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Wildflower Park Series
Bella Osborne
A Walk in Wildflower Park was originally published as a four-part serial. This is the complete story in one package.Life’s not always a walk in the park…When Anna is dumped by her fiancé, she moves in to her own place on the edge of the gorgeous Wildflower Park and pledges to stay off men and focus on her career, but a handsome new colleague seems to thwart her attempts at every turn. And when she receives an accidental text from a mystery man, could it be the new start she needs? Or someone she really shouldn't be falling for?Anna’s neighbour Sophie is a stressed-out mum-of-two with a third on the way. Her husband is a constant frustration, and their children are a regular source of newly-invented swear words and unidentifiable sticky surfaces.Luckily, Anna and Sophie have each other – and Wildflower Park proves to be a sanctuary as they map out a path to find the happiness they both deserve…Fantastically funny, this irresistibly heart-warming novel will charm fans of Milly Johnson and Jill Mansell.
A Walk in Wildflower Park
Bella Osborne
Copyright (#u3a375420-3431-5ae2-9216-eb694b9bb0e6)
Published by Avon an imprint of
HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd
1 London Bridge Street,
London, SE1 9GF
www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)
First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins Publishers 2019
Copyright © Bella Osborne 2019
Cover illustration © Kim Leo
Cover design © Cherie Chapman Book Design 2019
Bella Osborne 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: 9780008258221
Ebook Edition © June 2019
ISBN: 9780008258238
Version: 2019-06-14
Dedication (#u3a375420-3431-5ae2-9216-eb694b9bb0e6)
For Patty – with love.
Contents
Cover (#udabec4a8-eead-5d10-972f-0ed864046d4c)
Title Page (#u9f97ba61-6d66-5777-acd6-54ff99be9d01)
Copyright
Dedication
Prologue (#ubaed0f51-c51a-5db3-b6e8-aac593b96c63)
Chapter One (#ue8d8ec87-f272-58c8-99ad-df333fd57268)
Chapter Two (#uf784d324-3c82-57ff-b74d-a1d6e883e0d1)
Chapter Three (#u820501d3-a217-519a-904f-82a16bec93b8)
Chapter Four (#ufdbb7172-a05b-579f-b46f-d543f0d7c461)
Chapter Five (#u51315d18-ffc1-5188-b6be-5ff3d3d57a1b)
Chapter Six (#uef3cfff9-10d5-524d-95e9-f76156380d46)
Chapter Seven (#u11cfa904-dcc0-56ec-a88f-18a63db5aa4e)
Chapter Eight (#ueaf6e150-78ae-5e36-a430-9b8e3f8a9a2a)
Chapter Nine (#u638ea562-87c1-574b-883d-e41a950f19d3)
Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twelve (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Thirteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Fourteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Fifteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Sixteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Seventeen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eighteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Nineteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-One (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-Two (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-Three (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-Four (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-Five (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-Six (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-Seven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-Eight (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-Nine (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Thirty (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Thirty-One (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Thirty-Two (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Thirty-Three (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Thirty-Four (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Thirty-Five (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Thirty-Six (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Thirty-Seven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Thirty-Eight (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Thirty-Nine (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Forty (#litres_trial_promo)
Acknowledgements (#litres_trial_promo)
About the Author (#litres_trial_promo)
Also by Bella Osborne (#litres_trial_promo)
About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)
Prologue (#ulink_c74a8383-7957-59f8-bb89-1103b6ad3941)
Three months earlier
‘Happy pre-versary!’ Anna called from the kitchen.
‘What?’ asked Liam, screwing up one side of his face as he removed his coat. He walked through to where Anna was bouncing on her toes with excitement.
‘One year today will be our wedding day. So, I made you this. Ta-dah!’ Anna stepped away from the table and kissed Liam lightly.
Liam pulled away. ‘Right,’ he said, rubbing his neck. His eyes alighted on the amorphous brown mass behind Anna. ‘What the hell is that?’ He took a hasty step back and stared. ‘It looks like some sort of … demon? Have you been binge watching Game of Thrones again?’
Anna was hurt. She’d spent hours carefully crafting something special for him. ‘It’s a hedgehog.’
‘Made from what? Poo?’
‘It’s chocolate cake.’ Anna put her hands on her hips but, remembering they were covered in chocolate icing, she wished she hadn’t.
‘It’s got teeth?’ he said, peering closer.
‘Hedgehogs have teeth,’ said Anna, feeling defensive.
‘O-kay.’ He didn’t sound convinced. ‘Anyway, I wanted to talk to you.’
‘What about?’ asked Anna, turning her attention to aligning the hedgehog’s wonky eyes.
‘Those teeth are like my granny’s dentures.’
‘You wanted to talk to me about dentures?’ She smiled at him.
‘No. I think we need to take a break.’
There was a pause as Anna frowned. All she could focus on was that maybe she shouldn’t have used glacé cherries for the eyes. They were demon-like. Chocolate buttons would have been better.
‘Anna?’ prompted Liam.
‘Yes, fine.’
‘Really? You agree?’
‘Yes. I think it’s a good idea,’ she said, over her shoulder. ‘You’ve been working crazy hours recently and I could do with a break too. I’ve always wanted to go to New York but I don’t think I could cope with the flight.’ She turned around to see Liam was staring hard at the floor. ‘Did you have somewhere in mind? It’ll be cold and wet wherever we go in this country at this time of year.’
Liam’s eyebrows inched higher with her every word. ‘I don’t mean a holiday, Anna.’ Beads of sweat were forming on his top lip. His voice was gentle, his expression pained. ‘I mean a break from each other.’
And that was it. Her engagement, her future, her neat little life unravelled by one sentence. She hurled the hedgehog cake at Liam’s face and truly wished it had been made of poo.
Chapter One (#ulink_460b6d30-05ef-5b7d-8c54-9dc91f05b709)
‘Are you sure about Majestic Mayonnaise?’ asked Sophie, brandishing the tester pot.
‘Well, obviously.’ Anna playfully waved her loaded paint roller at Sophie.
