Heat Is On , livre ebook

RedDoor Publishing - Helen Bridgett

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149 pages

English

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Life is perfect for Angie Shepherd. Her dreams of becoming an entrepreneur have come true, business is booming, and her best friend Patty is back in town. So when the opportunity of investing in a luxury hotel comes up, it seems like a no-brainer. It's all going swimmingly – until a rival travel agency opens up across the street. Before long, The Mercury Travel Club is undercut, double-crossed and in deep trouble. It's time for Angie to up the stakes. But with costs mounting up, sales going down, and her personal life suddenly in freefall, can Angie and her friends weather the storm?Witty and charming in equal measure, this feel-good novel shows that when the going gets tough, the tough definitely get going

Informations

Publié par	RedDoor Publishing
Date de parution	16 août 2018
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781910453971
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0540€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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Praise for The Heat Is On
‘I thoroughly enjoyed this witty and charming read. It drew me in instantly and I tried my best to savour it but it was just too enjoyable’
@jojowelshgirl
‘You instantly feel like part of the gang… There are moments of pure laughter, fun, and drama, and all the while you will fall even more in love with these loveable characters’
@booksofallkinds
‘Perfect to while away a few hours and sure to leave you smiling’
@portybelle
‘A really funny read… Be prepared for an adventure full of humour, love and friends’
@sweeet83
‘A joy to read, this is a light-hearted, romantic comedy that doesn’t pretend to be anything else – a perfect, unpretentious read for the summer!’
@clairesaul1
‘If you’re looking for a summer fun read, with quirky loveable characters, lots of drama and mayhem, then you will absolutely love The Heat Is On! ’
@dough_nut81
‘A fabulous book for whiling away the afternoon and one that I would definitely recommend’
@yvonnembee
‘A witty book that is well-written, well-paced with an excellent flow and really funny characters… It picked me up when I was down and left me with a smile on my face! Very highly recommended – a genuinely funny, upbeat read that had me both laughing out loud and tittering away quietly!’
@dmmaguire391
Also by Helen Bridgett
The Mercury Travel Club
The Heat Is On
HELEN BRIDGETT
Published by RedDoor www.reddoorpublishing.com
© 2018 Helen Bridgett
The right of Helen Bridgett to be identified as author of this Work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, copied in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise transmitted without written permission from the author
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Cover design: Anna Morrison
Typesetting: Tutis Innovative E-Solutions Pte. Ltd
For my family and friends – still my inspiration
Back For Good
‘I’m back.’
My best and oldest friend Patty blasts into the Mercury Travel shop like a rock star exploding on to a stage amidst dry ice and pyrotechnics. She’s wearing huge oversized sunglasses, so I won’t be surprised if her next words are, ‘Hello Glastonbury.’
‘You couldn’t have scared me more if you’d had an axe and shouted, “ Here’s Johnny! ”,’ says my business partner Charlie as I scrape him off the walls.
‘You know me – I do like an entrance,’ she replies. ‘What are you all staring at?’
Just as we’d been closing up after a busy late-night Thursday, Charlie, Josie and I noticed people in hard hats carrying clipboards and tape measures arriving at the empty shop across the road. An estate agent – or at least the only one of the group not wearing a hard hat – is now changing the sign from ‘TO LET’ to ‘TAKEN’.
‘The builders over there,’ I tell Patty, pointing at them.
‘Ooh, yes. Not bad at all, but I am taken,’ she says.
‘We’re talking about the refit, not the workmen,’ I scold. ‘I wonder what it’s going to be.’
‘I’m hoping for a gin palace,’ says Josie, our assistant manager. ‘That’s definitely what this town needs.’
We all nod at the wise words emanating from this young head.
‘Maybe one with detoxifying doors,’ adds Patty. ‘They’d look like normal revolving doors but one spin round them and your body is a temple once more.’
It isn’t unusual for the shops on the high street of this leafy Manchester suburb to change hands, but normally we’d have heard something about it. Chorlton has extremely efficient jungle drums. However, I’m not even bothered what it might become at this precise moment in time because the idea of detoxifying doors has me very excited.
‘That would be absolutely brilliant,’ I say. ‘Amazing. Can you imagine? Every New Year – no fasting for a month, we’d just take a swing round the doors and our bodies would be pure again. It would put Gwyneth Paltrow and the rest of the clean-eating brigade out of business but I think everyone else in the world would be delighted.’
‘We could get my man Dyson to give up on the vacuum cleaners and invent something women really want. It must be the same technology – sucking the crap out of things,’ adds Josie, her Aussie accent really going for the word crap . Josie has real disdain for a man with a brain the size of a planet who then uses it to invent cleaning products. She keeps a mental list of things that would be a better use of his intellect. Before today, a cellulite attachment for the Animal V8 was top of her list.
