Lovestruck Read Online Free Page A

their new wealth, investing Jake’s money, urging them to buy the biggest property they could. Rosie was a little bit apprehensive about listening to her – after all, not that long ago, she’d lost virtually all of the family’s money in some dodgy pyramid scheme; they’d only kept the house because it was in Rupert’s – a retired dentist – name. But Yolande had learned her lesson, she told them repeatedly, and property was always a safe bet.
    Her interest was touching really, Rosie told herself as Toby screamed, ‘Mummy! Come and get me! I’m scared!’
    ‘Oh, Tobes.’ Rosie hurried out of the room and down the stairs and long corridor to Toby’s room. Her son was sitting in his bed, duvet pulled around him, his earnest little nose poking out. ‘What is it?’
    ‘It’s scary in this room. Something lives in that cupboard.’
    He pointed at the huge built-in wardrobe, which Rosie had fallen in love with. No more toys scattered all over
the floor. She obsessed over storage like she’d obsessed over pop music as a teenager. It was one of the many freaky ways in which motherhood had changed her life.
    ‘Nothing lives in the cupboard, Tobes. Shall I look for you?’ She opened the door. ‘See? Nothing.’
    Toby’s expression was dubious.
    ‘Oh, darling.’ Rosie picked him up and carried him to the cupboard, enjoying the warmth of his body against hers, the smell of tousled mousy hair. ‘See?’
    ‘OK.’
    ‘Granny and Grandpa are downstairs. Shall we go and see them?’
    In the kitchen Rupert was sitting at their tiny Ikea dining table reading the paper. He was wearing a beautifully ironed blue shirt that set off his eyes, and his grey hair was immaculate. Rupert was a very handsome man, but surprisingly low-key for someone so good-looking. Yolande was reading something on her iPhone.
    ‘I see Billy Whitely’s got a part in the new Trevor Nunn musical,’ she said to Jake. Billy Whiteley had been the star of Jake’s year at drama school and had long been a thorn in Yolande’s side. ‘But the last thing he did bombed, so he needs a hit.’
    ‘Billy’s all right, Mum.’
    ‘What about Julianna Frost? Haven’t seen her in anything for ages.’ Yolande tapped ferociously into Google. She visited the IMDB site about nine hundred and twenty-seven times a day.
    ‘Julianna’s just had a baby,’ Rosie said firmly. She liked
Julianna and refused to encourage her mother-in-law’s aspersions.
    ‘Your lawn needs cutting,’ said Yolande, putting down the phone and turning towards the French windows that led into the garden. ‘We should have brought the mower; Dad could have done it.’ She began walking around the room, proprietorially sweeping imaginary specks of dust off the Shaker units. ‘This is lovely, but gosh, they could have left it cleaner.’ She bent down to kiss Toby. ‘How is Granny’s boy? Granny’s bought you some sweeties for later. Mind you, it’s all dependent on you eating a good lunch. Do you know, I was talking to your Auntie Becki and she says when Noah was nearly five, he
loved
nothing more than broccoli and salmon and roast potatoes. Do you think if Granny cooked broccoli and salmon and roast potatoes for your lunch you could eat it all up and we could tell Noah what a good boy you are?’
    ‘No,’ said Toby.
    ‘I was planning on doing pasta for lunch,’ Rosie said.
    Yolande wrinkled her nose. She didn’t consider pasta a proper meal – where was the meat? ‘But I’ve filled the freezer already with home-cooked meals. Just like I used to. Remember, Perry, when you were a bachelor boy? That’ll take the pressure off, won’t it?’
    ‘That’s so kind of you.’ Rosie’s heart sank. She hated Yolande’s cooking. It was all overdone roasts and soggy vegetables. But some battles were simply not worth fighting.
    ‘Think nothing of it. Now – and you needn’t thank me for this either – I have a little surprise for you all. Well, actually, quite a big surprise.