A Not Quite Perfect Christmas

A Christmas fairy tale in New York?

This Christmas, Emma Darcy has decided, is going to be perfect! Not only has she exchanged her glamorous London life to jet out to the even more glitzy New York, but she has her gorgeous boyfriend finally by her side, and her dream job comes with an invite to their super-dazzling Christmas party. Ooooh, what to wear?!

To celebrate, this year she’s planning a Christmas like you see in the movies; her tinsel-topped to-do list includes ice-skating outside Rockefeller Center, strolling around a snow-covered Central Park and Christmas (window) shopping at Tiffany.

That plan goes slightly out the window with news that her Mum, sister and niece Lily will be visiting her – that’s a lot of Darcy women, even in the Big Apple! With family drama and a work disaster to avoid too, this might not quite be the picture-perfect Christmas she’d had in mind…!

A Not Quite Perfect short story.

Also available by Annie Lyons

Not Quite Perfect

Not Quite Perfect Christmas

Annie Lyons

Copyright

HQ

An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd.

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

First published in Great Britain by HQ in 2013

Copyright © Annie Lyons 2013

Annie Lyons asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

E-book Edition © June 2013 ISBN: 9781472083838

Version date: 2018-07-23

Annie Lyons

decided, after leaving university, that she ‘rather liked books’ and got a job as a bookseller on Charing Cross Road, London. Two years later she left the retail world and continued rather liking books during an eleven-year career in publishing. Following redundancy in 2009 she realised that she would rather like to write books and having undertaken a creative writing course, lots of reading and a bit of practice she produced Not Quite Perfect. She now realises that she loves writing as much as coffee, not as much as her children and a bit more than gardening. She has since written another novel and is about to start work on her third. She lives in a house in south-east London with her husband and two children. The garden is somewhat overgrown. One day she hopes to own a chocolate-brown Labrador named John and have tea with Mary Berry.

Thanks to Sally Williamson, Nicky Lovick, Lucy Gilmour and all at Carina for pulling out the stops on this one – you are wonderful people.

Many thanks to Jane, my eagle-eyed friend for helping me with the final checks.

Thanks and love to my children for finding it amusing to tell me that their dinner or my outfit is, ‘not quite perfect,’ and special thanks to my daughter, who encouraged me to write this story and who isn’t really like Lily from the book apart from being the spirit of Christmas in small girl form.

Finally, thanks and love to Rich for everything else.

For everyone who read and enjoyed Not Quite Perfect – thank you.

Contents

Cover

Blurb

Book List

Title Page

Copyright

Author Bio

Acknowledgement

Dedication

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Excerpt

Endpages

About the Publisher

Chapter One

‘Where’s Lily?’ Rachel searched frantically around the baggage-claim area at JFK for her wayward seven-year-old daughter.

‘I thought she was with you,’ said Diana.

‘Well, she was, but she’s wandered off again,’ said Rachel. ‘You stay with the trolley. I’ll try to find her.’ Rachel ran the length of the polished marble hall, scanning the crowds for signs of her daughter. In some ways, she felt that she had spent the majority of her adult life searching for any one of her three children. She was beginning to wonder if she should have taken the trip to New York to visit her sister alone. She had now lost Lily in airports on both sides of the Atlantic.

They had met Rachel’s mother, Diana, at Heathrow and after checking in and going through security without incident, Rachel had begun to relax a little, suggesting that they go for a coffee. As they had found a table and Lily had set about devouring a chocolate doughnut, Rachel had looked at her mother and daughter and allowed herself a moment’s excitement about their trip. It had been Emma’s idea. Ever since she had been transferred to New York with her publishing firm, she had tried to persuade them to come for a visit. Diana had been reluctant at first.

‘Why would I want to go to America?’ she asked. ‘It’s full of fat people and guns.’

‘That’s like saying England is full of women like Kate Middleton and men like David Cameron,’ said Rachel.

‘If only that were true,’ Diana murmured.

It had been Lily who had eventually persuaded her grandmother. ‘Well, I’m not going unless you come, Granny,’ she declared. ‘You know what Mum and Auntie Emma are like once they’ve had a drink,’ she added with frightening insight.

‘Outrageous,’ said Rachel.

‘But true,’ laughed Diana. ‘All right. I’ll come. If only to keep you all in line.’

They had decided to make the trip into a Christmas-shopping expedition and had chosen a hotel near to the apartment that Emma shared with her boyfriend, Martin.

‘I can’t wait to see Uncle Fartin,’ said Lily, finishing her doughnut and wiping her mouth on her sleeve.

