Summer at West Sands Guest House: A perfect feel good, uplifting romantic comedy. Maggie Conway
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Summer at West Sands Guest House
MAGGIE CONWAY
HQ
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd.
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF
First published in Great Britain by HQ in 2018
Copyright © Maggie Conway 2018
Maggie Conway 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 e-book 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.
E-book Edition © July 2018 ISBN: 9780008296568
Version: 2018-07-09
Table of Contents
Molly Adams peered into the bottom of the laundry basket. The few items of clothing barely warranted a whole wash cycle but she reached down and bundled them into the machine anyway. She didn’t want anything lying about tomorrow, least of all her dirty washing.
A surprising array of internet recipes and supermarket meals for one had taken care of her eating but laundry for one had taken her by surprise, an unexpected consequence of her husband leaving her.
Standing in the small utility room, she let out a sigh. With its integrated appliances and fitted shelves, she’d always quite liked the warmth and cocoon-like feel of the small space and she stood for a few moments almost reluctant to move. The silence of the house was driving her mad and even the gurgling and slurping of the washing machine was welcome.
Funny, it had been the laundry basket – or at least its contents – that had first alerted her. She could still recall the moment her insides had shifted uneasily as the unfamiliar scent wafting from her husband’s shirt assaulted her senses. She had placed the shirt in the washing machine, setting the dial to the highest temperature – totally unsuitable for the luxury two-ply fabric Colin favoured. Part of her had hoped the shirt might disintegrate in the wash. Perhaps if she destroyed the evidence, they could carry on as normal. Except deep down, she had known normal wasn’t good. She had noticed a brightness in her husband’s eyes, a spring in his step that she knew wasn’t of her making.
She hadn’t confronted him immediately, hadn’t been in a particular hurry to have the conversation that might end their five-year marriage. Because although she had wondered about the state of their marriage for some time, she certainly hadn’t expected her husband’s infidelity to bring it to an ignominious end. She needed to live with the notion that her husband was having an affair, to bolster herself for what she knew was surely to come. She thought she should be rallying herself to put up a fight to save their marriage, except she wasn’t sure exactly what she would be fighting for.
She had tried to pinpoint the moment their lives seemed to have veered in different directions. Molly had known Colin was driven but it wasn’t until after they were married that she realised just how ambitious he really was. It seemed with every step he took up the corporate ladder he also took a step further away