They’d had a fun night at the pub over in Dunscombe. They’d played darts, and Jess had told him all about her worries that her dad would end up selling Hillside Farm… but that had been the extent of the evening. They were nothing more than good mates, and never would be.

  Jess was pretty, smiley, sunny… but the idea of kissing her? Nope. It would be like kissing his sister! Luckily, when he’d come clean, the look of relief on Jess’s face had been priceless. They’d both had a good laugh about their friends’ disastrous matchmaking attempt, and then promptly ordered another round.

  The reality was, George really did love his life just as it was. Sure, there were times when it would be nice to spend his evenings with someone rather than rattling around in an empty house. In fact, he’d love to find his “other half”—someone to share all those moments that were too mundane and precious to ever tell his friends about. But at the same time, he didn’t want his life to change. It might be small, but to him, it was perfect.

  Well… almost…

  With a little shake of his head, George slowly pulled into the yard, mindful of the chilled-out chickens that swirled and scattered like paper bags at the sight of the van. The problem was, they were such contented birds that they never went very far before making a u-turn to come and check out the new arrival… just in case there was a handful of corn on offer.

  ‘Clear off, you naughty birds!’ he laughed as he stepped out of the van only for a trio of hens to crowd around his feet. One of them started eyeing the ends of his shoelaces hungrily.

  ‘They’ve been fed… honestly!’ came a laughing voice from the direction of the farmhouse.

  George turned to find Jess beaming at him as she waded through the sea of chickens.

  ‘I don’t doubt it,’ he chuckled. ‘Probably not just boring old corn, either?’

  Jess looked sheepish. ‘Okay, so there might have been some treats from the kitchen too, but I’ve got to feed my girls up. Can’t have them wasting away, can I?’

  ‘Not much chance of that!’ said George, shuffling his feet as the largest of the big brown birds launched an attack on his laces.

  ‘Swap that post for some eggs?’ said Jess, nodding at the sheaf of envelopes in his hands.

  ‘You know you don’t have to pay me for your mail, right?’ said George, following her towards the farmhouse, nonetheless. There was no way he was going to turn down a box of Jess’s finest, with their lovely brown shells and huge, golden yolks.

  ‘I know, said Jess. ‘Shame for you to drive away empty-handed, though.’ She grabbed a box from inside the porch and handed it over. ‘So… any news?’

  ‘All quiet on the western front,’ said George with a little shrug. ‘Unless you count the idiot who’s parked right across the entrance of the allotments and wandered off? Charlie’s as close to cross as he gets!’

  ‘Is it a big black shiny thing?’ said Jess, throwing her rope of flaxen hair over her shoulder. ‘Built like a tank, but probably more expensive?’

  George raised an eyebrow. ‘How d’you know that?’

  ‘Because she turned up in the yard earlier,’ said Jess. ‘She was obviously looking for somewhere… or someone, but she took one look at me and for some reason she decided not to stay.’

  ‘Fancy that!’ chuckled George.

  Jess was one of the most sunny and easy-going people he knew. The almost permanent smile on her pretty face might lull some people into thinking she was a pushover, but George knew better. Jess was a tough cookie. After all, she farmed Hillside with her dad. The pair were close, but Bill was a stubborn old git when he wanted to be, and Jess knew exactly how to hold her own. She had a core of steel beneath the flyaway hair and cute freckles.

  ‘I wasn’t rude,’ said Jess. ‘I just crossed my arms and glared a bit, and she cleared off pretty sharpish. Mind you, I thought she was going to mow down Hilda, Mavis and Mabel in the process.’ She nodded at the three hens who were still pecking around George’s feet.

  ‘Well, I’m glad the girls are okay,’ said George, suddenly grateful that he wasn’t wearing open-toed sandals.

  ‘Me too,’ said Jess with a frown. ‘I’d have had that woman’s guts for garters if she’d so much as ruffled a feather. Hey, do you think Charlie would like me to take the tractor down and nudge her out of the way?’

