Hidden Cottage Read Online Free PDF

first caught his attention. That and her curly white-blonde hair and her trademark bright red lipstick. ‘Goodness no,’ she said, her voice suddenly serious. ‘I’m a strict teetotaller. It’s against my religion.’ She crossed herself exaggeratedly.
    In the stunned silence, knowing the punch line, Jensen watched with yet more satisfaction as his father’s face took on a look of startled awkwardness. Gone was Mr Bonhomie and in his place stood Mr Seriously Stuck For Words.
    ‘Hey, Jeff, I’m just kiddin’ with you. Gets people every time that one. I’ll have whatever everyone else is having.’ She laughed and Jensen laughed too. God, he loved this girl. She was a much-needed breath of fresh air in his life.
    ‘Mrs Channing, you just have to give me the recipe for this corned beef hash. JC’s been telling me all the way here that no one makes it like you do. Not that I’d ever be able to cook it properly – I’m pretty much hopeless in the kitchen, aren’t I, JC?’
    ‘Hardly that bad. And anyway, you have plenty of other talents.’
    ‘Please, Tattie, it’s Mia. You make me sound so ancient calling me Mrs Channing.’
    ‘You, ancient, with that flawless complexion? No way! You could easily pass for another of JC’s sisters. You must have had him when you were a child.’
    Clearing his throat and topping up his glass of wine, Jeff said, ‘So what are your other talents, Tattie? I should imagine a bright girl like you would be good at many things.’
    Tattie put down her knife and fork. ‘Well,’ she said, carefully dabbing the corners of her mouth with her napkin, ‘I like to think I’m a good mother. Apart from not being able to cook for my daughter as well as maybe I should. But then she’s gotten real good in the kitchen herself these days. Flips pancakes like a total pro. JC’s taught her how to do that.’
    ‘ Mother ,’ repeated Daisy and Eliza in unison.
    ‘You have a daughter?’ asked Mia with a slight lifting of her chin. ‘How old is she?’ Jensen had to hand it to his mother; there wasn’t a hint of shock or surprise in her voice or expression.
    Tattie smiled back at her. ‘I have an awesome nine-year-old daughter. Her name’s Madison and she’s just beautiful. And real smart. I couldn’t be prouder of her.’
    ‘Nine years old,’ echoed Daisy. ‘But you don’t look old enough.’
    ‘Don’t be fooled, I’m plenty old enough. I had Madison when I was twenty.’
    ‘And her father?’
    ‘Mia, let’s just say that he wasn’t cut out for fatherhood and therefore chose not to be involved.’
    Jeff gave Jensen a sidelong look, so quick it was barely noticeable, but Jensen saw it and turned away.
    ‘So what brought you to Britain?’ asked Eliza.
    ‘Oh, you know,’ Tattie said, ‘the usual thing for us foreigners, your beautiful weather.’
    Everyone laughed.
    ‘Actually, my great-grandmother was British,’ Tattie went on, ‘and she moved with her family to the States when she was a little girl. I’d always wanted to visit and then when a friend of mine moved to London, I visited her with Madison and we loved it so much we decided to make our home here in England. That was more than two years ago.’
    ‘Wow,’ said Daisy. ‘And your mum and dad back in America didn’t mind you doing that?’
    ‘Oh, they put up a token show of resistance, but deep down they accept that I have to find my own way.’
    Daisy turned to her father. ‘You’d be the same, wouldn’t you, Dad? You wouldn’t ever stop us from doing something we felt we had to do, would you?’
    ‘I suppose that rather depends on what it was,’ he said.
    Something in the way Daisy had put the question to their father made Jensen look at his sister closely. Watching her now chewing on her lower lip and examining one of her fingernails, instinct told him she was up to something, that she had a very real reason for asking Dad what she just had. He wondered if she had a shocker hiding up her sleeve.
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