ABBIE Whitrow heard the clang of metal on tarmac. She wondered if something had fallen off the bottom of her car. She had got it from a private seller, after noticing a handwritten ad stuck to its win

BRUSHING wind-whipped hair from her eyes, Catriona crouched, scanning the colourful smorgasbord of stones, seaweed and shells on the shoreline. There! Half-hidden under an empty limpet. A cowrie. Gent

Are you ready for this?” I asked Nigel, my golden retriever, as I waved from the bay window to the young woman at the kerb. She stood unloading her toddler from her car. My son planned to marry finall

L AURA phoned her mother, trying to keep her voice light. “Hello, Mum, I’ve got a bit of news,” she said. “Hannah’s moving in with her boyfriend. “I need to either get a new flatmate, or try to find s

HOW are you feeling today, Mum?” Anne asked as she kissed Elaine on the cheek and sat down in the chair opposite her. “I’m slowly getting there. But I’m still so cross with myself for taking that tumb

IT’S perfect,” I said. “Just think of all the time I’ll save on commuting. I’ll even be able to come home for lunch if I want to.” Mum didn’t look convinced. Of course, she was pleased that I’d found