Classic Bestsellers from Josephine Cox: Bumper Collection

A week later, the snow came. Covering the landscape with a layer of squashy white, it hung from the boughs of trees and rolled up in the hedges, but it wasn’t cold. Instead, on the day Tom and Kathy were married, it was a warm and beautiful winter’s afternoon.

It was only four days before Christmas. The snows were beginning to melt. Through every window the Christmas lights twinkled and sparkled, and children laughed and played in the snow. Soon it would be gone and a New Year started.

‘By! Yer look a treat, lass.’ Jasper was at the house when Kathy came downstairs wearing the cream-coloured suit she had chosen for her wedding. With the blue blouse, pretty shoes, and the darker-blue hat with its tiny veil, she looked dazzling.

Having helped her to dress, Rosie came down the stairs behind her. ‘Ah, but yer don’t know what she’s wearing under her skirt,’ she teased the old man.

Jasper laughed. ‘Go on, then … I’m sure you’re itching to tell me.’

‘It’s a garter!’ Winking at Kathy, she said, ‘Sure, ye might think this gal is all prim and proper, but there’s a little devil lurking under there, I can tell ye!’ Rushing across the room, she gave Kathy a nudge. ‘Go on then! Show the man!’

Winking naughtily at him, Kathy lifted the hem of her skirt and there, nestling just above the knee, was the prettiest, pinkest, frilliest garter you ever did see.

Jasper laughed out loud. ‘Well, yer little hussy, you!’ he chuckled.

Kathy’s smile deepened. ‘I’ll give you two guesses as to who bought it.’

‘Ah, sure, it’s only right!’ Rosie was in her element. ‘A feller wants to see a little wickedness in his woman. Isn’t that so, Jasper?’ Linking her arm with his, she gave him a loud smacker on the side of his face.

‘Hey!’ Jasper gave her a playful nudge. ‘You’d better watch it, lass. I’ve been known to sweep a woman off her feet for less than that.’

‘Well, then … sweep me off my feet, why don’t ye?’

‘What!’ He blushed to the roots of his beard. ‘D’yer want me to crawl in that church on me hands and knees, do yer?’

When she pretended to come after him, he headed for the door. ‘Come on then, Kathy, lass. We’d best be off … the car’s waiting outside.’

Frantic now, Rosie looked at herself in the mirror. ‘Ah, look at that! This dress makes me look fat, so it does!’

‘You don’t look fat at all,’ Kathy chided. ‘You look lovely.’ She had never seen Rosie so dressed up before, and it was a real eye-opener. With her fiery red hair tamed into a bun on the top of her head, the wayward curls dressed with the slimmest of bands, she looked so different. The dress was light blue, to match Kathy’s blouse; the style was slim and fitted with a long-sleeved bolero to match, and, in spite of Rosie moaning and complaining, Kathy knew she was quietly pleased with herself.

Jasper grew impatient. ‘Come on! Hurry up, you two!’

A moment later they were out the door, being waved on and wished all the best by a few of the locals. ‘You look lovely!’ one woman told Kathy. ‘God bless you!’

When Rosie scowled at her, she told her the same. ‘You look lovely, too,’ the woman said, her genuine compliment putting the smile back on Rosie’s face.

The registry office was packed to the hilt. There were people from West Bay, neighbours and acquaintances, the site manager. And Kathy’s old and dear friend, Maggie, in a bright blue coat and the highest heels Kathy had ever seen.

Alongside her was her newest boyfriend, the owner of a night-club and, as Maggie proudly put it, ‘Not short of a bob or two.’

As Kathy came in, Maggie waved and smiled and told everyone how she had known Kathy for a long time and what a lovely person she was. It was only when her boyfriend gave her a nudge that she sheepishly fell silent, though she and Kathy exchanged a few knowing glances and warm smiles. There was a bond between them that went way back. Whatever happened to one or the other, these two were friends for ever.

The service was short and dignified. Tom and Kathy were joined together as man and wife, and when they came out into the bright wintry sunshine, everyone clapped and smiled. It was the happiest day.

As they walked towards the spot where the pictures would be taken, Kathy saw two figures standing a short distance away. When now the woman smiled at her, Kathy’s heart turned over.

Slowly, unsure, she went to her. In her mind she could see the photograph her father had left behind – she had only recently found it at the back of the drawer – of himself and the boy on the beach, collecting shells with Jasper. There were other photographs, too. ‘You’re Liz, aren’t you?’

Liz nodded. ‘I hope you didn’t mind me coming here. I did so much want to see Robert’s daughter get married.’ Her eyes filled with tears. ‘Oh, Kathy! He would have been so proud!’

For a long, emotional moment, Kathy gazed at her, then at the boy, her brother, who reminded her so much of her dear lost father. ‘Hello, Robbie,’ she whispered. ‘Jasper’s told me so much about you.’

Suddenly, without warning, he slid his hand into Kathy’s, for now he knew she was his sister, and he wanted her to love him.

Openly crying, Kathy threw her arms round them both. ‘I’m glad you came,’ she murmured. ‘Oh, I’m so glad you came.’

Now, as Tom came to hold her, Kathy thought of all the bad things that had happened. They were over now. She had a real family at last. And it was the most wonderful gift of all.

From somewhere behind them Jasper called out, ‘That’s enough malarking, you lot! There’s pictures to be tekken. Hurry up! Afore we all freeze on the spot!’

Laughing, they made their way over.

While they waited for the photographer to line the others up, Tom slid his arm round Kathy’s waist. ‘Are you happy, darling?’

Kathy looked around: at Liz and young Robbie, her brother; then Maggie in her ridiculous outfit; and at Jasper, that wonderful, darling old man.

She looked up at Tom with smiling eyes and a heart filled with love. ‘I’m happier than I’ve ever been in my life,’ she said.

She glanced up at the skies, her mind alive with memories of her father. She imagined him smiling down on her. ‘Thank you,’ she murmured.

He had given her a new start. A new life.

With Tom and her family.

No woman could want more.

JOSEPHINE COX

Lovers and Liars

CONTENTS

COVER (#u4642c10f-34f7-505f-ab6c-38c8d9ef591a)

TITLE PAGE (#u4fb96669-0bf9-5f80-b42a-afcfdee2d348)

PART ONE (#ua4a17e64-a884-555b-9e16-8f9e06d4186d)

CHAPTER ONE (#ua2319ce0-b625-5fda-860e-31857bb374ed)

CHAPTER TWO (#ua25710e7-9016-561e-82ba-4386541d2bbc)

CHAPTER THREE (#u57e417ae-2016-51d3-b7cb-3f853b483dff)

PART TWO (#ucd8a8af4-3584-520f-be3c-16ff2f6b2c32)

CHAPTER FOUR (#u9d007649-6e42-5ead-9aba-f535037197f7)