Read Online A Summer Fling by Milly Johnson - Free Book Online Page B

said Grace. ‘It’s like loving animals but being allergic to their fur.’
    ‘Your turn, Grace.’
    Grace racked her brains. Three interesting things. She couldn’t think of one.
    ‘They don’t have to be extreme,’ coaxed Christie. ‘Just three things about yourself that we don’t know. For instance, you were telling me that you picked up a hobby in your late twenties, weren’t you?’
    ‘Ah yes,’ said Grace, grateful for the prompt. ‘Well, number one, I’ve been doing yoga for nearly thirty years. I start off every morning with quarter of an hour and finish off every evening with the same. I think I’d get twitchy if I didn’t; it’s become very much my routine.’
    ‘Wish I were that disciplined,’ said Dawn. ‘I haven’t done any exercise for a long time.’
    ‘You’ve a lovely figure anyway though,’ said Grace.
    ‘I’m all legs, which is a pain when I’m buying trousers because they’re never long enough!’
    ‘Lucky you. I always need to have mine taken up. Anyway, go on, fact number two, Grace,’ urged Christie.
    ‘Right, erm . . . well, I have three children: Laura is twenty-nine, Paul is twenty-eight and Sarah is twenty-five, and two grandchildren: Joe – who is Laura’s little boy, he’s five years old and Sarah’s little girl, Sable, who is four and there’s another brother or sister on the way for her.’
    ‘You married, Grace?’ asked Raychel, not hearing any mention of a husband in the family run down.
    ‘Oh yes, I’ve been married to Gordon for twenty-three years. He was a plastic injection moulding engineer but he took early retirement.’
    Interesting, thought Christie. Her husband took early retirement yet she was fighting against it. And from the ages of her children, they were all born out of wedlock. She’d had Grace pigeon-holed as someone traditional too!
    ‘And your third fact?’
    Grace thought hard, then she grinned.
    ‘I’ve had a coffee with Phillip Schofield.’
    ‘You haven’t!’ gasped Raychel. ‘I love Phillip Schofield!’
    ‘Where was that?’ asked Dawn.
    ‘Starbucks in Leeds train station about four years ago,’ said Grace quite proudly. ‘All the tables were taken and he asked if he could sit at mine because I was by myself. I thought he looked like Phillip Schofield, but it never crossed my mind he was the real thing. Then someone asked for his autograph and I could have fainted. He’s very dishy.’
    ‘Did you get his autograph as well?’ Christie asked, chewing on the other half of her scone.
    ‘He signed my serviette,’ replied Grace. ‘He was absolutely charming.’
    ‘He gets better with age as well,’ said Dawn. ‘Was he filming up here?’
    ‘Yes,’ said Grace, ‘but I can’t remember what he said it was. I was a bit star-struck.’
    ‘Starstruck in Starbucks. Say that after you’ve had a few!’ laughed Dawn.
    ‘And on that note, your turn, Dawn?’ said Christie.
    ‘OK, well, I’m getting married in two months. Last Saturday in June. To Calum.’
    A tinkle of congratulatory noises was the result of that revelation.
    ‘Big white wedding?’ asked Christie.
    ‘Small to medium. I don’t have any family. I’m having the big frock and the church and the cake, but not hundreds of guests. Can’t really afford to.’
    ‘What will your married name be?’ said Raychel, wiping her mouth with a napkin.
    ‘Crooke. Not the most romantic name. Not like yours – Love !’ said Dawn with a smile. Not that she minded. Being Mrs Crooke was good enough in her book and made her insides warm at the thought of it. ‘Second: I’ve played the guitar since I was a kid and my most prized possession is the guitar that my parents gave me on my seventeeth birthday. They were both killed in a car accident a few weeks later.’
    ‘Oh my God, that’s terrible,’ said Grace with heartfelt sympathy.
    ‘I know,’ nodded Dawn. ‘I miss them so much, especially with the wedding coming up.’
    ‘You must,’ agreed Christie.