Should anything happen to me I humbly request that you and Tom will bring the baby up as your own child. I know how much you have always longed for a baby so in the event of my death this little soul will be my final gift to you. I know he or she will receive the love you showered on me and I hope that when you think of me in the future you will remember me fondly. Would you also kindly ensure that the locket that you gave to me on the day I left Treetops is passed on to my baby, please? It is my most treasured possession.
With love always,
Kitty xxxx
As tears began to stream down Sunday’s cheeks Maggie and Ben stole away hand in hand, leaving Tom and Sunday to say a proper hello to their brand new baby daughter.
‘My poor Kitty,’ Sunday sobbed. And then, with the baby still tight in the crook of one arm and well wrapped up, Tom opened the back door briefly and pointed up at the sky. It was ablaze with stars that twinkled down on the frosty trees and lawns, transforming them into a winter wonderland.
‘Look up there, my darlings,’ he whispered as he kissed the sleeping baby and then his wife. ‘This Christmas morn, our Kitty will be the brightest star you can see. She’ll always be close to us – and what a precious legacy she has left us. Now at last we have our very own little girl and through her Kitty will live on.’ He closed the door and embraced them both in the warm, protective circle of his arms.
Sunday blinked back her tears and murmured in agreement as she bent to gently kiss the tiny little angel in her arms. Tom was right – Kitty had left them the greatest gift of all, and while they had her, Kitty would always be just a heartbeat away.
‘You’re right,’ she whispered thickly. ‘But I ought to tell you now that in about another six months’ time, this beautiful child will have a little brother or sister.’
It took a second or two for her husband to grasp her meaning. Then his mouth gaped. ‘What! You mean that you’re …’
Sunday nodded and smiled as tears slid down her cheeks. ‘Yes. I didn’t want to tell you until I was sure. We’ve been disappointed so many times, and I’m past the normal childbearing age, as you know. But the doctor confirmed it yesterday. I was going to tell you then, but with Kitty …’
‘I know,’ he soothed. Neither of them would ever forget their beloved Kitty, but now, despite her loss, they had a future to look forward to, with their brand new little family.
THE END
Acknowledgements
Firstly I’d like to say a big thank you to my brilliant agent, Sheila Crowley for all the hard work she’s done on my behalf and for all her help and support, not forgetting Abbie, her lovely assistant.
Secondly an enormous thank you to Eli, Kate, Sarah, Tara and all the brilliant team at Bonnier Zaffre, also to all of my lovely readers who helped to make the first of this series, Mothering Sunday, into a Sunday Times Bestseller.
Thank you all so much! I feel very blessed to be surrounded by such wonderful people.
Welcome to the world of Rosie Goodwin!
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A Christmas Message
Hello everyone,
I can’t believe that as you read this we will be racing towards Christmas once again! Where does the time go? It doesn’t seem more than the blink of an eye when I was writing to you all in March to celebrate the publication of the first of my Days of the Week collection, Mothering Sunday, and now here we are with the second of the series, The Little Angel on the shelves.
It’s been a bit of a roller coaster year for me. It began in the New Year with the death of our lovely aunt in Wales. Special thanks to Christine, a family member who lived close by who made Auntie Doreen’s final days as good as they could be. You are such a star Christine and we are all very grateful to you!
On a happier note, we are now eagerly awaiting the birth of a brand new little granddaughter. I am writing this early in August and she is due the second week of September so by the time you read this she will be here! We can’t wait to meet her now! Her birth will be closely followed by my daughter’s wedding early in October. I don’t mind telling you my office and the top bedroom in my house looks like a bridal shop. I have tiaras, a wedding dress, flowers, table decorations, bridesmaids’ dresses etc. all over the place. So; a birth, a death and a marriage all in the space of one year! The circle of life.
Then before we know it Christmas will be here. I love Christmas! It’s a time when we can forget work for a few days and spend a little special time with our families. We all lead such busy lives so it’s nice to be able to gear down for a while with the people we love most. In December the work begins: we raid the loft and down come all the Christmas decs. The first thing to go up is the big tree in the dining room. It usually takes me and the children a whole afternoon to dress it, then we tackle the trees in the other rooms along with all the other decorations. Next day, hubby gets the ladder out and begins to put up the outside lights and by the time he’s finished it usually looks like Blackpool illuminations! That’s not to mention all the shopping, and sometimes you think; phew is it worth it? The answer to that is, yes it is, the minute you see the children’s excited faces on Christmas Eve. Our family always celebrates with a traditional Christmas dinner – turkey and stuffing, roast potatoes, the whole works followed by Christmas pudding, crackers and party poppers! Then the children go into one lounge to play with their toys while the adults relax with a good old-fashioned Christmas film in the snug curled up by log burner in the inglenook. We then all get together again on Boxing Day and do the whole thing all over again, bliss! And of course, the day after Boxing Day is the day that the girls and I hit the sales, there’s nothing better than a bit of retail therapy, especially when there are bargains to be had!