‘Napkin, Lily?’ said Rachel with a certain amount of exasperation.

‘No, thanks, I’m fine,’ said Lily.

Rachel shook her head and finished her coffee. ‘I’m just going to nip to the loo,’ she said. ‘Do you want to go, Lils?’ Lily shook her head. ‘Are you sure? Because I don’t want to come back and then have to take you. It might be better if you tried now.’

Lily held up her hand like a barrier to her mother’s words. ‘Chill, Mum. I’ll stay with Granny. You go.’

‘All right,’ said Rachel. When she returned five minutes later, her mother was sitting at the table, wearing her reading glasses and frowning at her mobile phone. ‘Mum,’ said Rachel, trying not to sound panicked. ‘Where’s Lily?’

Diana peered up at her daughter and then looked at the empty space next to her. ‘Oh, she went to look at that Christmas tree,’ she said, pointing towards a small spiky artificial tree covered in purple and gold baubles. Lily was nowhere to be seen.

‘Well, she’s not there now!’

‘She can’t have gone far,’ said Diana in a tone that came across as less reassuring and more accusing. Rachel rushed to the top of the stairs and scanned the floor below. Suddenly she spotted Lily standing in front of an altogether bigger and more impressive-looking Christmas tree with flashing snowflake lights and a small train chugging round a track beneath its base.

‘Lily, you can’t run off like that!’ Rachel said, appearing at her daughter’s side, out of breath and patience.

Lily glanced up at her mother and then fixed her eyes back on the tree. ‘I told Granny I was going to look at the tree but she was too busy texting to hear me probably. I love Christmas,’ she sighed.

So once again, Rachel was rushing up and down at another international airport, searching for her daughter, who could not stand still for more than five seconds. She was starting to panic when someone tapped her on the shoulder. She turned to face a tall man with a pleasing air of Denzel Washington wearing an airport security uniform, a gun over his shoulder and an amused expression. He was leading Lily by the hand.

‘Excuse me, ma’am. I think this young lady belongs to you,’ he said with a smile.

‘Oh, thank you so much,’ gushed Rachel. ‘I’m so sorry.’

‘It’s quite all right, ma’am.’ He turned to Lily. ‘Now remember, Lily, riding the carousel looks like a lot of fun but it could be dangerous so don’t try it, okay, sweetie?’

‘Okay, Nathan. I promise. Thanks for rescuing me,’ said Lily with a breathy sigh.

Nathan nodded at them both. ‘Now you take care,’ he said, tapping his cap before he carried on his way.

‘He was lovely,’ declared Lily as they made their way back to Diana. They collected their bags and walked through the exit gate. A sea of faces, smiling and full of expectation, looked back at them. Rachel scanned the crowd and immediately spotted Martin. He was wearing a chauffeur’s hat and trying to look serious. He was also holding up a sign that said, ‘Miss Lily Summers’. Lily spotted him too and raced over.

Martin swallowed a smile and said in a terrible American accent, ‘Can I help you, ma’am?’

Lily jumped up and down like a frog in a bucket. ‘I’m Lily Summers. I’m Lily Summers. I’m Lily Summers!’ she cried.

Martin peered at her. ‘But the Lily Summers I’m looking for is a little girl, not a grown-up young lady.’ His face broke into a smile. ‘Hey, Lils, and guess what? I’ve got a surprise for you.’

He stood back to reveal Emma hiding behind him. Lily leapt into her arms. ‘I’ve missed you so much, Auntie Em,’ she cried. Emma had to brush the tears from her eyes.

Rachel appeared alongside them. ‘Oh, for God’s sake, Emma, this isn’t a Richard Curtis film. Stop weeping and give us a hug!’ She laughed, reaching for her sister.

‘I just can’t believe you’re all here!’ cried Emma, squeezing her sister with delight. ‘Hello, Mum,’ she added, putting down her niece and pulling her mother into an embrace.

Diana patted her on the back before letting go. ‘Is all this hugging something you’ve learnt since you arrived here?’ she asked with disdain. ‘Now, shall we go? It’s been a very long day and I could really do with a proper cup of tea. Although I don’t suppose I’ll be able to find one while I’m here.’ She reached up to kiss Martin on the cheek. He smiled and took control of the trolley, sitting Lily on the top like a queen.

‘I love you, Uncle Fartin,’ declared Lily.

Rachel and Emma exchanged glances before linking arms and following the procession out of the terminal building. ‘Welcome to New York City,’ said Emma with a grin.

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