Swapping Lives Read online

  ‘Sure,’ Vicky says, still embarrassed by her perceived rejection, turning to go inside. ‘Call me.’

  ‘Wait. How about next Thursday night? I’ll pick you up here? Eight o’clock?’

  ‘Sounds great!’ The smile on her face is both relieved and real.

  ‘Thank you for a wonderful evening,’ Hugh says, and he leans forward and gives her a quick, but soft, kiss on the lips, and pulling back with a regretful smile he waves and walks away.

  ‘Guess what?’ Kate is on the phone first thing the next morning, her voice full of excitement.

  ‘What? More chickens laying more eggs? You’ve added a cow so the children can get their own milk?’

  ‘Hmm, not a bad idea, but no, that’s not why I’m calling. Guess who I bumped into just now at the post office.’

  ‘Bill-the-chicken-man?’

  ‘Yes! How did you know?’

  ‘Oh Kate, don’t be so silly. Who else would it be?’

  ‘Well anyway, he was asking after you, and whether you were coming down this weekend, and I said I didn’t know, so he asked for your number. Do you mind that I gave it to him? It’s just that he seemed really interested, and I had to tell you.’

  ‘I don’t mind at all. And yes, I probably will come down this weekend. But… I also had kind of a date last night.’ Vicky smiles at the memory.

  ‘You can’t have a date!’ Kate says firmly. ‘You have to marry Bill-the-chicken-man.’

  ‘First of all I don’t have to marry anyone,’ Vicky laughs. ‘And secondly, it wasn’t exactly a date, but he kissed me goodbye on the lips, and we’re going out next Thursday.’

  ‘With or without tongues?’ Kate asks suspiciously.

  ‘Without!’ Vicky exclaims in horror. ‘What kind of girl do you think I am?’

  ‘I know exactly what kind of girl you are,’ Kate laughs. ‘That’s why I asked.’

  ‘Well anyway. He’s really nice.’

  ‘Oh but please don’t fall in love with him. I bet his bum’s not nearly as sexy as Bill’s.’

  ‘Actually it’s not, but I’m not in love with anyone at the moment. I’m just having fun, and it’s lovely to have so much attention, particularly given that I’ve wasted the last few months with that bastard Jamie Donnelly.’

  ‘Oh you’re making me miss being single,’ Kate moans. ‘It’s so exciting, having all these lovely men.’

  ‘You don’t know that they’re all lovely. The bastard Jamie Donnelly definitely wasn’t. But I agree,’ Vicky smiles, ‘right now I love being single, and I wouldn’t change places with anyone for all the money in the world.’

  ‘The piece is wonderful!’ Janelle calls Vicky into her office and pushes a preview issue of the magazine at her.

  ‘Life Swap: Could you step into another person’s life? Wear her clothes, live with her husband, go out with her friends? We sent single Vicky Townsley, Features Editor of Poise!, over to the country that spawned the hit show Desperate Housewives to see if she could live the life of a married woman. And Desperate Housewife Amber Winslow flew over to Vicky’s hip London flat to try and live the life of a single girl. Who was happier? Is the grass greener on the other side? Read on and find out.’

  On one side is a photograph of Vicky, Eartha on her lap, glass of wine in hand, curled up on the sofa in her stylish flat. On the other side is Amber sitting next to the swimming pool, Richard grinning behind her, Gracie and Jared on her lap, Ginger lying at her, feet, all of them looking like the perfect American family.

  Looking at the picture, Vicky feels a pang. Even now, even knowing what she knows, the grass still looks just a little bit greener, but as she starts to read the article, she realizes that just because the grass looks greener doesn’t necessarily mean that it is, and although her garden may be small, her flowers not yet blooming, her lawn just getting ready to renew itself after a drought, her grass isn’t so bad.

  And who knows, with a little bit of fertilizer and some tender loving care, from Bill-the-chicken-man, or Hugh Janus, or perhaps someone entirely new she has yet to meet, her grass may turn out to be on the very best side of all.

  Table of Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Acknowledgement

  Life Swap

  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