A Perfect Proposal Read Online Free PDF Page A

encourage him to disinherit her greedy family.
    ‘We need the money more than a cats’ home does,’ said Stephen.
    ‘I thought you—’ began Sophie.
    ‘Oh, don’t be ridiculous! I want to spend the money on a reed bed, so we can deal with our own sewage,’ snapped her brother.
    ‘Yuck!’ said Joanna.
    ‘Yes, Sophie, don’t be silly,’ added her mother, ignoring Joanna. ‘And I think it’s very selfish of you not to try and help your family!’
    ‘Oh, for goodness’ sake!’ Sophie unlinked her legs and got up from where she’d been sitting on the floor. ‘You lot are unbelievable! You mock me because I only do “little part-time jobs”; you complain that the things I bake aren’t “useful”, although you’re all quite happy to stuff your faces with them – even you, Stephen. None of you would cross the street to help Uncle eric—’
    ‘Well, he’s not called “evil” for nothing,’ put in Joanna.
    ‘And you expect me not only to look after him, but to get his money out of him too!’
    ‘Well, let’s face it,’ said Michael. ‘You haven’t got much else to do.’
    That decided it for Sophie – she would have something else to do. The moment she’d finished looking after Uncle Eric, she would go to New York and visit Milly. She’d always wanted to; now her family had pretty much made it a necessity.
    ‘Well, that may change,’ she said and left the room, pulling her mobile phone out of her pocket.
    ‘Milly? You know you said you might be able to find me a job in New York? Could you do that? Or even if you can’t, I’ll come! I think if I don’t leave my wretched family soon, I might just go mad!’

Chapter Three
     

     
    The train may have been going to Worcester, but throughout the entire train journey to Uncle Eric’s, Sophie thought about going to New York. She, Milly and Amanda had all watched Friends and Sex and the City together, and all dreamed of wearing those shoes, visiting those shops, and drinking in those bars. They had also speculated about meeting those men, but since no one in either show seemed to go out with anyone absolutely gorgeous who didn’t have some major flaw, such as being gay, they confined their daydreams to more material fantasies.
    And since Milly had gone to work there (without Sophie and Amanda! How dare she?), the two left behind had planned to go on a girly trip one day, so the three of them could live the dream together, if only for a few days.
    But shortage of money, other commitments and, probably, good sense, had always stopped them actually going. However, after her stint at Uncle Eric’s, Sophie decided that she wouldn’t let the money issue stand in her way. She was brilliant at doing things on the cheap – always had been – and somehow she would get there.
    It would do her family good to be without her, she decided, looking out of the train window but not really seeing the passing scenery. They took her utterly for granted. It would only be when she wasn’t there to do all the little things that made a house run smoothly – the replacing of lightbulbs, the household repairs, the little errands – that herfamily would realise they missed her. And she would do something with her life that made them see that she wasn’t just a pretty face with a talent for needlework.
    She considered. It would be better if she could go to New York and not blow all her savings doing it. She would have to come home after her holiday and when she did, she would have to start again from scratch to save for her course.
    Which course, she still couldn’t quite decide. Ideally it should involve both tailoring and pattern-cutting, and combine fashion and business skills so she could actually make a business out of what she loved to do – remaking jumble-sale buys into quirky, interesting items. One day she would make her family sit up and admit that she was perfectly bright, and that her practical skills were more useful than all their academic