Bella Osborne - A Family Holiday - A heartwarming summer romance for fans of Katie Fforde

Charlie made her apologies to the solicitor over the top of Millie’s repetition of ‘Bloody ridiculous!’ There were much simpler words she struggled to pronounce like ‘banana’ or ‘cereal’ but ‘bloody’ and ‘ridiculous’ evidently weren’t causing her any such issues.

As Charlie tried to herd the children through the waiting area as quickly as possible a tall blonde-haired man strode past them. He glanced at Charlie, but as he saw the miserable-looking children surrounding her he quickly turned his head away. Still, he wasn’t to know that she was only the nanny.

Back at home Ted and Charlie stared into their respective mugs.

‘What do you know about Aunt Ruth and Uncle Felix?’ asked Charlie, trying to sound relaxed, but it still came out like the start of an inquisition. Ted sighed heavily.

‘You’ve met Aunt Ruthless,’ he said, and looked up as if that was explanation enough.

‘She seems … okay,’ said Charlie, sipping her drink and avoiding eye contact.

‘Okay?’ questioned Ted. ‘Yeah, if you were stuck next to her on a train for an hour, perhaps, but okay to take the place of our parents?’ Charlie pulled a face like someone discovering a maggot in an apple. Ted continued, ‘She would only look okay when compared to a rabid wolf and then it would be touch and go who to choose. In fact, I think wolves have quite a strong nurturing instinct.’ He gave a wry smile.

‘I agree she’s not the warmest of people, but she seemed, um, efficient.’

‘Charlie, I am not having Aunt Ruthless move in here so she can bully all of us and use the trust fund to shore up her failing company.’

‘She’s not that bad and don’t call her Ruthless or Millie will pick it up and … ’

Ted grinned over his coffee mug. Charlie shook her head in mock despondency. They sat in silence again, the only sound was of muffled footsteps upstairs as Fleur played with the other children. Fleur was Charlie’s oldest friend and should have been baby-sitting that morning so Charlie could have gone to the solicitor’s alone, but something had come up and Fleur hadn’t made it in time. Better late than never, thought Charlie.

The sound of frantic high-speed paws almost tumbling down the stairs towards them made them both turn to see the arrival of Wriggly. He was a brown-and-white Llasa Apso puppy with an amazing pedigree birth line and an even longer pedigree name that was no good for day-to-day use. After much debate and a secret vote, they had finally settled on the name Mr Wriggly. Charlie still felt that it had some inappropriate overtones, but she’d been outvoted. Thankfully it had soon been shortened to Wriggly. Today Wriggly was wearing a Star Wars Ewok costume and was closely followed by Princess Leia, a storm trooper and a mini version of Darth Vader.

‘George, Wriggly will overheat in that outfit. Take it off, please,’ asked Charlie as the storm trooper removed his mask.

‘But we’re being chased by a Cyberman!’ said Eleanor, adjusting her Princess Leia Chelsea-bun-style hairband.

‘Shhhhh,’ said Darth Vader. Not having seen the films, this was Millie’s interpretation of the Darth Vader breathing noise. George had given up trying to teach her how to do it properly.

‘Cyberman?’ queried Ted and he glanced at Charlie with raised eyebrows.

An odd-looking Cyberman walked awkwardly down the stairs like an Egyptian mummy from a black-and-white film. The key differences being the swathes of auburn hair bouncing behind it and the patent high-heeled shoes. George and Eleanor screamed and ran for the garden.

‘Shhhhh,’ said Darth Vader before giggling and following the others.

‘Fleur, you are useless when it comes to sci-fi,’ said Charlie.

The Cyberman spun in her direction, removed the mask and studied it. ‘Is this not Star Wars ?’

Charlie shook her head, ‘Dr Who.’

‘Bugger,’ said Fleur as she flopped onto a barstool.

‘Thanks for baby-sitting, Fleur. They love playing with you.’

‘It’s the least I can do after messing up this morning. Sorry. How are things?’

‘Not great, but we’re managing,’ said Charlie, exchanging grimaces with Ted.

‘I think you’re all amazing. I’d be a mess if it were me. Ma and Pa send their love and Pa says thanks for keeping me busy. He says if I mention the wedding at home once more he’s moving into the stables.’ She huffed. ‘You’d think I’d turned into some sort of Bridezilla.’

Charlie and Ted exchanged looks and sipped their drinks in unison.

‘What? I can’t help being excited, it’s not long now. Eeeek!’ squealed Fleur. Ted winced.

The back doors opened and the compact version of the Star Wars cast came thundering back in. ‘George! Remove the Ewok costume!’ said Charlie with authority. ‘Go on, all of you back upstairs, I’ll call you when dinner is ready,’ and Charlie dismissed them with a wave of her hand. George undid the Velcro on Wriggly’s costume, the little dog shook himself free and chased up the stairs after Eleanor, closely followed by the storm trooper and unconvincing Cyberman.

‘Shhhhh,’ said Darth Vader in passing. The kitchen was calm again.

‘Uncle Felix, what do we know about him?’ Charlie didn’t like to admit that she hadn’t known that Toby even had a brother.

‘There was some family upset and he did a runner some years ago…’ Ted paused. ‘It doesn’t matter, though, does it really? Mum and Dad are dead and nobody else is going to love us like they did.’

The doorbell rang and both Charlie and Ted jumped. Piccadilly Circus was as calm and serene as a spa compared to their house. Charlie slid off the barstool. ‘I’ll go,’ she said, as she downed the last of her coffee and tried to push her own grief to the back of her mind. The children were coping incredibly well now; they were quite matter-of-fact at times. The funeral had been the worst experience of her life as she had tried to keep things together and let them all deal with it in their own way. The last thing she wanted was for them to bottle this up, as she knew from her own experience that repressing emotions would never end well.

Charlie opened the front door and surveyed the uncomfortable-looking man fidgeting on the doorstep. His striking features looked familiar. A baseball cap covered his hair but wisps of blonde were sticking out at odd angles. He was wearing a new-looking jacket and ill-fitting jeans and his hands were thrust deep into his pockets, making the jeans sag even more.

‘Hi,’ he said at last. His accent was British with a hint of something difficult to identify.

‘Hi,’ said Charlie, feeling her cheeks rise into an involuntary smile.

‘Are you the nanny?’

‘Yes, I’m Charlie French.’ The attractive stranger intrigued her.

‘I’m Felix. Felix Cobley.’

Charlie’s smile evaporated in a haze of confusion. Was this some sort of hostile takeover?

‘What’s going on?’ she said, folding her arms tight as if holding down the anger within her.