Short Story Extract: One Bride and a Bombshell by Catherine Ferguson

Today it's my stop on the blog tour for Catherine Ferguson's latest novel Four Weddings & a Fiasco, I'll be reviewing the book shortly but this morning I'm sharing with you part of an exclusive short story that Catherine has written for her blog tour, One Bride and a Bombshell, which is being serialised each day throughout the tour.  Parts 1 and 2 were shared on The Reader's Corner and This Chick Reads on Thursday and Friday and today it's my turn to host the next part of the story.  Hope you enjoy reading.    

ONE BRIDE AND A BOMBSHELL

3

So, heart beating frantically, I phoned the number and spoke to Camilla Radcliffe’s secretary, who sounded reassuringly cheerful (and not the slightest bit beaten down with stress, as I’d half-expected). The upshot was a meeting with the woman herself in the Greshingham Hall Hotel, a few miles from Mum and Dad’s house.

So that Wednesday, I left work early and hopped on a train to Willows Edge, in time for Sienna to drive me to my meeting.

‘Good luck, Sis,’ she said as she dropped me outside the rather grand hotel entrance. ‘I’ll be back in an hour to collect you. And don’t worry. Camilla is going to love you.’

I smiled, touched by my little sister’s utter faith in me. Despite the age difference, we’d always been incredibly close and were each other’s biggest support. I knew we were lucky. I had friends who seemed to bicker and fall out with their siblings all the time.

‘Oh, my God,’ I squeaked, sensing I was on the brink of something important. ‘I think I’m going to be sick!’

I pulled the visor down to check myself in the mirror. Nervously pale complexion, wide green eyes sparkling with a mix of mild terror and anticipation. Honey blonde hair, swinging on my shoulders, unusually sleek and well-behaved for once.

‘Well, you know what to do about nausea.’ Sienna shook back the white blonde fringe of her pixie cut. ‘Just bite gently on - ’

‘Your lower lip,’ I finished with a grin. This had always been Mum’s ‘cure’ for feeling sick when we were little. The slight pain was meant to act as a distraction.

Obediently, I bit my lip and Sienna smiled, her grey eyes dancing with almost as much excitement as I was feeling myself. ‘This is your big break, Katy. Go for it, Sis!’

I got out of the car and watched her motor off down the driveway in her beloved red mini. Then I walked quickly into the hotel before the nerves had a chance to escalate and I was tempted to turn tail and scarper.

So did Katy scarper? Find out tomorrow on M's Bookshelf when she'll be sharing with us the next part of the short story.  But don't forget to also pop back to the blog later to check out my review for Four Weddings & a Fiasco.

Katy Peacock lives a life as colourful as her name.

As a wedding photographer, she spends her days making other people smile as she captures all sorts of fun and capers at celebrations that range from the wacky to the wild.

But her own life isn’t looking quite so rosy. Her mum is acting out of character, her menacing ex is back on the scene, and she is torn between two gorgeous men. And that’s before we even get started on the trouble her sister is causing...

As Katy weathers the ups and downs of the season, she revisits problems from the past, discovers new friendships and finds that four weddings and a fiasco have the power to change her world beyond measure.