Never Too Late

‎”‘Hello, darling,’ she said, her voice a little weary.
‘How did you know it was me?’ I asked, trying to remember not to frown. I didn’t need to worry about wrinkles as well as everything else.”

From Never Too Late by Deborah Carr.

Dinner in Paradise

“I’d had the framed photo for as long as I could remember. It had moved with me from my childhood bedroom, to my university digs and then, finally, to my own home where I hung it on the dining room wall before I did anything else.”

From Dinner in Paradise by Cally Taylor.

At Death’s Door

“She deserved a medal, a badge of honour, for wifely services far and beyond the normal call of duty. Either that or a bit of retail therapy.”

From At Death’s Door by Jill Steeples.

The List

‎”Andrew had assured her that they could cope with it, and that it would be worth all the effort. He had neglected to mention that the effort involved would all have to come from her.”

From The List by Bernadette James.

Performing by Proxy

“Fred Fowle sighed as he watched them gather under the bullet grey sky. Not an ounce of dignity between them. Even at Brian’s funeral, they were dressed like peacocks, none of them wanting to be outdone.”

From Performing by Proxy by Jenny Maltby.

One Day at a Time

“The rattle of the collecting tin and her cajoling voice reached him long before she’d arrived in the doorway of his office. Horrified, her hand had covered her mouth as she’d backed away, stuttering meaningless apologies.”

From One Day at a Time by Tamsyn Murray.

A Single Strand of Spaghetti

“I preferred the chaos theory of cookery. A dash of this, a suggestion of that. Alchemy, love, nurturing, a blast of heat in the oven as a catalyst – and there you have it!
I’ve often wondered what she would have thought of the very last meal I cooked for her.”

From A Single Strand of Spaghetti by Helen M Hunt

Ghosts

‎”As I approach the house on the corner my footsteps slow. I pass the church, the pub and a primary school, digging my hands in my pockets to stop them shaking.”

From Ghosts by Karen Clarke.

The Day Before You Came

‎”The day before you came, Chloe didn’t want to eat her cereal. She likes the milk warm, you see. Perhaps I should write that on my list, so that you know about it.”

From The Day Before You Came by Sally Quilford

Hive Talking

‎”His bus driver’s salary would never stretch to a luxury foreign holiday, not with Deirdre’s love of clothes shopping, and shoe shopping, and handbag shopping too. But Gerald had lots of friends. Lots. And he knew they would help.”

From Hive Talking by Leigh Forbes