Another Love (39 page)
Authors: Amanda Prowse
‘God, that sounds horrible!’ Jacks grimaced.
‘Why the interest in Swedish food all of a sudden?’ Her dad spoke with his mouth full and a couple of peas nearly made a quick getaway; he pushed them back in with his tongue.
‘No reason, it’s just a boy in my year is Swedish, he’s called Sven.’ She was delighted to have the opportunity to mention him, to say his name out loud.
‘Sven, eh? Isn’t he one of the blokes from Abba?’ Don smiled at his daughter.
Jacks laughed loudly. ‘No! He’s very clever and funny and…’ She once again pictured his face, his thick hair, his intense stare. ‘His dad’s an architect, works in Bristol, lots of kids take the p… mick out of him, but I think he’s just quirky, a bit different.’
She saw the look her parents exchanged. ‘Thought you liked Peter Davies?’ her mum asked as she squashed peas on to the back of her fork.
‘I do. But we’re just mates.’ Jacks concentrated on her plate of food, trying to erase the memory of their snog on the dancefloor of Mr B’s nightclub.
‘His mum thinks you’re more than mates, she told me you were going out with him. And he’s quite smitten apparently,’ Ida commented innocuously.
Jacks cringed. She had moved on from Pete and to be reminded of their connection irritated her. ‘Pete’s a plonker. Walks around like he’s Gary Lineker.’
‘He’s got a trial with Bristol City,’ her mum added, passing on more snippets of gossip.
‘Yes and don’t we know it, it’s all he talks about. Sven isn’t sporty, he’s going to go to university.’
‘Sven, Sven, Sven! I think I know someone else who’s a bit smitten.’ Her mum spoke to her dad over the table as if she wasn’t present.
‘I’m not!’ Jacks shouted. ‘He’s just a boy in my year, that’s all!’
‘Good,’ her dad said. ‘Peter’s a nice boy and we know his mum.’
‘What’s that got to do with anything?’ Jacks shouted back.
‘Stop yelling!’ Ida said. ‘There’s no need for dramatics.’
‘Dramatics? I don’t think I’m being dramatic, there’s you both telling me I practically have to marry Peter Davies just cos you know his mum!’
‘We never said anything of the sort!’ Ida tutted. ‘Honestly, Jackie!’
‘Good, cos I think I can do a bit better than a footballer who’s going to leave school with just enough qualifications to work in Maccy D’s.’
‘Don’t be so mean,’ Ida said.
‘I’m not, just truthful. Pete’s all right, but he’s not really my type. He’s staying in Weston, close to a football field, and I want to go to college and travel.’
‘To Sweden?’ her mum asked.
‘She can go anywhere she likes, can’t you, love?’ Her dad, ever supportive, smiled at her.
Ida placed her cutlery on the plate. ‘Of course she can. I didn’t say she couldn’t!’
‘No, but your face implied otherwise.’ Don shook his head.
‘Well, we all know you’d rather not have to look at my face.’
‘Oh, here we go…’
Jacks slipped from the table and up the stairs. She lay on her bed and could hear the burble of their row rising up through the floor. Flipping open her notebook, she ran the nib of her pen over the heart in which sat the name of the object of her affection.
Sven.
In the early years of their love affair, Romilly was happy. She had worked hard for her stunning, modern house in one of Bristol’s most fashionable suburbs. She adored her gorgeous, gap-toothed daughter and her handsome, kind husband. Sure, life was sometimes exhausting – but nothing that a large glass of wine at the end of the day couldn’t fix.
And then a new neighbour arrived and everything unravelled. A glass of wine became a bottle; one bottle became two. Romilly’s family were once everything to her. Now, after years of hiding the drinking, she must finally admit that she has found another love…
‘A cracking page-turner’
The Bookseller
‘This story of a woman’s fight to rebuild her shattered life is captivating, heartbreaking and superbly written.’
Closer
‘An absolutely gripping read… the characterisation is done superbly.’
Iain Dale, LBC Radio
‘Great novel – let’s get it to number 1!’
Gok Wan
‘Poppy Day is a brilliant book, I couldn’t put it down.’
Carol Vorderman
‘A rattling good book to curl up on the sofa with, I thoroughly recommend Poppy Day by army wife Amanda Prowse. She has turned her own fear and anxiety into a page-turning novel of loss and courage.’
Lorraine Kelly,
The Sun
‘A modern day love story.’
Daily Mail
‘A deeply emotional story of a woman who will stop at nothing to save the man she loves… A fast, unputdownable read, Amanda Prowse adeptly fuses a tale of love and courage with the stark realities of war, both on the field and at home.’
Red
‘This romantic story of courage and determination is simply captivating.’
Closer
‘Army wife turns fear into fiction.’
Sunday Mirror
‘Set to become a bestseller.’
RAF News
‘Heartbreaking, but uplifting.’
Carol Vorderman
A
MANDA
P
ROWSE
has always loved crafting short stories and scribbling notes for potential books. Her first novel,
Poppy Day
, was self-published in October 2011 and achieved a number one spot in the eBook charts. She was then signed up by publishers Head of Zeus.
Perfect Daughter
became a number one bestseller in 2015.
Amanda lives in Bristol with her husband and two sons. She has now published ten novels and four short stories.
You can follow Amanda on Twitter
@MrsAmandaProwse
, become friends with her on
Facebook
, or visit her website and sign up for her newsletter
www.amandaprowse.org
Amanda Prowse’s
No Greater Love
sequence is a series of contemporary stories with love at their core. They feature characters whose histories interweave through the generations: ordinary men and women who do extraordinary things for love. They are stories to keep you from switching off the bedside lamp at night, stories to remember long after the final page is turned...
Ever since hairdresser Poppy Day married her childhood sweetheart, Mart, she’s been deliriously happy. Now Mart is fighting in Afghanistan, and Poppy is counting the days until he returns.
It takes one knock at the door to rip Poppy’s world apart. Mart has been taken hostage, and it’s too dangerous for the army to rescue him.
Poppy is determined to bring him home herself. But her journey will lead her to a heartbreaking dilemma. What price will she pay to save the man she loves?
Poppy Day
is available
here
.
Kathryn Brooker is the very picture of a fulfilled wife and mother. Anyone who peered through the downstairs sash window at the four figures sat easily around their scrubbed-pine kitchen table would see a happy family without a care in the world. They would envy Kathryn her perfect life.