  George shook his head. ‘I already suggested that he call your dad. As much as I’d pay to watch her get her comeuppance, Charlie didn’t seem to be too keen on getting sued this week.’

  ‘Spoilsport,’ said Jess with a giggle. ‘That said, I bet we’ll be hearing from him if she still hasn’t budged by lunchtime!’

  ‘That’s pretty much what he said,’ said George. ‘What did this woman look like, anyway? Maybe I’ll spot her while I’m on my rounds. If I do, I can ask her to move it.’

  ‘I didn’t get a good look at her, to be honest,’ said Jess. ‘I was too busy trying to keep this lot out from under her tyres. All I caught was a glimpse of expensive-looking hair. Oh, and she looked like she was done up, if you know what I mean?’

  ‘Done up?’ said George with a raised eyebrow.

  ‘Preened,’ said Jess. ‘Makeup, hairspray… and I bet anything she’s wearing swathes of cashmere and has perfect nails, too.’

  George laughed as Jess glanced down at her own short, slightly grubby nails with a look of regret.

  ‘Well… I guess that narrows it down a little bit,’ he said. ‘I’ll be on the lookout for someone with expensive hair and a cashmere habit!’

  ‘Yeah. Oh… and she looked a bit like she was chewing on a wasp, too,’ said Jess. ‘Kind of… stroppy and painful all in one package.’

  ‘She sounds like a peach!’ said George.

  ‘Put it like this, I’m not sad she disappeared without wanting a chat,’ said Jess. ‘Hey… I don’t suppose you’ll be heading down to the hotel before midday, will you? I’ve got Hattie’s egg order here, but Dad needs my help with some fencing over at Four Acre Field.’

  ‘Wait… Bill’s doing fencing?’ said George in surprise.

  Jess nodded, wide-eyed.

  ‘Well, that’s a turn up for the books!’ said George.

  Jess’s dad’s interest in the farm had seemed to be slipping over the last few years. He’d gradually sold most of their animals, and George knew that Jess was worried that he might end up selling the farm itself before too long.

  ‘Yeah,’ said Jess. ‘The last thing I want to do is discourage him!’

  ‘Good point,’ said George. ‘Of course I’ll take the eggs down for you.’

  ‘I don’t want to be a pain…’

  ‘You’re not at all,’ said George. He glanced at his watch. ‘It’s no problem. I’ll finish off the deliveries along the top road—that’ll only take another ten or twenty minutes—then I’ll drop down the back road straight to North Beach. That way, I’ll be able to avoid any snarl-ups going on at the allotments.’

  ‘You’re a hero!’ said Jess, beaming at him gratefully.

  ‘It’s no bother at all,’ said George. ‘Come on, let’s load them into the passenger footwell. At least then they won’t come to any harm if I have to put the brakes on suddenly. You never know with these visitors around!’

  CHAPTER 3

  CLAUDIA

  Stupid town.

  Stupid people.

  Stupid car.

  Claudia Weatherley-Harcus was tottering back up the hill towards the layby where she’d left the hire car.

  Tank was more like it.

  Urgh!

  She’d have been so much happier making the trip in her trusty little banger, but her mother had put paid to that.

  “Why must you always insist on being an embarrassment to this family?!’

  Still, at least she’d paid for the awful thing. With divorce number two newly finalised, Claudia barely had two pennies to rub together. If she did have any money right now, she sure as hell wouldn’t be wasting it on keeping up appearances… she’d be too busy moving out of her mum and stepdad’s pool house!

  ‘Don’t look at me like that,’ she muttered, scowling at a seagull as it dared to swoop in front of her. ‘I wasn’t always this pathetic, you know!’

  The bird glared at her with a decided lack of sympathy before soaring back out towards the sea. Claudia stuck her tongue out at it. If she wasn’t wearing this pair of ridiculous heels, she might actually be tempted to stamp her foot too. Anything to let off a bit of steam! As it was, she was having a hard enough time keeping her balance while putting one foot in front of the other. A temper tantrum would probably topple her over completely.

