Karen Aldous - The Riviera

The journey is only as good as its end…

It’s been a hard journey, but Lizzie Lambert’s life is a Provençal dream come true. Her business is wildly successful, and with her little boy and the love of her life, Cal, she is making a beautiful home on the vineyard for their blended family.

But when Cal goes to America to support his son through a teenage crisis, it becomes clear the kid’s not the only one with some growing up to do: Cal’s glamorous ex-wife wants to get her claws in him again. As Cal spends longer and longer away, Lizzie wonders, was it all too good to be true?

Escape to Provence with Karen Aldous’ The Riviera , the perfect read for an idyllic summer.

Also by Karen Aldous

The Vineyard

The Chateau

The Riviera

Karen Aldous

Copyright

HQ

An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

First published in Great Britain by HQ in 2015

Copyright © Karen Aldous 2015

Karen Aldous asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

E-book Edition © July 2015 ISBN: 9781474036504

Version date: 2018-09-19

KAREN ALDOUS

Inspired by novelists such as Jilly Cooper and Barbara Taylor Bradford, many moons ago, Karen never lost her passion for writing. It always got put on the back burner though with stories and articles fuelling the Aga rather than popped in the mail box. Gaining life experience and confidence has been crucial though, so she feels raising her three children along with being in the property and travel industries have not only brought material for her writing but have allowed her to indulge in her favourite pastimes.

Karen currently lives on the edge of the North Downs in Kent and owns a website design business so is able to use her skills and creativity but she craves nothing other than earning a living from writing romance. Her dream! Her friends call it Karen’s world, and why not? Her teachers always said she had an overactive imagination so it makes sense to put it to good use!

She still gets a kick from travelling and seeking that property bargain but her husband and family, particularly her three grandchildren, continue to steal her affections – along with Bertie, her golden lab. There’s barely enough time to go round, she admits, but their love and support never wavers and without them, and that from fellow writers at ‘The Write Place’ and the RNA, her aspirations may never have flourished!

Special thanks and best wishes to Lucy Gilmour, my Editor, Charlotte Mursell, Clio Cornish, Victoria Oundjian and all the wonderful Team at HQ Digital.

Thank you also to all the beautiful establishments featured in this book - you may not know it but you’ve provided my characters with some truly memorable moments to share with the readers.

To Glyn for your constant love and strength xx

Contents

Cover

Blurb

Book List

Title Page

Copyright

Author Bio

Acknowledgement

Dedication

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Extract

Endpages

About the Publisher

Chapter 1

Lizzie Lambert rushed from the bedroom tailing Cal McLaren. She had never seen him move so fast.

‘You admitted yourself you thought Kelly was a drama queen,’ Lizzie said.

‘It was you who said she was a drama queen.’ He charged across the living area to his laptop on the dining table and tossed Lizzie an accusing glance.

‘Yes, but you agreed,’ she said glaring at him. He was obviously concerned. This wasn’t the time to begin an argument. They’d not argued in the four months they’d been together. She peered down at her feet on the cool marble floor wishing she had grabbed her slippers.

‘OK, so usually she is,’ Cal conceded hauling out an iron-framed chair. Lizzie squeezed into the one beside him, her eyes roving over his taut body and approving of the pert bum snuggled into his CK briefs. She waited as he opened the laptop and hit the start button. He tapped his fingers on the table as the machine fired up. ‘Come on.’

‘What do you think the email means?’ Lizzie asked, scooping chestnut brown hair back with her fingers and tying it up loosely. Then realised the stupidity of her question.

‘I really don’t know. I want to check on here in case I’ve missed something on my phone screen,’ he told her entering his password and clicking a few times. ‘Oh come on.’ He scratched his head and checked the time. ‘It must be about six o’clock in the evening in Nantucket.’

‘Yes, I should think so,’ Lizzie said pausing to check her own phone. ‘Yes, it’s now ten after midnight.’

Faintly listening, Cal clicked once more at the brief email. ‘Here it is.’

Dad,

Please, please, come and get me. Take me away from this horrible town! I can’t talk about it here but come quick. I can’t stay.

Jack

‘Nothing else,’ he said catching his breath and scrolling his mouse down to check he’d not missed any other emails. ‘That was sent an hour ago. Shit. I’ll ring.’ He then quickly typed ‘On my way. Xxx’ and pressed send.

‘Bloody hell. He sounds desperate,’ Lizzie said gazing at dark-grey sumptuous eyes but observing a panic in them she’d rarely seen. Feeling the urge to hold him close, she covered his free trembling hand with hers, yearning to brush his dark hair with her fingers.

‘Yes, very. I need to go.’ He finished punching the screen on his phone and pushed back his chair, swiping his hand away as he stood. Lizzie’s eyes followed him as he mindlessly began pacing towards the full-length terrace doors and back, phone tight to his ear. She scampered to the kitchen and reached for the kettle. She stopped.

‘Kelly, it’s Cal, can I speak to Jack?’ he asked.

Lizzie remained still gripping the kettle in her hand. Teenagers were such vulnerable creatures. It didn’t make sense. Jack seemed so happy just two months ago when they visited him at the New Year. Cal’s brows, she observed, were joining up. She feared for him as his eyes turned steely hard and his face paled.

Cal signalled to the pen and Lizzie grabbed it at the ready and wrote down the number as he called out.