse. Her seven-year-old son Charlie is now officially Pagan, and desperate for his own pet pheasant. Boss Barney is building a bit of a reputation for TV commercials involving stunts. Then there’s Uncle Monty to keep an eye on, a retired mole-catcher who is eighty-three and has just threatened the Meals on Wheels lady with a shotgun. And then Mack comes back from New York, just when Annie was beginning to think she might be able to cope without him …
‘A funny and touching novel. I wish I’d written it.’ Arabella Weir
Alice Mayhew, part-time architect and full-time mother to Alfie, is to gardening what Alan Titchmarsh is to deep-sea fishing. So finding she’s been volunteered to design a new garden for the village comes as a bit of a shock, because apart from anything else she’s far too busy trying to convince Alfie that wearing green trousers doesn’t make you Peter Pan, and that flying is best left to the experts. Molly O’Brien is finding it hard enough coping with Lily (aged four and likes washing up) and Matt (aged thirty-two and doesn’t) before she discovers she’s pregnant. And then there’s Lola Barker, who causes havoc wherever she goes, and brings a whole new meaning to the word high-maintenance.
First published in Great Britain 200
Copyright © Gil McNeil 2007
This electronic edition published 2011 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
The right of Gil McNeil to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by
in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
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(including without limitation electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying,
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Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable
to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages
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A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 9781408825891
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