Wildflower Park Series

Wildflower Park Series
Bella Osborne

Escape to Wildflower Park with Part Three of a brand new four-part serial from bestselling author Bella Osborne.Life’s not always a walk in the park…When Anna is dumped by her fiancé, she moves in to her own place on the edge of the gorgeous Wildflower Park and pledges to stay off men and focus on her career, but a handsome new colleague seems to thwart her attempts at every turn. And when she receives an accidental text from a mystery man, could it be the new start she needs? Or someone she really shouldn't be falling for?Anna’s neighbour Sophie is a stressed-out mum-of-two with a third on the way. Her husband is a constant frustration, and their children are a regular source of newly-invented swear words and unidentifiable sticky surfaces.Luckily, Anna and Sophie have each other – and Wildflower Park proves to be a sanctuary as they map out a path to find the happiness they both deserve…Fantastically funny, this irresistibly heart-warming novel will charm fans of Milly Johnson and Jill Mansell.

PART THREE

Copyright (#ue5f58cab-5cec-57ff-90f9-4e3fdf025591)

Published by Avon an imprint of

HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd

1 London Bridge Street,

London, SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)

First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins Publishers 2019

Copyright © Bella Osborne 2018

Cover illustration © Kim Leo

Cover design © Cherie Chapman Book Design 2018

Bella Osborne asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

Source ISBN: 9780008258221

Ebook Edition © April 2019 ISBN: 9780008258207

Version: 2019-02-12

Dedication (#ue5f58cab-5cec-57ff-90f9-4e3fdf025591)

For Patty – with love.

Contents

Cover (#ua448fea5-bafe-58b9-a1d8-3ff365436e12)

Title Page (#ua3d838d5-b707-5cf9-a501-2c26b9f0f749)

Copyright

Dedication

Chapter Twenty-One (#u47c64492-9ed3-52e8-91f1-854e433c3edb)

Chapter Twenty-Two (#u19884f80-596a-57b9-9a57-782b6578171e)

Chapter Twenty-Three (#u3f5d0413-4c02-5744-a4df-4bf3f8c6c29d)

Chapter Twenty-Four (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twenty-Five (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twenty-Six (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twenty-Seven (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twenty-Eight (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twenty-Nine (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Thirty (#litres_trial_promo)

Keep Reading …

About the Author (#litres_trial_promo)

Also by Bella Osborne (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twenty-One (#ulink_74f62aa6-7733-5949-b79c-21dc2c374bf6)

Anna knew she was blinking more times than was necessary but Sophie’s words had stunned her. She never believed Sophie would ever actually leave Dave. Sure, they annoyed the crap out of each other, but that was normal for them. She shut her front door behind her and licked her lips as she tried to think of the appropriate thing to say.

‘Well, say something,’ said Sophie, fresh tears spilling down her cheeks.

Anna stepped forward and enveloped her friend in a tight hug and held her until the crying had subsided. Anna could foresee it being a long evening where Sophie would offload all her woes about Dave and his PhD-level uselessness whilst Anna nodded in the right places and then Sophie went home to shout at Dave a bit more. Anna held her at arm’s length. ‘I’m going to make us ridiculously calorific hot chocolates and then you’re going to tell me all about it. Okay?’

Sophie bobbed her head. ‘I’ll finish unpacking while you get the drinks.’ Anna looked like she’d stepped into a revolving door the wrong way – confused and slightly stunned. She opened her mouth but no words came out. Sophie disappeared into Anna’s spare room.

Anna had a number of conversations in her head whilst she was making the hot chocolate, most of them ending in ‘… but you’re not actually moving out. Are you?’ although the fact Sophie was unpacking her stuff and neatly folding it into Anna’s IKEA chest of drawers told her it wasn’t going to be straightforward. Anna stared at the hot chocolates and for the first time in a very long while she wished they had been alcoholic. She scattered some mini marshmallows on top, took the laden mugs into the living room and waited for Sophie. Maurice stretched out on the sofa next to Anna and gave her arm a pat with his paw. She absent-mindedly stroked him and he started to purr like a small motor.

Sophie came in and flopped into the chair opposite. ‘Right, the case is unpacked. I’ll go back for more stuff tomorrow. Thanks for this. Yum,’ she said, picking up the mug.

Anna wasn’t sure how best to tackle this. ‘When you say, you’ve left Dave …’

Sophie pursed her lips. ‘I’ve had enough. Causing a scene with Hudson was absolutely the last straw.’ Sophie was resolute. Anna hadn’t seen her quite like this before.