‘Sounds gruesome,’ says Patty, ‘but if this was Dragon’s Den I’d definitely be in. Now who wants to make me a cup of tea?’
Patty breaks our fantasy and heads into the kitchen. As it’s past closing time, Josie signals that she’ll head home. She knows that with Patty on the premises, it could be hours before she escapes if she doesn’t go now. I lock the shop door and join my best friend. I watch with amusement as she makes herself completely at home boiling the kettle and grabbing some mugs as if we’d invited her to – not that she ever waits for an invitation. Patty has been singing in an eighties tribute group on the cruise ships for over six months now, and it shows. She’s definitely rounder and her skin has the glow of a person who is both content and very well fed.
‘Where’ve you hidden the bikkies?’ asks Patty pulling open every cupboard. ‘It would be afternoon tea time if we were still aboard,’ she continues as I hand her the hidden stash of chocolate digestives. ‘Mind you, I could probably do with losing a couple of pounds now.’
‘You’re still gorgeous,’ says Charlie.
‘You’re right and at least there’s more to hold on to.’ Patty simultaneously sinks her teeth into the biscuit and her butt into the chair. One or maybe both results in a loud sigh of pleasure and relief. I can’t help but smile at the sight of her making herself comfy. We’ve known each other since we trained to be air stewardesses more than thirty (ouch!) years ago. She’s the blonde to my brunette, the Cagney to my Lacey and often the pain to my pleasure. There’s never a dull moment with Patty, even if you want one. Last year, when I was at rock bottom because of the divorce, Charlie saved my sanity by keeping me focused on the business while Patty did everything she could to distract me from the pain. I have missed this woman so much and am suddenly overwhelmed with the sheer joy of seeing her again.
I give her a big kiss on the top of her head and wrap my arms around her as tightly as I can. ‘It is so good to have you back. I thought you’d be sailing the seas for ever.’
Patty clamps the digestive between her teeth, gets up and hugs me back, one of her all-consuming unabashed hugs. It feels just as good as it looks, so Charlie gets up and joins in. Who doesn’t need a hug every now and then?
‘It was really great fun,’ Patty replies when she releases us from her grip. She swallows the biscuit then continues. ‘And I’m glad I did it but you can’t do it for ever. Even I can’t spend my entire life dressed up as Cyndi Lauper. I think only the woman herself would be happy with that. No my darlings, it is time for a new adventure.’
‘Any idea what that’ll be?’ asks Charlie.
Patty shakes her head. ‘I’ve no idea. To be honest, I was quite fired up about coming home and doing something new but now I’m here, with the exception of seeing my most fabulous friends again obviously, it feels a bit flat.’
The room goes quiet. Patty was marvellous up onstage and I can imagine her genuinely missing all that applause. Reality doesn’t tend to come with adulation, except on reality shows and they’re not really real.
‘Well, we can certainly do something about that.’ Charlie claps his hands banishing the contemplative silence. ‘Come to dinner at mine this Saturday night. Peter and I will host a reunion for our nearest and dearest. Is Dr Lurve on shore, too?’
Patty laughs at the nickname she gave her partner when she first met him. Jack was the ship’s doctor who tended Patty when she took a fall on the dance floor. She likes to tell us she was under him for weeks after that. Seeing her looking like her old self again brings a sense of relief to the room. I love my friend’s ability to just cheer up everyone with one dirty laugh.
‘Don’t worry,’ she says, ‘I haven’t left him behind. How could I deprive any man of all this now he’s used to it? Actually, we’ve both decided this is it, we’re leaving the cruise and joining you landlubbers permanently.’
‘Is he looking for something new, too?’ Charlie asks, but Patty shakes her head.
‘Jack already has a great offer in a local children’s ward. He’s a bit sick of tending sunburn and overindulgence dressed up as gastroenteritis. That’s why we’ve left now. He starts the new job next week.’
‘Well, all the more reason to celebrate before he has to do the whole Grey’s Anatomy thing. This weekend your new life begins with a glorious dinner party,’ gushes Charlie. He loves to entertain and I can see him getting into the mood already.
‘All of us together with our menfolk. We haven’t done it for ages.’
And we haven’t. Although Charlie, Patty and I have known each other for many years, we’ve each started a new relationship over the past year and the only time we’ve ever had a get-together was to celebrate Charlie’s wedding to Peter at New Year. Given I’d just met my other half, Michael, that day it was hardly a friendship never mind anything else. Patty and Jack had a very different start to their relationship, although they’ve only known each other a few months longer than Michael and I, living the whole time in the cocoon of a cruise ship positively nurtured their romance. The frequent emails from Patty are always laced with loved-up innuendo. They both seem completely smitten.
After agreeing the time and dress code, which, let’s face it, was always going to be glam and