Read Online Summer at Shell Cottage by Lucy Diamond - Free Book Online Page B

where she and a local police officer had to attend a meeting at the parental
home of one of her students, to discuss the boy’s welfare. The boy in question had been coming to school late every day, and had recently turned up with bruises and a black eye, and Harriet
had strong suspicions that the bruising was down to his father, a known thug who’d been in trouble with the police before. The family lived in a flat near Edgware Road, but it was only when
she and the police officer had been knocking on the front door for five minutes that a neighbour stuck her head out of her window and told them the family were away.
    Harriet didn’t like the sound of that, but unfortunately there wasn’t much they could do about it now, and so she had to beat a helpless retreat.
    Now what? It wasn’t worth trawling all the way back to school for the last hour, so Harriet wandered towards Marylebone Road, the air sultry and smelling of diesel, deciding that she might
as well seize the chance to pick up a few things for the holiday. They were due to set off for Devon at the weekend, and in all the end-of-term kerfuffle she’d hardly had a chance to think
about it.
    It was going to be a fantastic fortnight away, she had already decided. With Molly coming up for sixteen in November, Harriet was well aware that this might easily be the last time her daughter
deigned to join them on a family holiday before she had her head turned by the joys of festival trips or mooching about in London all summer with mates instead. It seemed like five minutes ago that
Molly had been obsessed by making sandcastles and moats, and collecting every last shell on the beach. Now she was taller than Harriet, and more interested in building a follower base on Instagram
than any sandy constructions. Where had the years gone?
    Molly had been turning her nose up at the prospect of another holiday in Devon with the in-laws, especially when her friends were apparently off to Ibiza and the Greek islands, but Harriet loved
the old-fashioned seaside holiday appeal of Shell Cottage. The house was beautiful yet homely, the beach was absolutely blissful, and you could go mountain biking or horse riding or hiking and
really switch off and forget about the rest of the world. Of course, to her daughter, the very thought of ‘switching off’ was anathema, to be greeted with undiluted horror. Molly was
already stressing about the dodgy Wi-Fi but you couldn’t have everything.
    Anyway, Harriet had an ace up her sleeve. Next summer, when Robert’s book had been published and they hopefully had money pouring in like nobody’s business, they could go somewhere
more glamorous themselves – Tuscany, Florida, Provence, anywhere they fancied, basically. She’d lure Molly into another holiday by promising her exotic luxury and guaranteed sunshine. Yes, of course it was shameless bribery. But if she could squeeze an extra fortnight away with her daughter, before Molly decided she was too sophisticated to be seen dead holidaying with her
embarrassing mother, then bring on the shameless bribery. It would be worth every penny.
    She had reached the chemist now, so walked in and began adding toiletries to her basket: suncream (hey, she was an optimist), insect bite cream (and also a realist), hair conditioner and
aftersun, the shaving gel Robert liked . . .
    Then a thought struck her. Wait a minute! Hadn’t Robert said he was in Marylebone too today? Her local geography was pretty hazy but the Marylebone Tavern couldn’t be that far from
here, surely. Maybe his lunch was still going on! She felt a pulse of excitement at the notion. She could offer to meet him afterwards for a debrief over coffee, get all the goss about exactly what
the American editor had said. Robert had mentioned the possibility of an American tour to promote the book, and Harriet was definitely going to invite herself and Molly along for
that,
if
it happened.
    Hi love, how did mtg go? she texted,