Chapters (51)
- Cover
- Praise for A Season for Second Chances
- Also by Jenny Bayliss
- Dedication
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-one
- Twenty-two
- Twenty-three
- Twenty-four
- Twenty-five
- Twenty-six
- Twenty-seven
- Twenty-eight
- Twenty-nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-one
- Thirty-two
- Thirty-three
- Thirty-four
- Thirty-five
- Thirty-six
- Thirty-seven
- Thirty-eight
- Thirty-nine
- Forty
- Forty-one
- Forty-two
- Epilogue
- Acknowledgments
- Discussion Guide
- About the Author
- What’s next onyour reading list?
“Oh, don’t worry, I’m not going to do any matchmaking. Where is your father? I’ve got to get back to work; I can’t be waiting around for him to choose what time elevenses is.”
“I’ll go and find him,” said Nory, draining her mug of tea.
“You could do a lot worse than Isaac, Nory.”
“I only just met him again last night, Mum. I think it’s a little early to be marrying me off.”
But her mum only raised her eyebrows and smiled. Nory grabbed her coat from the back of the chair.
“Tell your dad he’s got ten minutes, and then I’m off; he’ll have to toast his own crumpets. I’ve got a hundred hellebores being picked up by the Scotney Castle groundskeepers and I’ve got to make sure they’re ready for travel.”
Nory laughed as she stepped out of the warm kitchen and into the cold. Some things never changed; her dad would always think he was too busy to pay attention to time, and her mum would work to within a second of her carefully constructed schedule and woe betide anyone who didn’t fall in.
She found her dad in a greenhouse full of ruby-red poinsettias, their striking petals and verdant leaves the epitome of Christmas, a vibrant splash of color against the gray weather outside.
“Hello, Nory, love,” said her dad, pulling her into one of his bear hugs. “How’s it going up at the castle with the high society?”
Wow, record time for shoehorning in the politics.
“My friends are fine, thank you, Dad. They’re up there now formulating an elitism think tank to see how best they can monopolize the world’s wealth. I’ve been tasked with coming down here to distract the working classes while they plan their evil scheme.”
Her dad chuckled.
“Mum says elevenses are ready.”
“Ooh, smashing. Crumpets or muffins?”
“Crumpets.”
Dad licked his lips. Her parents were early risers, it was the nature of their business; you had to make the most of the daylight hours. Come rain or shine, they’d be out with the plants by 6:30 a.m., then back in at 8:30 a.m. for a quick cup of tea and some breakfast, back out again, and then home for elevenses. They had worked this way for Nory’s whole life, so that her own body clock ran to the family business schedule. Nory had implemented elevenses at Serendipitous Seconds, and she secretly thought it was one of the reasons Andrew had remained with her so long.
“It’s good to see you, love.”
“You too. Mum says you’ve been offered some money for a murder in your greenhouse.”
Her dad rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, I haven’t agreed to it yet.”