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Cathy Kelly 3-Book Collection 2: The House on Willow Street, The Honey Queen, Christmas Magic, plus bonus short story: The Perfect Holiday
Cathy Kelly
A collection of three of Cathy’s brilliant novels: The House on Willow Street, The Honey Queen, Christmas Magic, plus bonus short story: The Perfect HolidayTHE HOUSE ON WILLOW STREET: Welcome to Avalon: a quaint, sleepy town on the Irish coast. Nothing has changed here for generations – least of all the huge mansion on Willow Street; the house in which sisters Tess and Suki Power grew up. Now that the big house is up for sale, change is blowing on the cold sea wind. But before they can look to the future, these women must face up to the past…THE HONEY QUEEN: It’s easy to fall in love with the beautiful town of Redstone, where two women believe they are getting on just fine. But what they thought would be an ending is actually just a beginning – all is not quite as it seems in the picturesque town.CHRISTMAS MAGIC: A festive collection of short stories from no.1 Sunday Times bestselling author Cathy Kelly.And a bonus short story! THE PERFECT HOLIDAY was originally published as a Quick Read: sometimes all we need is a relaxing holiday in the sun…
Cathy Kelly 3-Book Collection
The House on Willow Street
The Honey Queen
Christmas Magic
Plus a bonus short story!
The Perfect Holiday
Cathy Kelly
Copyright (#ulink_747b4b36-a4b0-58cd-a5d5-8360dd231a06)
Published by HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF
www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)
First published in Great Britain by HarperCollinsPublishers 2017
Copyright © Cathy Kelly 2017
Cover jacket design © HarperCollinsPublishers 2017
Cover illustration © Nicholas Hely Hutchinson. Cover lettering © Stephen Raw
Cover images © Shutterstock.com (http://Shutterstock.com)
Cathy Kelly asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.
Source ISBN: 9780007373642, 9780007510948, 9780007444434, 9780007353194
Ebook Edition © April 2017 ISBN: 9780008252458
Version: 2017-10-28
Contents
Cover (#u80f715a3-8629-598c-9cd2-16807b85add5)
Title Page (#u5a5396b7-12c1-58b4-9efc-fdff7b4c1aa9)
Copyright (#u7bfed34a-c290-5dc0-abb2-ef8dad964327)
The House on Willow Street (#u763daab0-3688-56ed-b52d-1bf9b2c5e0a5)
The Honey Queen (#uc17421b8-8887-5bee-bea9-d6f91a3ae610)
Christmas Magic (#u9193ae03-d470-5885-a469-8cc169491e44)
The Perfect Holiday (#u8975b91d-cf86-59e4-a208-262fa1fb9ee7)
About the Author (#u8a1b983c-0c01-5556-a91c-d20d2d54adc6)
Also by Cathy Kelly (#u4c8d93ba-0683-54f6-bc10-ea01d059c921)
About the Publisher (#uf2b14633-e2a4-5c82-93c0-875dc8d595cc)
CATHY KELLY
The House on Willow Street
Copyright (#ulink_0e7e8c11-7d1b-5532-9c06-de238ae6d0d4)
Published by HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF
www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)
Published by HarperCollinsPublishers 2012
Copyright © Cathy Kelly 2012
Cathy Kelly asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
FIRST EDITION
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.
Source ISBN: 9780007373611
Ebook Edition © September 2012 ISBN: 9780007373642
Version: 2017-10-28
To my darling husband, John, and our wonderful sons, Dylan and Murray. And the Puplets of Loveliness, Dinky, Licky, Scamp, who were there for all of it.
