Classic Bestsellers from Josephine Cox: Bumper Collection. Josephine Cox

Lizzie quipped. ‘I need new curtains, and the sofa’s started sagging in the middle, and –’

      ‘Stop right there!’ Grandad told her, and when she went quiet, he put his arm round her. ‘You can ’ave yer curtains,’ he said, ‘but the sofa can wait, ’cause I mean to tek you away.’ Brandishing two tickets, he told her proudly, ‘We’re off to Blackpool for a couple o’ nights. I’ve booked us into a little guest-house on the front. The journey’ll probably kill me, with me arthritis an’ all, but what a lovely way to go.’ He laughed naughtily and ducked when Lizzie turned to swipe him.

      Several months after the wedding, Michael and Aggie received news that ownership of the farm had been rightfully restored to them. Once the paperwork was safely completed, Michael told Danny and Emily that he and Aggie had drawn up plans to build a cottage for them in the orchard. ‘We know how much you love this place, and we want you to have your own home, near us,’ Aggie said.

      ‘Oh, Dad! That’s wonderful!’ Emily cried with joy. She and Danny and Cathleen immediately went outside to look at ‘their spot’. While the child danced on ahead, Emily went more slowly, leaning on her husband who was now her support, as she was seven months pregnant.

      The orchard had always held some special magic for her.

      When a year later the cottage was ready, Emily and Danny moved in with Cathleen and their ten-month-old son, George Isaac – ‘Georgie’. ‘A little brother for you,’ Emily had told Cathleen after the baby’s birth upstairs at Potts End. Her daughter held the child in her arms. ‘He’s lovely, Mammy,’ she said.

      And so are you, Emily thought.

      Now, as she looked out of the window of Orchard Cottage, Georgie on her shoulder having his back gently rubbed, in her mind’s eye she could see herself and John, young and carefree, running across the fields and swimming in the brook. She could see the place where they had shared their very first kiss, and the place in the orchard where, on the night of their reunion, they had shared their very last one.

      At that moment, down in the meadow, where the lambs chased each other, watched by a curious hare, the sun caught on a gold locket that had lain hidden in a path of flowering clover through many seasons, and for a second, the glow was dazzling. And then the sun’s rays encompassed the whole field, and the farm – and the entire vale. And up in the cottage bedroom, a baby cried, and the woman dreaming at the window turned to comfort him.

      She would never forget her first love. They had been two young people setting out on life’s journey. Two lovers who had shared a dream and lost it, but in the losing had found something else. The love that had grown between them was still there, but it was a different love now. It was a strong, binding love that would go on for as long as they lived.

      The love of friendship.

      A precious thing, after all.

      JOSEPHINE COX

       Live the Dream

       DEDICATION

       For my darling Ken, as ever

      Contents

       COVER

       TITLE PAGE

DEDICATION

PART ONE

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

PART TWO

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

PART THREE

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

       CHAPTER THIRTEEN

       CHAPTER FOURTEEN

       PART FOUR

       CHAPTER FIFTEEN

       CHAPTER SIXTEEN

       CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

       CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

       CHAPTER NINETEEN

       Part 1

      February 1932

       The Way It Was

       Chapter 1

      FOR A LONG, regretful moment he leaned against the back wall, his tall, strong figure merging into the shadows, his heart aching, and his dark, thoughtful gaze intent on the house. It was such a beautiful house, he thought … so warm and inviting. Like she used to be.

      His thoughts shifted to the woman inside. She was still beautiful,