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Back Just for December Save as PDF
Chapters (54)
  1. Cover
  2. PRAISE FOR LAURA JANE WILLIAMS
  3. Dedication
  4. 1
  5. 2
  6. 3
  7. 4
  8. 5
  9. 6
  10. 7
  11. 8
  12. 9
  13. 10
  14. 11
  15. 12
  16. 13
  17. 14
  18. 15
  19. 16
  20. 17
  21. 18
  22. 19
  23. 20
  24. 21
  25. 22
  26. 23
  27. 24
  28. 25
  29. 26
  30. 27
  31. 28
  32. 29
  33. 30
  34. 31
  35. 32
  36. 33
  37. 34
  38. 35
  39. 36
  40. 37
  41. 38
  42. 39
  43. 40
  44. 41
  45. 42
  46. 43
  47. 44
  48. 45
  49. Acknowledgements
  50. Publishing Credits
  51. Keep Reading …
  52. About the Author
  53. Fiction by the same author
  54. About the Publisher

He’s talking about a script he’s just sent her, which he got this morning. It’s from a screenwriter who has been creating buzz around her latest arthouse movie, which she wrote and starred in. This new script is one she told him about in passing, at a party after the Globes – where Duke lost out on his award and didn’t, to his surprise, really care. It’s about a glitch in the space-time continuum that means a couple of sixteen-year-old star-crossed lovers keep meeting again and again, and he likes it. Daphne would be great to direct, and Duke wouldn’t mind playing the lead’s dad, which is a first.

‘I’m obsessed,’ Daphne enthuses. ‘I just have a few notes?’ she adds. ‘If you’ve got time?’

Duke deposits a kiss onto Evie’s forehead, and she receives it with a smile before exclaiming, ‘Look! Snow!’

They turn to face the double window with the view out over the valley, the sky getting dark, the fire roaring, and Duke smiles.

‘I’ve got time,’ he says, and even though it’s not Evie he’s talking to she looks at him and pulls a face, a happy face. A contented face. God, he loves her. He knows she feels it too.

Daphne gabbles down the line with her ideas, and Duke goes back to the kitchen where he rests against the breakfast bar. And when he’s done, Evie comes over to him, hops up onto the counter so her legs are wrapped around him and she says: ‘Duke. I’m sorry to tell you this, but, apropos of nothing and everything … I’ve fallen in love with you.’

He smiles, tipping her chin up to him, whispering right back, through a smile and an almost-kiss, that he’s fallen in love with her too. Not a happy ending. A beginning.

Acknowledgements

Just for December is a punctuation mark in my author life. It’s going to be different for me after this. Before now, I’ve been seduced into calling writing a ‘dream’ career, something that millions aspire to and few achieve, something I should feel lucky for and grateful for and not question too deeply, lest it be taken away and bestowed on somebody nicer or less demanding. Somebody who asks fewer questions. It’s not a shift down the mines after all! What could I possibly have to complain about?

Well …