  Even so… it was tempting!

  Claudia was already at the end of her tether, and she’d only just arrived in Seabury. She should never have agreed to come in the first place. If it wasn’t for the fact that she had her own agenda while she was in town, she’d have told her mother where to stick her ridiculous demands.

  ‘Yeah, right! Like you’d have had the guts to say “no”,’ she huffed, doing her best to ignore the hot prickle behind her eyes.

  It had been years since Claudia had had the strength to stand up to her mother. In fact, the last time she’d dared to try it was when her dad had been alive… and back then, life had looked very different.

  Of course it had. She’d been a mere baby of nineteen!

  With dreams of becoming an artist, Claudia had said a tearful final farewell to her first boyfriend, and—egged on by her wonderful, maverick father—she’d headed off to Europe on a solo interrailing trip.

  Unfortunately, her grand adventure hadn’t lasted long. In fact, she’d been in Paris just three hours when she received a phone call from her heartbroken sister. The call had promptly put an end to life as she knew it. According to her sister, their dad had finally snapped. That morning, he’d packed all his worldly possessions and walked out—promising their mother that divorce papers would be in the post the minute he got back from a skiing holiday in the Alps.

  Claudia had dutifully returned home on the next train.

  The divorce papers had never arrived… because her dad had never made it home.

  ‘Don’t think about that now!’ she muttered, doing her best to steer her thoughts away from the avalanche that had ended her father the minute he’d dared to claim a bit of freedom.

  Claudia shook her head. She needed to keep it together. Right now, she had some serious meddling-by-proxy to do. She needed to find the Pepper brothers, and she didn’t fancy facing them with red eyes and a snotty nose.

  According to her research, Seabury House was meant to be on this side of town somewhere. It had looked easy enough to find when she’d studied the map, so where on earth was the blasted drive that led to it?

  Claudia had already driven up and down what felt like every lane and cart track in the county… and not one of them had led to her final destination. All she’d found so far were tight u-turns and angry locals.

  That farm had been the last straw. It was hard enough making the stupid SUV do what she wanted at the best of times, and turning the thing around was like some major military manoeuvre. Add a sea of chickens into the mix, and her shredded nerves had completely given out.

  That’s when she’d spotted the layby and decided she’d be safer doing a bit of exploring on foot instead.

  ‘I should have changed my shoes first,’ she muttered.

  Pausing briefly, Claudia closed her eyes and did her best to let the feel of the soft sea breeze on her skin calm her down a bit. Unfortunately, it did nothing of the sort. Instead of gently cooling her as strands flew around her face like she was in a soft-focus romcom, the wind simply pushed her entire fright-wig to one side in a solid block.

  Claudia let out a growl as she patted her stiff, crunchy hairdo back into place.

  Stupid wind.

  Stupid sea.

  Stupid cute-as-a-button beaches!

  It was all wrong. Her hair was wrong, this trip was wrong… hell, her entire life was wrong!

  All she had to show for her life so far were two failed, loveless marriages and a mother who was more than happy to point out every single mistake she’d ever made at every given opportunity.

  Claudia’s lip wobbled, and she cleared her throat, trying to get a grip. She couldn’t decide if she was seriously angry or completely heartbroken. Either way, she needed to put it to one side and focus. This first part of the trip wasn’t about her – she was here for Freya. She’d been over the moon when her little sister had called to share the news of her engagement. Unfortunately, their mother had been the complete opposite.

  ‘You’d think marrying a pilot would be good enough!’ grumbled Claudia, as she continued to wobble her way up the hill.

  Ever since the phone call, her mother had been doing everything she could to dig into the Pepper family. Frankly, her findings would have most parents over-the-moon about the kind of family their daughter was marrying into. A pilot, a concert pianist, and a high-flying doctor in the same family was practically a fairy tale. But it wasn’t enough to appease her mother.

  “Just think—the other one owns a wool shop! I will not let Freya throw her life away on a family like that!”

