Cathy Kelly 6-Book Collection: Someone Like You, What She Wants, Just Between Us, Best of Friends, Always and Forever, Past Secrets

‘Italy,’ suggested Emma. ‘We could rent a house in the summer. With all of us, it would work out quite cheap. Pete and I will be economizing, I’m afraid.’

‘Me too,’ said Hannah. ‘I can’t see Felix being reliable when it comes to maintenance money for Claudia.’

‘David’s well off, isn’t he?’ said Emma archly.

Hannah scowled at her. ‘I’ve only just left my husband,’ she said, ‘don’t go setting me up with strange men. It’s a bit soon.’

Emma and Leonie exchanged glances.

‘I think I’ll ask that nice David if he fancies a holiday this year,’ Emma said. ‘Those villas are cheaper if you have lots of people going. I’m sure somebody will let him bunk down in their bedroom.’

Hannah threw a cushion at her.

‘I swear, I am never going on holiday with you two again,’ she insisted.

The next morning was sunny but the ground was frosty. The tyres of David’s car crunched on the gravel as he drove out of Leonie’s.

‘I shouldn’t be letting you do this,’ Hannah said. ‘It’s a hell of a long drive to Connemara and you’re missing more work.’

‘Four hours at the most,’ David replied, eyes on the road. ‘It’s only half eight, we’ll be there in time for lunch.’

‘That’s only the journey down. I feel terrible about this. I could have got the train,’ she said. ‘Claudia is a great traveller,’ she lied.

‘I wanted to drive you,’ David said.

‘You didn’t need to,’ she answered.

‘Hannah, why do you think I’m doing this?’ he demanded. ‘Why did I come to the airport? Because I’m crazy about you, that’s why.’

‘Stop the car,’ she commanded.

Surprised, David pulled over on to the grass verge.

Claudia, who’d been asleep in the car seat Leonie had dug out of the attic, woke up and began to bawl.

‘You get used to it,’ Hannah remarked as the wails increased. Then she leaned over and kissed David firmly on the mouth. In an instant, his arms were around her and he was kissing her back furiously. He tasted wonderful and he felt wonderful too. Different from Felix. Solid and comforting, the way she’d known he would be. His mouth was soft but not gentle, he kissed passionately, intensely. Hannah felt herself melt in response.

She pulled away reluctantly and stared at him.

‘It’s going to take time,’ she warned. ‘I’ve left Felix but he still hasn’t left me, if you know what I mean. I can’t forget about him in an instant.’

‘We can take it slowly,’ David said, eyes roaming over her face lovingly.

‘Really slowly,’ she repeated.

‘Like this.’ David pulled her into his arms again and lowered his mouth to hers. Claudia roared louder. ‘You’re right,’ he said in wonder, stopping kissing her for a moment, ‘you do get used to it.’

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS (#ulink_70535313-3961-58e5-bfc4-0a0f13fd2d89)

Please forgive me in advance for whoever I leave out because I just know I’ll leave someone out. People ask what’s the hardest thing about writing a book and I always say it’s this bit, because when you’ve put your heart and soul into a novel, you desperately want to remember to thank all the lovely people who’ve helped you in some way during the writing of it or during the last few books. I tend to think of whom to thank when I’m at the traffic lights in the car and can’t write it down. I subsequently forget this vital bit of information in the same way I go into the supermarket to buy milk and come out with four bulging bags of shopping – and no milk. So here goes:

Thanks to my darling John for all your love and encouragement; thanks to my family for being so supportive, to Mum for all the endless things you do; to dear Lucy for being Rupert, to Francis for always being there on the phone to cheer me up, to Anne, little Laura, Naomi and Emer, to Dave and St Lucia, and to my beloved Tamsin who brings sunshine into my day and who appears in this book (thinly disguised).

To Ali Gunn, sweetie, the best agent in the world and the woman who understands that the phone isn’t just for Christmas, it’s for life. To Deborah Schneider with much gratitude, to Diana, Carol and all at Curtis Brown. To Sarah Hamilton for encouragement, understanding and lovely gossip, to Rachel Hore for gently and expertly doing wonderful things with this book, practically into the maternity ward with baby Leo. Thank you to my wonderful new family at HarperCollins, especially dear Anne O’Brien, Nick Sayers, Adrian Bourne, Eddie Bell, Fiona McIntosh, David North, Martin Palmer, Jane Harris, Phyllis Acolatse, Terence Caven, Jennifer Parr, Lee Motley, Venetia, Moira, Tony…just all of you for being so good to me and risking death by hanging those big posters in the atrium! I appreciate it. Thanks to my Irish family, Poolbeg, especially Paul Campbell, Lucy, Suzanne, Philip, Kieran, Conor for all your support, fantastic work and those deadly Poolbeg cocktails.

For advice and support for all sorts of different things thanks to Susan Zaidan, Lola Simpson, Barbara Stack, Lisa Lynch, Patricia Scanlan, Marian Keyes, Kate Thompson, dear Clare Foss, Mairead, Margaret, Esther, all my friends for their help and encouragement, especially all at Sunday World.

To the staff at the Animal Welfare Clinic for allowing me to spend some time with them and all their patients, especially to John Hardy, Paul, Grainne, Vanessa, Pamela, Tracy, Juliana and anybody else I’m leaving out. Thanks to Aisling O Buachalla from Sherry FitzGerald for letting me in on the secrets of working as an estate agent. Any mistakes about either being a vet nurse or an estate agent are all mine – probably due to me not being able to read my own shorthand after the event (not unusual).

Thanks to the incredible staff at the Kylemore Nursing Home who looked after my father when he was dying with Alzheimer’s and who managed, through a combination of professionalism, compassion and humour, to make that last year a time full of good memories.

Thanks to the booksellers who work so hard selling my books, who have to keep up to date with the phenomenal volume of novels coming out every month, and who are the only people I know who can have wonderful times at parties, drink wine and still have intelligent conversations about the new books they’re dying to get their hands on. Thanks to you, the people who buy my books and give me such a thrill when you write and say you like them. Without you, none of this would have happened. So thanks.

What She Wants

Cathy Kelly

Copyright (#ulink_e8f8e931-cb40-5886-ba73-09cec4a8127a)

Published by HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF

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

Copyright © Cathy Kelly 2001

Cathy Kelly asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

A catalogue record for 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 ebook on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, 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 ebooks

HarperCollinsPublishers has made every reasonable effort to ensure that any picture content and written content in this ebook has been included or removed in accordance with the contractual and technological constraints in operation at the time of publication

Source ISBN: 9780007273935

Ebook Edition © February 2012 ISBN: 9780007389377

Version: 2017-10-28

To Francis and Lucy, with much love.

Contents

Cover Page (#u2a8c3960-9e5b-5ed7-afb5-36d36093034f)

Title Page (#uc15d11e2-e2c3-533b-99d3-7b7b8a57b52f)