Contents
Cover (#u763daab0-3688-56ed-b52d-1bf9b2c5e0a5)
Title Page (#u6ad74c56-7b34-59b4-b6a3-481bc41f9606)
Copyright (#u406f048c-4584-55a9-99b7-d212cb60daba)
Dedication (#u1efc2e0f-fb0a-5aca-9cb0-f550918c0f62)
Prologue (#u504220fc-dffc-500c-ba1d-a5ee2d93fdc1)
Autumn (#u3706790e-9a14-5e77-b2ad-a7d6150d4442)
Chapter One (#uefdcf989-75ac-5114-95d9-7c8d3506b7d1)
Chapter Two (#u3166dcb9-6461-5860-85b9-77998dee235d)
Chapter Three (#u086f91f3-7b66-53e1-8004-b59c2ef3bddc)
Chapter Four (#u1e5237a8-1132-5983-bf89-7da061155c99)
Winter (#udaac36c0-4fbe-5e81-93b7-a2419d4951e2)
Chapter Five (#u8051657e-0bd3-5c48-a7ac-faecb6e1aab6)
Chapter Six (#u02b0c9b1-9405-5095-92c1-95c806881269)
Chapter Seven (#u683a893b-b7aa-51cf-bfc0-720c315094f6)
Chapter Eight (#u9a8df034-5788-5313-bcfe-a0d48d41e274)
Chapter Nine (#u6b5c80ca-b715-51b4-b268-4ca948604b2e)
Chapter Ten (#ucf3baf16-2726-58b3-b940-d5faa31850eb)
Chapter Eleven (#uda8b659a-d86c-5e99-a88c-1c17553499d9)
Chapter Twelve (#ub99830d8-b469-5f25-8751-85541b2ddb84)
Chapter Thirteen (#u141ee5f4-9ab0-5154-a0c1-ee17131de184)
Chapter Fourteen (#ueb1dd96e-c0a8-598c-898b-abcc94b2cfa8)
Chapter Fifteen (#uc7b6d113-70bf-5999-ab73-cde257b16f53)
Chapter Sixteen (#udf375494-2bff-5a6a-87c9-0aeff6e4024a)
Chapter Seventeen (#u06cf00b1-95d9-5aed-8556-ed14088c2d66)
Chapter Eighteen (#uc2faa9e6-cc9d-5666-a11a-585f8fd5d69d)
Chapter Nineteen (#ud3f9c53e-698f-5e57-8bc3-d534c9ed46d4)
Chapter Twenty (#ue0124bdc-47ba-5b3d-9e44-2736f2235aab)
Chapter Twenty-One (#ua77eef96-76a2-5972-b9c2-b385823fe5ac)
Chapter Twenty-Two (#u304a9366-c038-57f7-b4cf-49cbf6208322)
Chapter Twenty-Three (#u264a41a5-0baf-51bb-8858-83e8fc1d207c)
Chapter Twenty-Four (#udee41a29-c22c-5415-8e0e-65fddad21dfd)
Chapter Twenty-Five (#ua6296cd4-a431-5055-96f2-a65645ba98e9)
Spring (#u3708eb02-da05-54da-8a8d-f5f1ef4c0519)
Chapter Twenty-Six (#u4d290183-5a4e-5913-a35a-9c0fb2bda6f2)
Chapter Twenty-Seven (#u81e31cdd-8c75-55df-85dd-7c0bc9b3210e)
Acknowledgements (#u66d04af6-630f-53ab-b352-aff051f3225b)
Prologue (#ulink_070aec3f-fb98-5e84-a1bc-7e274968c214)
Danae Rahill had long since learned that a postmistress’s job in a small town had a lot more to it than the ability to speedily process pensions or organize money transfers.
She’d run Avalon Post Office for fifteen years and she saw everything. It was impossible not to. Without wishing to, the extremely private Danae found herself the holder of many of the town’s secrets.
She saw money sent to the Misses McGinty’s brother in London, who’d gone there fifty years ago to make his fortune and was now living in a hostel.
‘The building work has dried up, you know,’ said one of the little Miss McGintys, her tiny papery hands finishing writing the address she knew by heart.
Danae was aware the hostel was one where Irish men went when the drinking got out of control and they needed a bed to sleep in.
‘It must be terrible for such a good man not to have a job any more,’ she said kindly.
Danae saw widower Mr Dineen post endless parcels and letters to his children around the world, but never heard of him getting on a plane to visit any of them.
She saw registered letters to solicitors, tear-stained funeral cards, wedding invitations and, on two occasions, sad, hastily written notes informing guests that the wedding was cancelled. She saw savings accounts fall to nothing with job losses and saw lonely people for whom collecting their pension was a rare chance to speak to another human being.
People felt safe confiding in Danae because it was well known that she would never discuss their personal details with anyone else. And she wasn’t married. There was no Mr Rahill to tell stories to at night in the cottage at the top of Willow Street. Danae was never seen in coffee shops gossiping with a gaggle of friends. She was, everyone in Avalon agreed, discreet.
She might gently enquire as to whether some plan or ambition had worked out or not, but equally she could tell without asking when the person wanted that last conversation forgotten entirely.
Danae was kindness personified.
