Cherry Blossom Dreams (24 page)

I had to admit that I hadn’t considered how Mum might feel about the house now that its connection to her family had been revealed. I must have let out a louder sigh of disappointment than I’d intended, because suddenly they were all looking at me.

‘I’m sure we could find ourselves a
smaller
lovely old Victorian house with high ceilings and wooden floors and a nice big garden if we set our minds to it,’ Leo said. ‘Isn’t that right, Annabel?’

Mum nodded. ‘Absolutely. You know how much I love old houses. But I want us to move somewhere where we don’t have any sort of personal history – somewhere that will give us a fresh start as a family. You do understand that, don’t you, Sasha?’

I nodded. Of course I understood. It didn’t mean I wouldn’t miss Blossom House though.

‘Hey, Sasha, you never know, maybe our uncle will want to live there himself after he’s done the place up,’ Sean said. ‘We’d be able to go there whenever we liked then!’

‘That
would
be cool,’ I agreed with a smile.

‘Please don’t get your hopes up on that front, you two,’ Leo warned us. ‘It’s an enormous house for just one person. I’d be very surprised if your uncle intends to move back in there permanently.’

I lifted up my chin and said stubbornly, ‘Stranger things have happened.’

Leo laughed. ‘Oh, in
this
family, Sasha, I don’t doubt that they have.’

I briefly wondered if I ought to be offended, but when I looked at the happy smiles on Mum’s face and on my brother’s, I decided to let it go. After all, what did it matter if Leo thought our family was strange? He was still choosing to become one of us, wasn’t he? And in
my
book that was what mattered most.

Poppy’s family has always included at least one little foster brother or sister. But when her mum announces they’ll be getting a new foster child, she isn’t expecting it to be Sadie. Sadie is hard as nails, cold as ice, tougher than a tiger – and she’s the new girl in Poppy’s class at school. They’d never be seen together in public. Now they’re sharing a bathroom. How can Mum fall for Sadie’s sweet-as-honey act, when Poppy knows all too well what she’s really like?

Coming Soon!

 

 

	MISSELTHWAITE MANOR in The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
It's not just the garden that is full of secrets.
Â
	MANDERLEY in Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
Another house of secrets, this time with a wonderfully scary housekeeper thrown in. (This one's meant to be for adults, but I read it when I was a teenager and loved it!).
Â
	THE GINGERBREAD HOUSE in Hansel and Gretel by Hans Christian Andersen
Yum yum!
Â
	LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE by Laura Ingalls Wilder
I loved the TV programme as a kid and now I'm loving reading the books with my daughter.
Â
	THORNTON HALL in The Making of May by Gwyneth Rees
I know it's cheating to include one of my own stories. But getting to create my own house full of mysteries was brilliant fun.

 

 

	In a walled garden – preferably not a secret one or there wouldn't be many guests!
Â
	In a palace – that's the princess in me talking!
Â
	On a rooftop terrace in Venice – I have done this one for real and it was fab!
Â
	On a beach – a gorgeous, warm, tropical one preferably.
Â
	In a chocolate shop – yes, they honestly do have parties in chocolate shops!