Laura Ziepe - ‘Tis the Season to be Single - A feel-good festive romantic comedy for 2018 that will make you laugh-out-loud!

LAURA ZIEPElives in Brentwood in Essex with her husband Terry, three-year-old twins Harry and Darcey, and two dogs. Laura has always loved writing from a young age and was often writing stories from as young as eight. After leaving sixth form and working in office jobs for a year in London, Laura decided to go to university. Unsure what to study, Laura’s oldest friend asked her what her ideal job would be. Immediately answering ‘author’, Laura followed her dreams and chose a degree in Creative Writing and English at St Mary’s University in Twickenham. As well as writing books, she is a freelance make-up artist and loves travelling as much as she can. She has previously written two novels, Essex Girls and Made in Essex and hopes to be writing for many years to come. You can follow Laura on Twitter @lauraziepeor on Instagram @lauraziepewriter.

HQ

An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

First published in Great Britain by HQ in 2018

Copyright © Laura Ziepe 2018

Laura Ziepe 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 © October 2018 ISBN: 9780008318482

Version: 2018-09-19

Table of Contents

Cover

About the Author

Title Page

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

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

Epilogue

Acknowledgements

Dear Reader

Keep Reading …

About the Publisher

I would like to dedicate this book to the three loves of my life; my husband Terry and our beautiful twins, Harry and Darcey.

‘Perhaps he’s going to propose?’ Grace said cheerfully, her eyes sparkling with excitement as she bent down to arrange a drawer of lipsticks.

Rachel frowned anxiously, biting her lower lip as she stared at the twinkly fairy lights and sparkly giant baubles above. The Christmas decorations had just gone up and they usually put her in a good mood instantly, but not today. Her boyfriend of three years, Mark, had called on her lunch break to check she was coming straight home as he needed to talk to her.

‘No, I really don’t think that’s it,’ she replied fretfully. ‘He sounded really serious on the phone and Mark is never normally like that. It was as though someone had died. Which they haven’t, thank goodness, because it was the first thing I asked when I heard his sombre voice.’

‘Well, getting married is a huge deal,’ Grace pointed out, tucking her shoulder-length dark hair behind her ear. ‘He’s probably just nervous.’ She smiled widely. ‘You should have seen Simon when he proposed to me. He was shaking so much I thought he was going to drop the ring.’

Rachel gave a light laugh. ‘I’m not so sure…’ She tailed off, unable to imagine Mark proposing on such an ordinary day. Firstly, it was a Wednesday and they didn’t have plans that evening to do anything special, and secondly, Christmas was just around the corner. Surely if Mark was going to propose he’d choose to do so on Christmas Day? She could just imagine it at the Christmas table, surrounded by Mark’s lovely family as they gushed over the beautiful diamond ring. He wouldn’t do it on a random Wednesday at the beginning of November, would he? Rachel felt like she’d been waiting forever for him to propose, but try as she might, she just couldn’t imagine that being the reason he needed to talk to her.

‘Don’t look so worried,’ Grace told her, in a comforting, caring voice. ‘I’m sure if it was that urgent, he would have just told you over the phone.’

Rachel forced a smile and nodded her head. ‘Yes, I’m sure you’re right. It’s probably nothing. I bet it’s to do with his work or something along those lines. He’s been so stressed over work lately; perhaps he’s quit his job? It wouldn’t be the worst thing.’

‘Has Bianca mentioned anything?’ Grace questioned curiously. ‘Perhaps she knows what all this is about?’

Bianca was Rachel’s best friend from primary school. When Bianca had been made redundant the year before, Rachel had managed to persuade Mark to get her a job at the bank he worked for in London. Bianca had been over the moon and so grateful. Rachel’s forehead wrinkled.

‘No, she hasn’t, and I spoke to her last night. They only work in the same building though. They’re in completely different departments so I can’t imagine she’d know anything anyway. It’s not like they’re friends or anything.’ Rachel heaved a loud sigh. ‘There’s no point in me guessing all day. I’ll just have to wait and see.’

‘Exactly,’ Grace said, pulling out a lipstick and taking the cap off. ‘Put on a bit of red lippie to get into the festive spirit and everything will be fine,’ she smiled, passing the lipstick over.

It was quiet today in Tidemans, the department store they worked in. With Christmas fast approaching, Rachel knew it was the calm before the storm and she should appreciate the peace and quiet. Right now though, she also knew that she’d welcome the distraction of some customers, as all she could think about was what Mark wanted to say to her. As much as she’d pressed him on the phone, he’d been adamant he wanted to discuss it face to face. It couldn’t be anything that bad, could it? A feeling of unease crept up on her. Everything had been fine in their relationship; a little same-old and predictable maybe, but Rachel loved the feeling of being completely comfortable and they were happy, weren’t they? Who cared if she no longer had the butterflies like at the beginning? That feeling didn’t last forever in any relationship, and Mark was the man Rachel wanted to marry. He was the one. For the past year she’d been hoping he was going to propose and she couldn’t deny she’d felt a little disappointed after every night out in a restaurant or trip away together when she’d still come back empty handed. What if Grace was right? What if he really was going to propose today? Rachel applied the red lipstick with a brush and puckered her lips together. At least she could make sure she looked nice if he was going to pop the question.