The Perfect Escape: Romantic short stories to relax with. Julia Williams
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an old Roses tin to serve up his recent culinary triumph. As he and Guin began to chat, Daisy grabbed Elsie’s hand and pulled her into the small hallway at the back of the kitchen.
‘So?’ she demanded, folding her slender arms and giving Elsie a classic Older Sister Stare.
Elsie was having none of it. She had outfaced her eldest sister many times over the years and she wasn’t about to be intimidated by her today. ‘So what?’
‘You know what, Elsie Maynard. Why didn’t you mention the chap?’
Elsie shrugged. ‘Dad didn’t need to know.’
‘How do you figure that? That handsome stranger saved you from being arrested, for heaven’s sake!’
‘Shh! Keep your voice down … And I never said he was handsome.’
Dropping her voice to a harsh whisper, Daisy eyeballed her sister. ‘I beg to differ. Anyway, why are you so het up about this? It’s OK to admit you needed help, you know. It’s no reflection on you. It doesn’t mean you can’t cope or anything …’
Elsie had heard enough. ‘Drop it, Dais! Let’s just … talk about something else for a bit.’
Daisy relented and wrapped an arm around Elsie’s shoulder. ‘Fair enough, lovely. I’m sorry. So, was he fit?’
‘Daisy!’
‘Oh come on, Elsie, humour me!’
‘I suppose he was, in an annoying, waterproof way. I wasn’t looking too closely at the time.’
An indeterminable look passed across Daisy’s face. ‘Good. That’s good.’
Later, when the Maynards were sitting around the dining room table in the large, first-floor living room eating vegetable tagine with tabouleh and pearl couscous (a particular favourite of Jim’s), Elsie decided to announce the decision that she had been distracted by when she inadvertently became a lunchtime shoplifter. It had been on her mind all week, ever since she had decided to finally open the small, chocolate satin-covered box by her bed after eighteen months of waiting. This morning, she had made her decision: the first part of moving on …
‘Right, everyone, I’m glad you’re all here – and sitting down – because I’ve something I want to say.’ She smiled at the apprehensive looks of her nearest and dearest. ‘Don’t panic, it’s good news, I think.’ She took a breath to steady herself. ‘I’ve decided to start dating again.’
‘Oh Els …’ Guin’s face reddened and she burst into tears, much to the amusement of her sisters. Since she had discovered she was pregnant, the normally pragmatic middle Maynard sister had become an emotional wreck, sobbing uncontrollably at everything from songs on her car radio to television adverts for pet food and sofas. Laughing at her own emotional state, she accepted the box of tissues her father always kept close for such occasions and wiped her eyes. ‘Man, I am such a wuss! I hope all this sobbing isn’t going to traumatise my baby. I’m just so – happy
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