This Is Your Life Read Online Free PDF Page A

menacingly.
    ‘Lord’s sakes, William.  Don’t be such an arse .  Do you honestly think she’d tell you if she was? Now clear off and leave the poor girl alone.’  Antonia raised her eyebrows exasperatedly at Lizzie, as William, clearly used to her bluntness, simply glowered at her, muttering obscenities under his breath as he shambled back to the others.
    ‘Farmer,’ said Antonia by way of explanation.  ‘Alpha male, though you’d never think so to look at him.  Pity… he’s quite sexy when he’s not being such a cretin,’ she added regretfully.  ‘ Awfully good with horses, believe it or not.  And I’d far sooner some mud and sweat than poncey pinstripes, wouldn’t you?  My ex wore them.  Once was enough, I can assure you.’  Her eyes wandered up and down the retreating view of the farmer.
    Lizzie blinked disbelievingly.  Mad and sweat?  It didn’t appeal in the slightest though she could understand an aversion to pin stripes.  Surely there was middle ground – with scrubbed country types in nice, clean clothes rather than this lot who looked straight out of the fields.
    Antonia ’s company was refreshing.  She clearly had a thing for the beany-hatted farmer who looked several years her junior, her eyes flickering lustfully in his direction every so often, a fact to which he seemed oblivious.
    ‘So, where were you going before your car packed up?’ she asked, her head tilted quizzically on one side so that the long curls fell over one shoulder.
    ‘Cornwall,’ said Lizzie firmly.  ‘Just for a break.’  Hesitant about confiding in such an opinionated stranger. 
    ‘Jolly nice,’ said Antonia cheerfully.  ‘Bit of a come down then, finding yourself here, of all places.  Oh well, could be worse.’
    Could it?  It was hard to imagine how.  If you were going to spend a night in the country, you wouldn’t exactly choose the Star.  Not unless you were desperate.  Like she was.
    ‘Cripes, is that the time?  I must shoot – riding lesson!  Cindy’ll be champing at the bit! Lord… can’t remember which horse she’s on.  Nice to have met you, Lizzie!  Good luck with your car.’
    The barman sniggered in the background as Antonia left and feeling like a fish out of water, Lizzie sipped the rest of her drink as she listened to the conversation going on around her. Words like overdrives, wethers and bleedin’ bastards floated around.  It was obviously the nerve centre of the village in here.  Then she crept out and headed for the privacy of her room. 
    Expecting the worst, she was pleasantly surprised when she opened the door.  It wasn’t so awful - not exactly luxurious, but not terrible either.  Aside from the wilted rose on the dressing table, there was a kind of mismatched effect going on, with pea green curtains that didn’t quite close and clashed with the bed covers, and peach and yellow towels folded neatly on the bed.  But at least the sheets looked clean when she folded them back.  Jamie would have been horrified…  Jamie …it hit her like a thunderbolt.  And by now he’d have read her letter.
    The l ead weights were back, crushing her, her resolve nowhere in sight.  Whatever had she been thinking, running off like that, only to end up in this God-forbidden backwater.  It was madness.  So much for finding herself. She’d lost it – utterly. 
    Why hadn’t s he stayed put, in the familiar surroundings of London and squashed into Katie’s tiny flat, where she’d have faced up to all those wedding guests to cancel with someone to hold her hand.  Who knew what they were thinking. 
    It would have been better too, if she’d stayed and told Jamie in person. But told him what exactly?  That she’d stumbled across a letter that her dead mother wrote and that made her see the light?
    But i t never would have worked, she knew that.  He wouldn’t have listened to a word. You’re not making any sense at all, Eliza, it’s wedding nerves, blah blah