The new book was written with Christmas in mind and as soon as I saw the cover of The Little Angel I fell in love with it as I hope you will. It’s so Christmassy that I could almost feel the snow on my face and it portrays the main character in the book so well that it really brought her to life! In this book we meet Kitty, Monday’s child, who is fair of face. She is such a character: beautiful, self-centred and vain yet deep inside she has a kind heart and I truly grew to love her as her character developed. I do hope you will care for her as much as you loved Sunday in Mothering Sunday. Within days of it hitting the shelves it had gone into the Sunday Times Bestsellers list and myself and my wonderful team at Bonnier Zaffre were absolutely thrilled. I have now completed A Mother’s Grace, due out next spring where we meet Tuesday’s child, Grace, and I am now busily working on Wednesday’s child. No peace for the wicked! But I am loving every second of writing this series. Each one will be a completely stand-alone book focused on a different character although as it goes along you may recognise some characters from the previous books. Thank you all so much for the lovely reviews and the feedback you gave for the first book, please keep them coming for The Little Angel. A writer’s life can be very isolated at times. We spend most of it locked away in our office with our imaginary characters so to hear from all of you makes it all worthwhile.
Finally, now I have told you all my gossip, I would just like to take the opportunity to wish all of you and yours a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Have a good one!
Much love,
Rosie
xxx
Very Rich Fruit Christmas Cake
You will need:
1lb
450g
Currants
11oz
300g
Sultanas
6oz
175g
Raisins
4oz
125g
Glacé cherries, halved
4oz
125g
Almond flakes or chopped blanched almonds
4oz
125g
Mixed peel, chopped
Grated rind of 2 lemons
3 tbsp
75ml
Brandy (and more to feed the cake)
11oz
300gr
Plain flour
1½ tsp
75ml
Mixed spice
½ tsp
2.5ml
Nutmeg
3oz
75gr
Ground almonds
250g
Butter
10oz
275g
Soft brown sugar
1½ tbsp
Black treacle
6 large eggs
Method:
Put the dried fruit (and almond flakes) in a bowl and pour the brandy over them. Leave to soak for at least 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Preheat your oven to 275F/140C/gas mark 1. Prepare either a 10 inch square tin or 9 inch round tin by double lining it with baking parchment.
Place all of the dry ingredients – flour, mixed spice, nutmeg, ground almonds – in a bowl and mix well.
In another bowl cream the butter and sugar together, using a wooden spoon, until light and fluffy. Slowly beat in the treacle. Add the eggs individually, adding a tbs of the flour mixture with each egg.
Fold in the remainder of the flour mixture and the fruits, half at a time. Mix thoroughly but gently to be sure not to break up the fruit too much.
Place your mixture in the prepared tin. Leave slight dip in centre of mix.
Bake for 3 hours then test with a skewer, it make need more time.
When cooked, remove from oven but leave in tin for at least 15 minutes.
When cool, turn out on to a wire cooling rack and remove the paper.
Poke holes in the cake, using a skewer and spoon over 2 tbsp of brandy.
When quite cold double wrap in greaseproof paper and place in air tight tin.
Do not eat for at least 3 weeks. During this time unwrap cake regularly and brush with Brandy about 1½ tbs each time. Don’t feed the cake for a week, before icing so that the surface can dry.
Ice and decorate. Once iced the cake should be sealed and can be kept for a long time, maturing.
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First published in Great Britain in 2017 by Zaffre Publishing
This ebook edition published in 2017 by
Zaffre Publishing
80-81 Wimpole St, London, W1G 9RE
www.zaffrebooks.co.uk
Copyright © Rosie Goodwin, 2017
Jacket design by Nick Stern
Cover photography © Gordon Crabb
The moral right of Rosie Goodwin to be identified as Author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places and events are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN: 978-1-785-76235-2
Hardback ISBN: 978-1-785-76234-5
This ebook produced by
Palimpsest Book Production Limited,
Falkirk, Stirlingshire, Scotland
Zaffre Publishing is an imprint of Bonnier Zaffre,
a Bonnier Publishing company
www.bonnierzaffre.co.uk
www.bonnierpublishing.com
Table of Contents
Title Page
Contents
Also by Rosie Goodwin
Dedication
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One
Chapter Forty-Two
Chapter Forty-Three
Chapter Forty-Four
Chapter Forty-Five
Chapter Forty-Six
Chapter Forty-Seven
Chapter Forty-Eight
Chapter Forty-Nine
Chapter Fifty
Chapter Fifty-One
Chapter Fifty-Two
Chapter Fifty-Three
Chapter Fifty-Four
Chapter Fifty-Five
Chapter Fifty-Six
Acknowledgements
Welcome to the world of Rosie Goodwin!
A Christmas Message
Very Rich Fruit Christmas Cake
Read an exclusive sneak peek
Tales from Memory Lane
Memory Lane Advert
Copyright
Table of Contents
Title Page
Contents
Also by Rosie Goodwin
Dedication
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-
Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One
Chapter Forty-Two
Chapter Forty-Three
Chapter Forty-Four
Chapter Forty-Five
Chapter Forty-Six
Chapter Forty-Seven
Chapter Forty-Eight
Chapter Forty-Nine
Chapter Fifty
Chapter Fifty-One
Chapter Fifty-Two
Chapter Fifty-Three
Chapter Fifty-Four
Chapter Fifty-Five
Chapter Fifty-Six
Acknowledgements
Welcome to the world of Rosie Goodwin!
A Christmas Message
Very Rich Fruit Christmas Cake
Read an exclusive sneak peek
Tales from Memory Lane
Memory Lane Advert
Copyright