From Notting Hill to New York . . . Actually

254 Pages·2012·1.18 MB·English

by  McNamara Ali

Ali McNamara attributes her over-active imagination to one thing – being an
only child. Time spent dreaming up adventures when she was young has left her
with a head constantly bursting with stories waiting to be told. When stories she
wrote for fun on Ronan Keating’s website became so popular they were sold as a
fundraising project for his cancer awareness charity, Ali realised that writing was
not only something she enjoyed doing, but something others enjoyed reading
too.
Ali lives in Cambridgeshire with her family and two labradors, and when she
isn’t writing, she enjoys watching too much reality TV, eating too much
chocolate, and counter acting the results of the previous activities with plenty of
exercise!
Keep in touch with Ali via her website at
www.alimcnamara.co.uk or on Twitter: @AliMcNamara
Also by Ali McNamara
From Notting Hill With Love … Actually
Breakfast at Darcy’s
Copyright
Published by Hachette Digital ISBN: 978-0-7481-2833-4
All characters and events in this publication, other than those clearly in the
public domain, are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead,
is purely coincidental.
Copyright © Ali McNamara 2012
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior
permission in writing of the publisher.
Hachette Digital
Little, Brown Book Group
100 Victoria Embankment
London, EC4Y 0DY
www.hachette.co.uk
For Oscar, who always makes me smile.
And Jake, who simply keeps me sane.
Acknowledgements
I’ve loved writing all about Scarlett and Sean again. It was like coming back to a
lovely set of old friends and discovering what might happen to them if I set them
off on a new adventure in a brand new city.
However, this book could not have been written without the help and support
of a number of people, who I would like to thank now.
My editor, Rebecca, and everyone at my publishers Little, Brown. There are
so many of you involved in putting my books together that listing everyone
would take up the whole page! But please know how much I appreciate all your
hard work and effort.
Hannah, my wonderful agent. Slowly the dream is coming true, Hannah! And
it’s all thanks to your original faith in me. Thank you for everything. You always
know just the right words to say.
Dan Martland and Nick Dixon. I know you guys still don’t know what you
did to inspire me to write two characters based on you when I came to New York
last summer, but inspire me you did, and also very kindly allowed me to admit to
it in public! Thank you for that, and for all the help and support you’ve both
given me during the writing of this book. Scarlett says in the story she only
expected to come back from her first trip to New York with a few souvenirs.
Well, so did I – I certainly didn’t expect to return with the added bonus of two
lovely new friends.
My wonderful family; especially my children Rosie and Tom. I can never
thank you enough for all your love and support. But I also can’t thank you
enough for allowing me to jet off on my own and discover what New York was
really like for the first time last year. Because if I hadn’t, I definitely wouldn’t be
writing this now! I love you more than you know.
And finally, to all you lovely readers; firstly for buying my books, but
especially for every email, Facebook message or tweet that you’ve sent me
telling me how much you enjoy them. It really means the world to me.
Ali x
Contents
About the Author
Also by Ali McNamara
Copyright
Dedication
Acknowledgements
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
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Scarlett’s Treasure Hunt
Ali’s Guide To New York
One
‘Scarlett, can you get me another glass of juice, please?’
I close the lid of my laptop and sigh, getting up from the chair in the study to
go across the hall and through to the living room where a sorrowful pair of blue
eyes looks up at me from the sofa.
‘Sure, what do you want this time, orange or apple?’
‘Apple, please.’ Sean holds out his empty glass. He manages a weak smile.
‘All right, you don’t have to lay it on so thick,’ I admonish. ‘I thought you
were feeling better this morning.’
‘I am, but I still feel a bit wobbly when I try to get up.’
‘OK, I’ll get your juice. You just stay right where you are watching …’ I
glance at the TV screen, and it doesn’t surprise me in the slightest to see cars
racing around a track, as per usual. ‘Let me guess – it wouldn’t happen to be Top
Gear, would it?’
Sean nods absent-mindedly, his attention already lost to the petrol-head
world of Clarkson, The Stig and their ridiculously priced cars.
I wander through to the kitchen and fill Sean’s glass with juice. He’d been off
sick for a few days now, and I’d been doing my best nursing act, when I’d been
at home, looking after him. I didn’t mind, even though I was just beginning to
think he was pushing his luck a bit with the ‘I’m so ill’ looks when he wanted
something. But when I’d had an extremely nasty dose of the flu last December
and could barely get out of bed, let alone walk to our kitchen, for over a week,
Sean had taken time off work – unheard of for him – and had waited on me hand
and foot. He’d even carried me to the bathroom on one occasion when I was too
weak to get there myself. So I really couldn’t complain about a few glasses of
juice and a sandwich here and there.
I stand for a moment, admiring our new kitchen. I’d spent many a happy hour
poring over designer-kitchen catalogues with my friend, Oscar, choosing just the