Forever Fredless by Suzy Turner
SYNOPSIS
Kate Robinson has spent the past two
decades yearning to find her soul mate, the boy she found and then lost during
a family holiday.
Shortly after her twenty-eighth birthday,
however, she inherits a fortune from an old family friend and becomes something
of an overnight celebrity. Can her new-found fame lead her to him after all
this time?
EXCERPT
Thank God for anti-perspirant, I thought as I sat on the couch and waited for the countdown to
begin. I clutched at my hands until they were white and looked across at the
two people sitting opposite, both completely at ease in front of the cameras.
Five, four, three, two, one...
'Welcome back to this morning's edition of
Good Morning GB,' announced Ireland Rothschild, the blonde-haired, blue eyed
darling of morning TV.
'I'm here with Fergus O'Reilly and we've a
special guest with us this morning. None other than Britain's love-struck
multi-millionaire, Kate Robinson.
Welcome, Kate,' she said with a dazzling
smile aimed more towards the camera than at me.
As my cheeks began to heat up, I was so
grateful to the make-up artist, who had insisted on caking on the foundation
before the show had started. In fact, I had so much make-up on that I was
hoping once I'd removed it, nobody would recognise me when I headed to the
airport in my now rather stupidly chosen car. I couldn't exactly blend in
driving a pink Mini could I?
'Good morning,' I whispered shyly.
Fergus grinned back at me, tilting his head
as if he was about to speak to a child. 'Now, tell us, Kate dear, how does it
feel to never have to worry about money ever again?' he asked, his toothpaste
advert teeth twinkling beneath the heat
of the studio lights.
'Erm, well, I guess it's... erm, kind of...
erm,' I felt so bloody stupid. Great time for my brain to stop working. 'I -
erm. Great,' I nodded. 'Great, really great.' Idiot.
Ireland glanced across at her grey-haired
colleague and pouted before nodding. 'Tell us how you knew this man. This,' she
glanced down at the iPad on her lap and continued, 'Samuel?'
I cleared my throat and lifted my head,
feeling like my brain was back in action. 'He was a very good friend of the
family, some years ago,' I answered.
'Just a friend? Why did he leave you all
his money and his property?' asked Fergus.
'He didn't have any family and I guess you
could say that my mother and I were the closest he ever had to a family.'
'Isn't that lovely?' pouted Ireland. 'You
certainly are a lucky woman. But what about your mother? Didn't she receive any
of his inheritance?'
'No,' I said before swallowing hard. 'My
mother lives a rather... nomadic lifestyle, in Africa. She doesn't want any of
it. All she asked of me was to donate a sum to charity which, of course, I have
done.'
'She lives in Africa? A nomadic lifestyle?
That sounds intriguing. Perhaps we should interview her one of these days,'
laughed Ireland and Fergus together.
'Have you splashed out on anything since
receiving your inheritance back in June?' they asked, leaning forward eagerly
awaiting my answer.
'Yes I have actually. I bought a car and a
new house.'
'Well good for you, Kate. But now, most of
us are curious about this boy you lost. Tell us about him?'
Oh no. Why did I agree to this?
Taking a deep breath, I knew I had no
choice. Several articles had been printed since the one in Liberty;
everyone wanted to know more and nobody was going to leave me alone until I
told them everything.
'He was just a boy who I had a connection
with when I was much, much younger. It was at Skegness. At an afternoon disco
for kids. I was dancing and I felt someone touch my back and when I turned
around there he was. The most beautiful
boy I'd ever seen,' I said, stopping and smiling as I reminisced. ‘It was one
of the happiest memories of my life.'
Sighing, I continued, 'We just looked at
each other and it was like everything else just disappeared into the
background. We stood staring, for what seemed like ages. I could barely move.
And then, almost as soon as it had begun, my dad appeared and took me away. I
couldn't do anything as we walked to the car. I looked around for the boy but
he was gone. And then, just as we were driving away, I turned around in my seat
and there he was. He had a daffodil in his hand. I always assumed he'd gone to
pick it for me, but that's just a childish fantasy, I guess. The whole thing is
probably nothing but a childish fantasy, really.'
Ireland was very carefully dabbing at her
eyes with a tissue, pretending to be moved, while Fergus smiled sadly.
'What a beautiful story, Kate. I don't
believe for one second that this is a childish fantasy. It's romantic and
beautiful,' Ireland said.
'Now, tell us, Kate. Why did you call him
Fred?' asked Fergus.
Smiling, I explained about the Right Said
Fred song, just as the music began in the background.
'What a wonderful tale. Thank you, Kate,
for joining us today. It's been a pleasure having you with us to share your
story,' said Fergus.
'Thank you,' I whispered before the camera
moved back to Ireland as she straightened her skirt and looked alluring. 'Do
you remember this moment in time?'
she asked. 'Are you the elusive Fred? We'd
love to hear from you. You can contact us at...'
Before I could hear anything else, I was
ushered off the couch and back behind the scenes where Jo stood, waiting patiently
for me, with open arms.
PURCHASE LINKS
AMAZON: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FKX5LBK
SMASHWORDS:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/363504
(more coming soon)
AUTHOR BIO
Suzy Turner has worked as a journalist,
assistant editor, features editor and magazine editor. Early in 2010 however,
she began writing full time and has
since completed six books for young adults
(the Raven Saga and The Morgan Sisters series) and one chick lit novel, Forever
Fredless.
Although Suzy is a Yorkshire lass at heart,
she left her home town of Rotherham, UK, to move to Portugal with her family
when she was ten. The Algarve
continues to be her home, where she lives
with her childhood sweetheart and husband of 15 years, Michael, and their two
neurotic dogs and a cat who thinks
she's a princess.
For more details about Suzy and her books,
visit:
Website: http://suzyturner.com
Chick Lit Blog:
http://www.fictiondreams.com
YA Blog: http://suzyturner.blogspot.com
Facebook Page:
http://facebook.com/suzyturnerbooks
Twitter: http://twitter.com/@suzy_turner
Pinterest:
http://pinterest.com/suzyturnerbooks
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Paper: $6.08
Kindle:$2.99
(uk paper, kindle)
Paper: $6.08
Kindle:$2.99
ePub : $2.99
(uk paper, kindle)
