Fern Britton: The Great Cornish Getaway

Published by HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk

First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins 2018

Copyright © Fern Britton 2018

Cover images © Shutterstock

Cover design © HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 2018

Fern Britton 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.

Source ISBN: 9780008264611

Ebook Edition © February 2018 ISBN: 9780008264628

Version: 2018-02-16

To all new readers,

I hope you have fun x

Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright Copyright Copyright 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 Read on for an extract of Fern’s new novel, Coming Home About the Author By the same author About the Publisher Published by HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF www.harpercollins.co.uk First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins 2018 Copyright © Fern Britton 2018 Cover images © Shutterstock Cover design © HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 2018 Fern Britton 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. Source ISBN: 9780008264611 Ebook Edition © February 2018 ISBN: 9780008264628 Version: 2018-02-16

Dedication Dedication 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 Read on for an extract of Fern’s new novel, Coming Home About the Author By the same author About the Publisher To all new readers, I hope you have fun x

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

Read on for an extract of Fern’s new novel, Coming Home

About the Author

By the same author

About the Publisher

Richard was cold.

Cold and wet.

His silver hair, wet with raindrops, flopped over his forehead as he hunched into his tweed overcoat, and turned against the wind and penetrating rain. God, but England could be miserable in the winter.

He should be in Massachusetts, but here he was, spending ten days in the UK. A very old friend had persuaded him to make a cameo appearance in a film directed by a young whizz-kid who needed a leg up the Hollywood ladder.

He hadn’t wanted to do it. He’d had a busy year and was in need of a break.

Physically and mentally.

It was a mess.

The director didn’t know her arse from her elbow and the crew were just as clueless. He was losing patience, and his cold, which had set in on the flight over from LA, filled his nose, ears and brains.

He was not a happy man.

Tizzy, the director, had finished bossing everyone around and was ready at last.

‘Here we go and … action .’

Richard opened his mouth but, to his embarrassment, no words came out.

‘Cut!’ shouted Tizzy impatiently. She stomped up to him. ‘What is the matter?’

He smiled as nicely as he could. ‘Sorry, I forgot the line.’

‘Got it now? Or do you want Sadie to give you the script, again?’

‘No, no. It’s fine.’ His patience was almost lost, but he hung onto it.

She turned and walked quickly back to her position. He heard her tutting to Jango, ‘He forgot his fricking lines. I knew we should have got Jim Broadbent.’ She looked at Richard as if he was stupid. ‘Sure you’re OK, Rich?’

He smiled tightly.

‘Good. And, action .’

He delivered the line, and he knew he’d got the thought behind it and the delivery spot on.

‘Keep rolling and let’s do it again, before we lose the light. Try and give us a smile at the end of the line, Rich,’ Tizzy shouted.

They did it seven more times. Each time she asked for a different tone or expression. At last the crew told her the light had gone for the day.

Richard gladly put on his coat and headed back towards his trailer.

Instead of following the path to his trailer, though, he turned his collar up and looked for the footpath he knew would get him to the main road.

It ran between two high hedges and smelt of rotting greenery.

Walking now down the dark road, Richard tried to get his brain to think sensibly and make a plan. But it was impossible. He just knew he had to get as far away from the set as possible.