  As far as Claudia was concerned, Freya was a big girl. She was smart as a whip, funny and independent. She could love who she wanted and make her life anywhere and with anyone she chose. As long as she was happy, that’s all that mattered. It was all that had ever mattered.

  Unfortunately, her mother didn’t agree. She was on the warpath and determined to uncover any skeletons the Pepper family might have loitering in their closets. Who was their dad? And what about their mum? Did they own Seabury House, or was there something dodgy behind it all?

  Claudia might have been a bit more sympathetic about her mother’s fears for Freya if they’d come from a place of genuine love… but they just didn’t. As usual, her mum was thinking about money. Of course, she would never admit it in so many words.

  “They’ve got to be the right pedigree! We’ve got the family name to think of!”

  When her mother got frustrated by the lack of information available on the internet, Claudia had been dispatched to visit the Peppers in person. It was the last thing on earth she wanted to do, but Claudia really didn’t feel like she had any choice in the matter. For one thing, she was basically squatting in the pool house, and both her mother and stepfather kept using the threat of eviction as a highly effective bargaining tool.

  It wasn’t just the threat of homelessness that had made her agree, though. There was an even worse scenario that had clinched it. If Claudia refused to go, her mother had threatened to take matters into her own hands. She could only begin to imagine the carnage if her mother and stepfather appeared in Seabury and hunted the Peppers down themselves. The wedding would be called off faster than you could say “snobby-gold-diggers.”

  Still… it meant that Claudia was now faced with the task of carrying out her mother’s less-than-palatable mission. A cube of ice dropped into her stomach at the thought. It was all well and good searching the countryside for Seabury House, but she was dreading what she had to do when she actually found the place. How did you waltz into the home of a bunch of random strangers and basically tell them you were there to check they were good enough to be part of the family?!

  ‘Well… I might as well get it over with,’ she huffed, peering up the hill, searching for the SUV.

  It was still there.

  ‘Worst luck!’ she muttered.

  A tiny, rebellious part of her wished for a second that it had been towed. At least that would have meant she didn’t have to drive it anymore. Besides, it would have served her right, considering where she’d left it!

  Claudia had been so distracted by her frustrated search that she hadn’t realised she’d managed to park right in front of a gateway, completely blocking some kind of entrance.

  Great. Now she was going to have to hope she’d be able to reach the car and drive away without being spotted by a miffed local. Bowing her head, she scuttled forward as fast as her heels would carry her.

  CHAPTER 4

  GEORGE

  With Hattie’s egg delivery cradled against his chest, George turned his back to the entrance of the Pebble Street Hotel. He pushed the heavy door open with his bum before reversing into the reception. Somehow, he didn’t think Hattie would be too pleased if he managed to inadvertently mix a giant omelette right there on the polished tiles.

  ‘Phew!’ he chuckled. ‘Made it with zero disasters.’

  Behind him, someone let out a loud groan of pain, and George whirled around.

  ‘Lionel?’

  The sight of his old friend slumped across the reception desk was nearly enough to make George drop the eggs in his hurry to get to him. It was a couple of seconds before he noticed that Hattie was already there, patting her uncle’s shoulder and looking faintly amused.

  ‘Hey George!’ she said with a bright smile.

  ‘What’s happened?’ he gasped, setting the box of eggs down before he dropped them, and willing his heart to calm down. Surely, if Hattie was smiling like that, there couldn’t be a real emergency going on, could there? ‘Do you need me to call someone? Is Lionel… okay?’

  Hattie’s grin turned into a full-blown giggle, and George breathed out a sigh of relief. There was no way Hattie would be laughing if there really was something wrong with her beloved uncle.

  ‘Don’t mind this one,’ she tutted, patting Lionel again, who was still slumped forwards with his head cradled on his arms. ‘He’s just being a drama queen,’ she added in a stage whisper.

  ‘You’d be a drama queen too if you’d just had to deal with our new…’ Lionel paused, clearly looking for the right word. ‘Our new guest!’ he finished with a hiss that made the word sound like a curse.

 

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