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

‘Good luck trying to persuade Ruth,’ laughed Charlie and Felix turned to stare at her.

‘I can be very persuasive,’ he said with a beaming smile. It was the first time Charlie had seen him look happy. His previous frowns couldn’t exactly make him look ugly, but a smile like that lit up his whole face.

The noise from the garden reached a crescendo.

‘Do you not think you should check on them?’ asked Felix, straining to look out of the window, but with the garden raised higher than the kitchen it was hard to see.

Charlie could feel the annoyance rising within her. ‘They’re fine.’

‘I think someone should go and take a look.’

‘Be my guest,’ said Charlie, leaning back against the worktop and mentally rearranging her ‘Kipper List’.

He glared at her, roughly put down his coffee mug and walked outside and up the steps to the garden.

Charlie smiled to herself, sipped her coffee and waited. There was a brief pause in the noise before the screaming erupted again. Charlie got the kitchen roll out of the cupboard and picked up a damp cloth. She counted to three and, right on cue, Felix stumbled down the steps and tumbled into the kitchen as mud pellets showered down on him. He quickly shut the door behind him and leant against it like a scene from the Wild West as a banshee-like Millie hurled a large mud pie at the doors, hitting the glass with a tremendous thump, making Felix jump and turn round. Millie stuck out her tongue at Felix and stomped back up to the garden, where the rest of the tribe were whooping in celebration.

Felix took a deep breath and turned to face Charlie. Mud dripped from his once blonde hair and trickled off his chin. ‘They’re feral!’

Charlie couldn’t contain her grin any longer. ‘They’re great, aren’t they?’ she said handing him the cloth and kitchen roll.

Felix looked decidedly rattled as he wiped himself down. ‘Was that some elaborate initiation ceremony?’

Charlie thought for a moment. ‘They hosed me down when I first came. So, yeah, I guess it’s their way of welcoming you.’

‘Ruth said they were out of control but I hadn’t realised it was this bad.’

Charlie felt a flash of anger rampage over her. ‘Children are not meant to be CONTROLLED, especially not kids that have had their world turned arse-up!’

Felix shook his head and a lump of mud plopped onto the floor. ‘They could kill each other,’ he said, snatching some kitchen roll and smearing the mud into his once-white rugby shirt. Charlie’s temper hitched up a notch.

‘You’re such a drama queen! They’re only playing. Have a sense of humour, will you? Nobody’s going to get killed by mud.’

Felix looked even more irritated as he appeared to realise the uselessness of his rubbing. ‘Have you any idea how much bacteria is probably in this?’ he said, showing her the muddied kitchen roll.

‘Nope, but seeing as they play in it a lot, I’m guessing they must be immune. I do hope you don’t catch anything deadly,’ she said with a smirk.

Felix glared at her. ‘I need a shower.’

‘You can’t have one here,’ Charlie said, without thinking. After all, it was his brother’s house, he had every right to use the facilities, but right now this was Charlie’s territory and he was the invader.

Colour rose in Felix’s cheeks and he screwed up the used kitchen roll and threw it, with force, into the bin, making the muscles under his rugby shirt show up. ‘I’ll be back,’ he said as he headed for the front door, leaving a trail of muddy footprints. Charlie threw an imaginary kipper at the back of his head.

Charlie was feeling a little sweaty as she walked out of Green Park tube station and into the warm summer sunshine. She walked along Piccadilly, trying to flap air up her t-shirt to cool herself down. It was the first time Charlie had left all of the children since their parents had died and thoughts of how they were getting on filled her head.

She thought about the first time she had been here with Helen Cobley. All the years she’d lived in and around London she’d never seen the Ritz Hotel or encountered the wonders of Fortnum and Mason’s food hall or the delights of the small exclusive shops in the Burlington Arcade. She made a last-minute decision to go to Ladurée and treat the children to macarons before she met up with Fleur. The Burlington Arcade was barely out of her way and the bizarre little shop swathed in molten gold never failed to make Charlie smile – and she needed to smile right now.

With her treasure of macarons swinging gently at her side, Charlie walked down Old Bond Street and quickened her pace when she spotted Fleur pacing up and down outside the exclusive bridal shop. Fleur’s parents were super-wealthy thanks to her mother’s family money and her father’s very successful business, so this wedding was going to be the no-expense-spared variety. Charlie gave a friendly wave and Fleur stamped her foot and beckoned her closer, like a New York policewoman directing traffic.

‘You’re late, Charlie!’

Charlie glanced at her watch. ‘Three minutes!’

‘They don’t like it when you’re late,’ said Fleur, turning her back on Charlie and leading the way under the scalloped canopy and inside.

‘They don’t like me, whatever time I’m here,’ mumbled Charlie as the door triggered a disturbingly elongated buzzing noise to announce their arrival.

An overly made-up young woman appeared instantly. ‘Good Morning, Miss Van Benton, final fitting for the last of the bridesmaids,’ she said, her eyes flicking to the clock.

‘Yes, I’m sorry we’re late,’ said Fleur, with an involuntary nod towards Charlie. ‘Three minutes!’ mouthed Charlie. It seemed a funny little shop to Charlie; three wedding dresses were displayed on one wall, next to a giant arched mirror. Cream high-backed chairs, a matching chaise longue and low glass tables were strewn with designer brochures but still failed to make the place look welcoming.

‘I understand,’ said the shop assistant briskly. ‘Shall we get along?’

Charlie followed them out of the sparse room, through a narrow corridor and into a fitting room decorated like a French palace. Charlie went to place her Ladurée bag on the chaise longue, this time in a shade of deep purple, but the glare of the shop assistant made her think better of it, so at the last second relegated it to a place on the floor. The shop assistant, who Charlie remembered was called Amber, proceeded to undo probably the longest zip in the world. Charlie followed it all the way to the top of the specialist dress carrier. Instantly the insipid flesh-coloured dress poured out like something out of a horror film. It was a colour that Fleur had spent the last two months insisting was ‘peaches and cream’. Charlie swallowed hard, trying to dispel the terror she knew was written all over her face and quickly checked that Fleur wasn’t watching her. It was worse than she’d remembered.

Fleur was clapping her hands together excitedly. ‘Isn’t it simply divine?’ she said, stepping closer to it and slowly reaching out a tentative hand to touch it. Charlie couldn’t be less impressed if she tried but this was Fleur’s special day and she wanted it to be perfect for her. But this dress was pushing their long friendship to the limits.