Christmas at The Heartbreak Cafe (Lakeview Christmas Novel) (Lakeview Contemporary Romance Book 7) Read Online Free
anger. She was used to her mother-in-law’s snide comments about her former life as a TV star, but it stung nonetheless. She knew that Ita was furious that Charlie choose to marry her and adopt Scarlett instead of finding his own, baggage-free wife here in town. Never mind that Charlie was Scarlett’s father through and through. To Ita, Ruth was just some tramp that trapped her beloved son into raising a child that was not his.
“Ella, I would be honoured,” she smiled. When is the party?”
“On the evening of December 22, just in time for Christmas. We’ll have a big celebration; food, mulled wine, Santa and hopefully carriage rides around the lake for the kids if Daniel can arrange it, so please bring little Scarlett along too.”
“I’ll be there, I promise. But in the meantime,” she smiled apologetically. “I’m starving and in a bit of a rush. I have to pick up Scarlett from creche in a half hour for a playdate. Can I get a latte and a pain au chocolat to take away?”
“Certainly, pet.” Ella hobbled off, leaving Ita and Ruth to both stew in their collective corners of the café.
Maybe Ruth agreeing to take part in something like this party might help Ita see that she loved Charlie and had every intention of staying in Lakeview, and then in turn might cause her to treat Scarlett as her granddaughter instead of a complete stranger. Ruth knew it really hurt Charlie that his mother still wouldn't acknowledge Ruth and Scarlett as family, even after all this time.
She sighed. At this point, she wasn't sure how anything could repair their relationship.
Taking out her Prada purse to pay for the food, her eyes rested on the Hollywood script in her bag that had arrived from her agent only that morning.
The fact that Ruth was of late considering a return to work in Tinseltown, certainly wouldn’t improve matters.
4
H eidi Clancy was running late . After spending a very pleasant morning in Dublin getting her hair and nails done, she was stuck behind the slow moving trucks of the old timber yard just outside the village.
Currently, her car, a brand new black BMW, was idling behind a large red semi carrying at least a dozen of unruly pine trunks. It took everything in Heidi’s power not to honk her horn, but she resisted out of fear of breaking her nails.
Behind her outward impatience was a smidgen of satisfaction though. While being late was always a social sin, being late to an occasion like the Lakeview Mum’s Club did have its benefits. Heidi knew that her late entrance to Cynthia Roland’s house, in which they were holding today’s gathering, would be fawned over, with the crowd of women asking her about traffic and her morning.
Everyone would rise to make a fuss of her gorgeous daughter Amelia, grab her box of ‘homemade’ cupcakes, and remark at her brand new DVF coat. Attention would be all hers and Heidi certainly knew how to milk it.
But most importantly, her absence would have everyone talking. The girls couldn’t resist an opportunity to gossip about the village’s wealthiest woman.
Well, maybe the second richest woman in Lakeview. Ever since that soap star moved back home a few years back, it was all that the town’s gossip crowd could chat about. If they were not whispering about Ruth Seymour’s scandalous affair with her co star, they were discussing how much her Los Angeles townhouse must have sold for.
Heidi did not mind the competition one bit. It gave her an excuse to step up her game. She had already laid out plans to redecorate the living room of their palatial home on the Dublin Road, and add on separate living quarters for their live-in nanny.
Of course her bank manager husband Paul certainly could also not resist her when she asked to borrow his credit card for a day at the salon because hers was already maxed-out. Whatever Heidi wanted, Heidi got, and she was never afraid to ask for more.
Finally past the literal log jam of timber trucks, Heidi put her pedal to the
“Ella, I would be honoured,” she smiled. When is the party?”
“On the evening of December 22, just in time for Christmas. We’ll have a big celebration; food, mulled wine, Santa and hopefully carriage rides around the lake for the kids if Daniel can arrange it, so please bring little Scarlett along too.”
“I’ll be there, I promise. But in the meantime,” she smiled apologetically. “I’m starving and in a bit of a rush. I have to pick up Scarlett from creche in a half hour for a playdate. Can I get a latte and a pain au chocolat to take away?”
“Certainly, pet.” Ella hobbled off, leaving Ita and Ruth to both stew in their collective corners of the café.
Maybe Ruth agreeing to take part in something like this party might help Ita see that she loved Charlie and had every intention of staying in Lakeview, and then in turn might cause her to treat Scarlett as her granddaughter instead of a complete stranger. Ruth knew it really hurt Charlie that his mother still wouldn't acknowledge Ruth and Scarlett as family, even after all this time.
She sighed. At this point, she wasn't sure how anything could repair their relationship.
Taking out her Prada purse to pay for the food, her eyes rested on the Hollywood script in her bag that had arrived from her agent only that morning.
The fact that Ruth was of late considering a return to work in Tinseltown, certainly wouldn’t improve matters.
4
H eidi Clancy was running late . After spending a very pleasant morning in Dublin getting her hair and nails done, she was stuck behind the slow moving trucks of the old timber yard just outside the village.
Currently, her car, a brand new black BMW, was idling behind a large red semi carrying at least a dozen of unruly pine trunks. It took everything in Heidi’s power not to honk her horn, but she resisted out of fear of breaking her nails.
Behind her outward impatience was a smidgen of satisfaction though. While being late was always a social sin, being late to an occasion like the Lakeview Mum’s Club did have its benefits. Heidi knew that her late entrance to Cynthia Roland’s house, in which they were holding today’s gathering, would be fawned over, with the crowd of women asking her about traffic and her morning.
Everyone would rise to make a fuss of her gorgeous daughter Amelia, grab her box of ‘homemade’ cupcakes, and remark at her brand new DVF coat. Attention would be all hers and Heidi certainly knew how to milk it.
But most importantly, her absence would have everyone talking. The girls couldn’t resist an opportunity to gossip about the village’s wealthiest woman.
Well, maybe the second richest woman in Lakeview. Ever since that soap star moved back home a few years back, it was all that the town’s gossip crowd could chat about. If they were not whispering about Ruth Seymour’s scandalous affair with her co star, they were discussing how much her Los Angeles townhouse must have sold for.
Heidi did not mind the competition one bit. It gave her an excuse to step up her game. She had already laid out plans to redecorate the living room of their palatial home on the Dublin Road, and add on separate living quarters for their live-in nanny.
Of course her bank manager husband Paul certainly could also not resist her when she asked to borrow his credit card for a day at the salon because hers was already maxed-out. Whatever Heidi wanted, Heidi got, and she was never afraid to ask for more.
Finally past the literal log jam of timber trucks, Heidi put her pedal to the
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