A Starlit Summer
by
KATE FROST
LEMON TREE PRESS
Kindle Edition 2020
Copyright © Kate Frost 2020
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or events or localities, is entirely coincidental.
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The moral right of Kate Frost to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988.
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All rights reserved in all media. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author and/or publisher.
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Cover design by Jessica Bell.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
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Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
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Acknowledgements
For Tom & Teresa
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Chapter One
‘You’re a dreamer, that’s your problem.’
Jenna resisted huffing like a teenager. ‘Why exactly is it a problem?’
‘Because it’s never allowed you to concentrate on a career. You’re always flitting from one thing to another. It used to be singing, then you wanted to be a potter, an interior designer, then you did modelling, voice-over work, now it’s acting.’
‘It’s always been acting, that’s never changed, it’s just I’m fully focused on it now.’
Her mum didn’t say anything. She didn’t have to; Jenna knew what she was thinking, that she didn’t have a serious career. Bit parts in film and TV wasn’t a regular income or a job her parents could show off to their friends. They had her older brother for that, a lawyer in a multinational company.
Jenna downed her tea and stood up. At least she wasn’t living at home any longer; they couldn’t complain that she wasn’t supporting herself.
‘I get that you’re acting now, but tomorrow you might want to do something else, I don’t know, open up your own cafe. Anything.’
‘It actually pays quite well, the acting.’ She rinsed her mug out in the sink and stacked it in the dishwasher.
‘Maybe it does,’ her mum said, ‘but it’s not exactly constant work... It’s unpredictable, that’s all I’m saying. It worries me.’
Jenna sat back down opposite her mum at the kitchen table and tapped her finger on the photo of the cottage. ‘I only said I’d love to do the cottage up, not that I’m going to do it. I mean look at it. Can you imagine what it’ll be like when it’s renovated?’
‘I can. I remember spending summer holidays down there when I was a kid, before Aunt Vi was unable to look after it.’
‘Yeah, but still, it must have been pretty old-fashioned even back then.’
‘Thanks, Jenna, I’m fully aware of how old I am.’
‘Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just it needs modernising, but in a tasteful way.’
‘It had a country cottage charm about it, that’s for sure. It was always a little rough around the edges but then Auntie Vi was on her own, no husband or children to help.’
‘You could argue that gave her more time to look after the place.’
‘Not after she had trouble with her hip, and she wasn’t keen on company in her later years despite our best efforts to visit and help out. She was even more stubborn than my mum and that’s saying something.’
‘Is that why we’ve not been there since me and Jack were little?’
‘Sad isn’t it.’
Jenna’s dad strode into the kitchen, a frown on his face and a tape measure in his hand. ‘What you two gassing about?’
‘Aunt Vi’s cottage.’
‘You could do it up, Dad.’
‘I’d love to, just haven’t got the time. Your mum’s keeping me far too busy here.’
‘He’s measuring in our bedroom to build fitted wardrobes.’ She turned to her husband. ‘We’re going to have to get someone else to do the cottage, aren’t we, love? It’ll cost too much to keep it on without renting it out, and it can’t be rented in the state it’s in at the moment.’
‘Prime location though. Shouldn’t be a problem filling it with holidaymakers once it is done up.’ He switched on the kettle and leant against the worktop.
‘If you’re so interested in the place,’ Jenna’s mum said, gathering together the photos on the table and glancing at her, ‘then come down with us next weekend and help sort through Aunt Vi’s stuff.’
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Jenna couldn’t stop thinking about the cottage all the way home from Guildford to her flat in a supposedly ‘up and coming’ area of west London. She felt guilty for thinking it, but her mum was so lucky being left it in the will. She knew her mum was focused on the responsibility and cost rather than the many possibilities. Jenna had to admit there was a lot to do, but...
She gingerly backed her car into her space in the underground car park. She grimaced as she squeezed herself through the gap between her car and her neighbour’s. They continuously parked on the edge of their space leaving Jenna having to do weird yoga-type poses just to get out. She slammed the door shut and made a mental note to talk to them again.
The modern building she lived in had a secure car park but it was crammed with soulless one and two bedroom flats. The letting agent details had described her flat as cosy and charming. The cosiness was because it was tiny, and she assumed the charm was down to the incredibly distant view of a park on a hill above a sea of rooftops. But it was a view of sorts and it was a place of her own with a living, dining and kitchen area, a small
