Read Online The Honeymoon Sisters by Gwyneth Rees - Free Book Online
Authors: Gwyneth Rees
Ads: Link
fault because I try too hard to get it perfect. She says not to worry because Dad will like anything I give him just because it’s from me, but I’m not so sure that’s true. I mean, he never wears the tie I gave him last Christmas, and the toiletries I bought him for his last birthday are still sitting on his bathroom shelf in their original packaging.
‘I wish that just one time, I could get him something he really loves ,’ I confided in Josh. ‘But it’s hard because he has such expensive tastes in … well … in just about everything.’
Josh nodded sympathetically and started to follow me around the shop.
Once we were outside again (without buying anything) Josh said, ‘What about the bookshop?’
I shook my head. ‘He won’t want anything from there.’
‘I thought you said he doesn’t do charity shops but he does do second-hand books?’
‘Well, yes, but not the way Mum and I do them. Put it this way,’ I said with a sigh. ‘He won’t want anything from in there that I can afford to buy him.’
Mum and I always spend ages in second-hand bookshops browsing the shelves to see what we can find and pausing frequently to show each other stuff or to read amusing blurbs out loud. Currently Mum is on a mission to replace all the children’s books she remembers having as a girl.
Dad, on the other hand, makes straight for the locked glass cabinet behind the till where all the more valuable items are displayed. And if there’s nothing there that interests him he just walks straight out again.
‘What about going for nostalgic value instead?’ Josh suggested, pointing at an old Beano annual in the window.
I shook my head at the Beano but I followed him inside anyway, not really expecting to find a present forDad, but knowing I’d have fun browsing for books Mum or I might like.
After a little while I spotted an old Just William hardback and I suddenly remembered Dad talking about how he used to like Just William as a boy. I picked up the book and showed it to Josh. ‘But it’s not signed and it’s not a first edition or anything,’ I said uncertainly.
‘It doesn’t matter. It’s still a really original present. I know my dad would love it.’
‘Yeah, but this is my dad we’re talking about. He probably –’ I broke off abruptly as someone I knew came into the shop. It was Josh’s mate Sean from school.
Sean isn’t as obviously handsome or as tall as Josh, but I suppose he’s fairly good-looking in a boyish sort of way. And he’s got really twinkly brown eyes. He’s certainly very witty – another attribute Mum says she used to find super attractive in my dad, but now finds super irritating.
Now I remembered Josh telling me that Sean’s mum worked in the estate agent’s next door.
‘Sean!’ Josh immediately called out. ‘What are you doing inside a bookshop? Oh … hi, Mr Anderson!’
Mr Anderson was right behind him. Like I said before, Sean’s mum married our English teacher last summer. Apparently Mr Anderson is ten years younger than Sean’smum, and Anne-Marie says that our teacher must therefore have some kind of ‘mother complex’ (whatever that’s supposed to mean). When I repeated it to Mum she laughed and said that Sean’s mum is really glamorous and doesn’t look like anybody’s mother.
Anyway, I can’t imagine anything more embarrassing than having my mum marry a teacher in our school. Except for everyone finding out my dad’s in prison, perhaps.
Mr Anderson was smiling at Josh and me as he said, ‘It’s nice to see some of my pupils have developed a love of reading, at any rate.’
‘Poppy’s thinking about getting this for her dad’s birthday,’ Josh told him, showing him my book. ‘What do you think? He used to read Just William when he was a kid.’
‘Well, that sounds like an excellent choice, then,’ Mr Anderson replied, smiling kindly at me.
Sean was grinning at me cheekily. ‘ Your dad sounds nice and normal. Leo was reading the
‘I wish that just one time, I could get him something he really loves ,’ I confided in Josh. ‘But it’s hard because he has such expensive tastes in … well … in just about everything.’
Josh nodded sympathetically and started to follow me around the shop.
Once we were outside again (without buying anything) Josh said, ‘What about the bookshop?’
I shook my head. ‘He won’t want anything from there.’
‘I thought you said he doesn’t do charity shops but he does do second-hand books?’
‘Well, yes, but not the way Mum and I do them. Put it this way,’ I said with a sigh. ‘He won’t want anything from in there that I can afford to buy him.’
Mum and I always spend ages in second-hand bookshops browsing the shelves to see what we can find and pausing frequently to show each other stuff or to read amusing blurbs out loud. Currently Mum is on a mission to replace all the children’s books she remembers having as a girl.
Dad, on the other hand, makes straight for the locked glass cabinet behind the till where all the more valuable items are displayed. And if there’s nothing there that interests him he just walks straight out again.
‘What about going for nostalgic value instead?’ Josh suggested, pointing at an old Beano annual in the window.
I shook my head at the Beano but I followed him inside anyway, not really expecting to find a present forDad, but knowing I’d have fun browsing for books Mum or I might like.
After a little while I spotted an old Just William hardback and I suddenly remembered Dad talking about how he used to like Just William as a boy. I picked up the book and showed it to Josh. ‘But it’s not signed and it’s not a first edition or anything,’ I said uncertainly.
‘It doesn’t matter. It’s still a really original present. I know my dad would love it.’
‘Yeah, but this is my dad we’re talking about. He probably –’ I broke off abruptly as someone I knew came into the shop. It was Josh’s mate Sean from school.
Sean isn’t as obviously handsome or as tall as Josh, but I suppose he’s fairly good-looking in a boyish sort of way. And he’s got really twinkly brown eyes. He’s certainly very witty – another attribute Mum says she used to find super attractive in my dad, but now finds super irritating.
Now I remembered Josh telling me that Sean’s mum worked in the estate agent’s next door.
‘Sean!’ Josh immediately called out. ‘What are you doing inside a bookshop? Oh … hi, Mr Anderson!’
Mr Anderson was right behind him. Like I said before, Sean’s mum married our English teacher last summer. Apparently Mr Anderson is ten years younger than Sean’smum, and Anne-Marie says that our teacher must therefore have some kind of ‘mother complex’ (whatever that’s supposed to mean). When I repeated it to Mum she laughed and said that Sean’s mum is really glamorous and doesn’t look like anybody’s mother.
Anyway, I can’t imagine anything more embarrassing than having my mum marry a teacher in our school. Except for everyone finding out my dad’s in prison, perhaps.
Mr Anderson was smiling at Josh and me as he said, ‘It’s nice to see some of my pupils have developed a love of reading, at any rate.’
‘Poppy’s thinking about getting this for her dad’s birthday,’ Josh told him, showing him my book. ‘What do you think? He used to read Just William when he was a kid.’
‘Well, that sounds like an excellent choice, then,’ Mr Anderson replied, smiling kindly at me.
Sean was grinning at me cheekily. ‘ Your dad sounds nice and normal. Leo was reading the
Similar Books
