Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 89183 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 446(@200wpm)___ 357(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89183 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 446(@200wpm)___ 357(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
Josie felt there was a lot about his sister that he wanted to say but was keeping to himself, no doubt out of loyalty to Fiona. Josie liked that the family cared about one another, but also that Malcolm didn’t want to gossip about his sister and her marriage. However, given the little he’d said, Josie was very curious to meet Fiona. She was impressed that the Sullivan siblings’ parents had birthed and raised such a diverse and interesting handful of kids.
“Your parents sound like they must’ve been busy raising all of you.”
He laughed, another warm sound that seemed to come straight from the heart. “Busy is right. We all had the tendency to be hell-raisers. And not just the boys. Fiona and Alice managed to get into quite a few scrapes.”
He sounded proud of his sisters for being hell-raisers just as much as he and his brothers. She liked the sound of his family more and more.
“I’ve already told you about my father, Simon. He’s a great bloke. One of the best. And my mother, Penny—everyone loves her. Which isn’t to say that she doesn’t rule us all with quite a heavy hand. She does. And rightly so. It’s the only way to keep us in line.”
She heard the affection, as well as the respect, in his tone.
He went on, “My mother is also a curator at the Victoria and Albert Museum.”
“Wow,” she said. The famous V&A was definitely on her list of places to visit when she had time. “What an impressive family.”
Then he turned to her. “What about you? Any siblings?”
“No. It was just me and my mom growing up. My father was killed in a car accident when I was a baby, so I never knew him. But my mom was amazing. She still is. She left Coeur d’Alene for sunnier climes in Arizona a few years back. But she’s still always there for me whenever I need her.”
“I’d very much like to meet her too,” he said. “I’d like to tell her that she raised a remarkable woman.”
Josie felt herself blushing. Thankfully, just then they arrived in front of a beautiful little cottage not far from the bookstore and Malcolm’s houseboat. “This is Gran’s house,” he said.
“It’s beautiful. Is this where she writes her books?”
“It is, but I’ll let her tell you her story herself.”
The front door opened before they were halfway up the brick walkway, and an older woman with white hair and a warm smile stood there. Josie knew it was Mathilda Westcott because she looked exactly like her photograph on the jackets of her novels.
“Welcome,” Mathilda said. “You must be Josie. Mari told me how delightful you are.”
She felt herself blushing again. “That’s very kind of her. And it’s such a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Westcott. I’m such a fan.”
“Mathilda, please.” She leaned forward to kiss Josie on both cheeks. “Come in. I hope you’re hungry.”
“I am.”
Malcolm watched, fascinated to see these two bookish women interact. He’d seen his grandmother with her fans, when she was always a little standoffish, but with Josie, she was warm and open. Clearly, she already liked the American bibliotherapist.
“Excellent. None of the women Malcolm has been with over the years ever seemed to eat, did they, darling?”
He could see what his grandmother was doing—more matchmaking, just as she had with Owen and Mari. And the way she had just said that, it sounded like she thought Josie was dating him rather than simply working for Mari.
“The cottages are going to be great for the retreats that Mari has planned,” he said to his grandmother in lieu of responding to her comment. She’d only ever met a couple of his girlfriends, although she had hated them just as much as Alice had. “They are going to need quite a lot of work, though, before they can be put to use. I’m going to take a couple of weeks off work to help get them in shape alongside Josie, so she can put on at least one retreat before she has to go home.”
His grandmother looked between the two of them. “You’re going to be working together to prepare the cottages?”
He knew better than to take the innocent lilt of her voice at face value. His grandmother was anything but innocent. He’d heard stories about her youth. She had been as much of a hell-raiser as he or any of his siblings.
“We are,” Josie said with a smile. “It’s wonderful to create a retreat from scratch, and the cottages are going to be beautiful. It will be good to get my hands dirty.”
His grandmother looked intrigued as she led them to the dining room overlooking the river, where afternoon tea was already set up. She invited them to sit, and poured them tea. “You don’t mind helping with the dirty work?”