Book Club Reads: 3-Book Collection: Yesterday’s Sun, The Sea Sisters, Someone to Watch Over Me. Amanda Brooke

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СКАЧАТЬ his head back to look into his eyes. They were the same eyes she had looked into during her moonlit nightmare, only now they glinted green and held no hint of the grief that had consumed the man her warped mind had created. Try as she might, Holly couldn’t shake the picture she had now created of Tom in her mind. The fear for the future that Holly had tried to ignore sparked into life and doubt crept in. What if the moondial had summoned the vision? What if it really had shown her the future?

      Tom frowned as he recognized the look of sadness in Holly’s eyes. ‘You must hate me for doing this to you,’ he told her. ‘Uprooting you to the country and then abandoning you. I’m a lousy husband.’

      ‘You’re the best husband I could ever have. I’m blessed to be loved so much, never forget that.’ Holly wrapped Tom tightly in her arms and squeezed away the tears and the doubts. Fully awake and thinking only of the present, Holly’s mind did a double take and she pushed Tom away from her again so that they were face to face. ‘Hold on, why are you here? You were supposed to be staying over in London tonight, ready for the showdown with the studio tomorrow. What’s happened?’

      Tom sighed and closed his eyes. He leaned forward and rested his head on Holly’s as if the weight of the world was bearing down on him.

      ‘It’s bad, isn’t it?’ Holly said, her heart hammering.

      Tom lifted his head and tried to smile. Holly knew he wasn’t about to put her mind at ease. ‘I’ve still got a job, or at least I will have,’ he said, but Holly sensed that he was softening the blow.

      ‘Tell me,’ she demanded softly.

      ‘Peter Richards is retiring at the end of the year and they want me to be part of the new line-up.’

      ‘A news anchor? They want you to be an anchorman?’ Holly was almost laughing, partly with relief and partly at the thought of Tom behind a desk in a slick, smart suit reading the news. ‘And that’s bad?’

      Tom grimaced. ‘Well, can you picture me in a shiny suit every day? Ah, I see by the wicked smile on your face that you’re already imagining it. But no, that’s not the bad news, not really.’

      Holly stopped smiling as she realized there was something else that Tom was trying to tell her. ‘So that’s at the end of the year. What do they have planned for you in the meantime?’

      ‘The merger has meant joining forces with a couple of other production companies and I’m being seconded. It means more special assignments and they’re going to involve quite a bit of travel. The first assignment is investigating the Canadian oil sands and I have to leave in a couple of weeks. Environmental impact of oil extraction, that kind of thing.’

      ‘You’re going to Canada?’ Holly knew it was a stupid question and Tom had the good grace to bite his tongue rather than make a smart response.

      ‘So how long?’ Holly continued.

      ‘At least a month.’

      ‘And after that?’ Holly could feel her heart wrenching in her chest.

      ‘More travelling. I’m sorry, Holly.’

      Tom’s eyes were glistening and Holly’s heart pulled some more. She didn’t want to see Tom hurting, not again. She leaned over to kiss Tom on each of his eyes. ‘Kiss me,’ she told him sternly.

      ‘Even when I smell of garlic?’ Tom asked with a weak smile.

      ‘It just makes me hungry.’

      ‘So eat me.’ The smile on his face had now reached his eyes.

      Holly giggled and the sound of laughter eased her disappointment. They had each other, they would always have each other, she told herself. She savoured every kiss and every caress and when they made love Holly held onto Tom like she was never going to let go.

      Later that morning, when they had worn themselves out and had nothing to sustain their appetites other than a box of very squashed chocolates, Tom and Holly dragged themselves out of bed and down to the kitchen to raid the fridge.

      ‘So when do I get to see your fabulous new studio?’ Tom asked.

      ‘As soon as you’re dressed and decent. This is a respectable village and I can’t have you going out in nothing but a pair of boxer shorts and risk frightening the locals.’

      ‘We’re not overlooked,’ replied Tom, ‘and anyway, if your friend Jocelyn comes calling it would probably make her day.’

      ‘Jocelyn won’t be calling, not today. Everyone knows to keep away for a day or two. Even Billy.’

      ‘Ah yes, Billy. I wouldn’t mind speaking to him.’

      ‘So he can finish your half-hearted attempt to landscape the garden, by any chance?’

      ‘My new job is going to mean more money. If I can’t be here to do the work myself, the least I can do is spend my hard-earned cash on making a beautiful garden for my wife. And I might just be able to afford another project I’ve had in mind,’ Tom answered cryptically.

      Holly recalled standing beneath the full moon, standing on the well-manicured garden and looking towards the house. ‘What kind of project?’ she asked as the now familiar sense of fear crawled up her spine. She held the vision of the conservatory in her mind’s eye and willed Tom not to make the suggestion.

      ‘That’s going to be between me and Billy.’

      Holly shrugged her shoulders. She didn’t want to hear something that might give more substance to her hallucination. ‘Suit yourself, then,’ she told Tom.

      Tom looked at Holly open-mouthed, shocked and a little disappointed by her quick submission. He wasn’t used to winning so easily. ‘I will, then,’ he said, his bottom lip turned out in boyish petulance.

      Feeling guilty at bringing Tom’s little game of words to a sudden end, Holly set about distracting him. ‘Well, if you want to size up Billy’s expertise, let’s go take a look at the studio. I’ll even let you visit half-naked. Let’s live dangerously.’

      The weather was warm and there was a damp, earthy smell in the air. June was blooming and in the garden the spring daffodils had made way for the summer blooms. ‘The dandelions are doing well,’ Holly commented as they slipped out of the house barefooted towards the studio. She was only wearing a vest top and knickers and hid as best she could behind Tom.

      ‘Ooh, ouch, so are the nettles,’ he said as he led the way carefully along a narrow and overgrown path that marked the boundary between the house and the studio.

      The entrance to the studio faced the road and was the only place where they risked being seen. ‘Morning, Mrs Davis!’ Tom shouted casually.

      Holly gasped and crouched further behind Tom. Then she peeped over his shoulder before thumping him. ‘You don’t know a Mrs Davis,’ she said. ‘Now open the door before someone really does see us.’

      Nowadays Holly spent most mornings in her studio and the bright airy space was a second home to her. Tom, on the other hand, had last seen the studio when it was still a building site. She looked at his face intently to savour the reaction. His eyes were wide in amazement as he took in the white walls and the sunlight СКАЧАТЬ