Bella Osborne - Willow Cottage – Part Three - A Spring Affair

Published by Avon

An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk

First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins 2017

Copyright © Bella Osborne 2017

Bella Osborne asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue copy of 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, down-loaded, 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.

Ebook Edition © March 2017 ISBN: 9780008181000

Source ISBN: 9780008181024

Version: 2017-11-16

‘Loved this book, so light-hearted and amusing’

‘A lovely read’

‘Oh what a little treasure this is! A cast of great characters, lovely Cotswold village and Beth trying to cope with the disaster she has bought’

‘Full of wit and charm’

‘Great characters who have quickly become established and rooted in my imagination. Very funny, but with deeper undercurrents woven in’

‘Loved the story, couldn’t put it down’

‘Absolutely loved this book, hooked from the start’

‘Three Words: Brilliant, Charming and Moving’

‘This is a wonderful read’

In memory of a truly amazing woman, my grandma 1903–1993

Table of Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright Published by Avon An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF www.harpercollins.co.uk First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins 2017 Copyright © Bella Osborne 2017 Bella Osborne asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work. A catalogue copy of 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, down-loaded, 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. Ebook Edition © March 2017 ISBN: 9780008181000 Source ISBN: 9780008181024 Version: 2017-11-16

What Readers Are Saying About Escape to Willow Cottage WHAT READERS ARE SAYING ABOUT ESCAPE TO WILLOW COTTAGE Table of Contents Cover Title Page Copyright What Readers Are Saying About Escape to Willow Cottage Dedication Chapter Twenty-Three Chapter Twenty-Four Chapter Twenty-Five Chapter Twenty-Six Chapter Twenty-Seven Chapter Twenty-Eight Chapter Twenty-Nine Chapter Thirty Chapter Thirty-One Chapter Thirty-Two Chapter Thirty-Three Acknowledgements Keep Reading… About the Author About the Publisher ‘Loved this book, so light-hearted and amusing’ ‘A lovely read’ ‘Oh what a little treasure this is! A cast of great characters, lovely Cotswold village and Beth trying to cope with the disaster she has bought’ ‘Full of wit and charm’ ‘Great characters who have quickly become established and rooted in my imagination. Very funny, but with deeper undercurrents woven in’ ‘Loved the story, couldn’t put it down’ ‘Absolutely loved this book, hooked from the start’ ‘Three Words: Brilliant, Charming and Moving’ ‘This is a wonderful read’

Dedication In memory of a truly amazing woman, my grandma 1903–1993

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Six

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Chapter Thirty

Chapter Thirty-One

Chapter Thirty-Two

Chapter Thirty-Three

Acknowledgements

Keep Reading…

About the Author

About the Publisher

Leo was back to his old self with the television blaring in the background and his face glued to his tablet. All was right in his world. Beth brought him a drink of juice and put it on the windowsill for him.

‘This is for you, Mum,’ he said as he pulled out the rest of the white envelope that was sticking up from the side of the sofa cushion. Beth’s stomach churned. She took the envelope from him, went to the kitchen and shut the door. She sat down and thumbed the envelope; she could feel that there was a card inside. Beth knew from the writing that it was from Nick; perhaps it was just a Christmas card. She could destroy it without opening it; fling it in the open fire tonight when Leo had gone to bed. It was a tempting thought that she could watch it burn but could she cope with not knowing what was inside?

In an instant she answered her question as she ripped it open. It was a Christmas card; simple and classy. She held it in her hands and noticed they were shaking ever so slightly. She opened the card and something fluttered to the floor. She left it there for a moment while she read what was written inside.

Dearest Elizabeth and Leo,

Wherever this finds you I pray you are safe and well.

Love always

Nick

Beth read it again. There didn’t appear to be any hidden message or any threat and most importantly no hint that he was coming after them. She leaned down and picked up what had fluttered out of the card. It was a newspaper clipping. She turned it over in her fingers to identify which side was relevant and then she spotted it.

SOCIAL MEDIA – FINDING THE MISSING

She speed-read the short article and nausea swirled in her stomach. One sentence in particular struck her: Social media has become a useful tool for the families of missing people and the police in helping to locate them . It went on to give various examples and how even celebrities had got involved with sharing and retweeting photographs to raise awareness and jog people’s memories. Beth slowly and deliberately screwed up the newspaper clipping until it was a tight ball in her hand. On top of the revulsion, she felt an uncomfortable sense of pleasure that she had known Nick well enough to second-guess that it would be something more than a Christmas card.

She remembered how she’d brushed over the fact that Nick used to open her mail. Everything would be still in the envelope. He appeared to have slit the envelopes neatly for her as a thoughtful thing to do ever since she’d ripped into one and got a paper cut. An innocent gesture, she had thought at the time. It was only later that she realized things were going missing: the social invitations, bank cards and the odd personal letter. It became clear that Nick was reading her mail when he questioned why she had visited certain shops or knew about an engagement party for a friend that had moved away.