‘Me, I love a bit of romance.’ She waved a hand up and down. ‘The body might be crumbling but the mind’s more than willing.’
Lottie was struck by a thought. ‘What do you think about joining a book club? I’m just setting one up.’
Audrey grimaced. ‘Oh no, I can’t be doing with all those highfalutin books. Never had the patience for them.’
‘We’re going to be reviewing beach reads. Rom coms, easy reads. Books you’d take on holiday with you.’
‘Raunchy ones?’ Suddenly Audrey’s face was alive with interest. ‘I read that Fifty Shades of Grey, you know. Didn’t realise my pulse could go that fast anymore. All the whipping and bondage, him with his big todger. Nearly gave me a heart attack.’
Oh God. Lottie held onto her sides as laughter burst out of her. ‘Please tell me you’ll come. Our first meeting is next week in Books by the Bay. Do you know it?’
‘I was in there the other day. Got a bit of shock when this tall, dark, handsome lad stepped out instead of old Larry. A bit of a Darcy about him, I thought.’
‘He’s certainly tall and dark.’ Nope, she wasn’t going to blush. But just in case she did, Lottie busied herself with pulling away the carpet. And immediately found the problem. ‘Err, Audrey, have you seen any mice recently?’
‘Mice?’ Audrey’s expression looked horrified. ‘Those things you young folk use with a computer, or—’
‘The furry things with a long tail, pointed nose and teeth that gnaw through things, like electricity cables.’ She held up the chewed wire for Audrey to see. ‘That’s why the trip went and you didn’t get to see the end of Loose Women.’
‘Well, I never.’
‘I can fix this now, and I’ll order you a couple of mousetraps. The humane kind. When you’ve caught one you just need to put it outside and open the trapdoor,’ she added when she saw the blood drain from Audrey’s face.
‘Thank you, dear.’ She grimaced. ‘Looks like I’ve not been as alone as I thought.’
‘You’ll be even less alone if you join the Beach Reads Book Club.’ Hoping to take Audrey’s mind off the mice situation, she added, ‘We’re going to start with Mount! by Jilly Cooper. Have you read it?’
‘Can’t say I have. I liked some of hers though. Especially that Rupert Campbell-Black. I wouldn’t kick him out of bed for eating crackers.’
‘Well, he’s back in Mount!, so if you like, I can pick up a copy and drop it off with the mousetraps.’
‘Is there rumpy pumpy in it?’
Lottie laughed. ‘It’s Jilly Cooper, what do you think?’
Audrey gave her a wicked smile. ‘I think your book club might have found another member.’
An hour later, Lottie nursed the overheating van on to her next appointment: Victor Wallace, buzzing dimmer switch. He’d be an unlikely recruit for the book club, but it didn’t matter. With Audrey, Gira, Heidi and Sally there would now be five of them meeting next week. Five people whose lives she hoped would all be improved, just a little, by the combination of a good book, a mug of tea and the company of like-minded readers. All in a venue that looked out over the Solent, and was jammed to the rafters with books. It even had a broodingly handsome owner.
Not bad, Charlotte Watt. Not bad.
Matt hauled himself out of bed and jammed on his shorts and long-sleeved running top. Some habits from his old life were hard to break. Waking at the crack of dawn and going for a run was one of them. Still, the discipline had probably stopped him from having a total meltdown, so he wasn’t going to knock it.
It’s just that one day, he’d love to lie in beyond 6 a.m.
Tucking his key into his shorts pocket, he crept down the stairs and out of the house.
‘Shit.’
The wind was sharp enough to freeze his balls. February really was the dreariest month of the year. He set off at a canter, heading for the front. It was still dark, but he knew by the time he reached the four-mile point and turned back, the sun would be on the rise and the view across the Solent potentially spectacular. Or potentially a grey version of now, but it was the hope that drove him on…
Grey it was, then.
Yet as Matt headed back along the front, the sight of the waves crashing over the pebbled beach and the smell of the sea were as life-affirming as the run itself. Finally he turned away from the prom … and nearly fell over his own feet as he caught sight of the young woman heading his way. Dressed in a bright yellow rain jacket and bobble hat, she was being dragged along by a large dog that looked like a Labrador with a heavy-duty perm.
‘Oh, hi.’ Lottie smiled up at him, a ray of bright yellow sunshine against the dreary grey. ‘Going for a run?’ Before he could answer, she laughed. ‘Duh, why else would you be wearing shorts on a day like today?’
‘Because I’m an eternal optimist?’ She laughed again, though he wasn’t sure if it was at his joke, or the thought of him being an optimist. Either way, he was ridiculously pleased to be the cause.
‘Actually, I’m going to revise my earlier statement because from the look of you, you’ve already been for a run, in which case either your idea of a run is as short as mine, or you were up when normal people are still asleep.’
‘I wake early. Force of habit.’ He began to feel the bite of the wind, but the lure of a hot shower wasn’t enough to make him end the conversation. ‘And this is Dougal, I presume?’
She looked confused and he gave himself a mental kick. He wasn’t great with people, but usually he was better than this. Wittier, at least. Humour was the one feature even his ex-wife had found redeeming. ‘Sorry. Poor joke. I was referring to the dog off The Magic Roundabout. The film version,’ he added quickly, afraid he might look as old as he sometimes felt.
She smirked. ‘The TV series was, what, 1970s?’ She gave him a rather unnerving study. ‘By my reckoning, if you’d watched that, you’d be around fifty now.’
‘So clearly I didn’t?’
His reply elicited another burst of laughter from her, and this time he was pretty certain she was laughing with him. ‘I’d put you at early thirties, so either you have a phenomenal skin routine that I need to hear about, or you weren’t alive when The Magic Roundabout was on the telly.’
‘Err, soap and water?’
‘Damn, I kind of hoped you’d found the answer to eternal youth.’ She glanced down at the now restless bundle of shaggy fur. ‘Chewie, meet Matthew. He’s letting me use his shop for my book club, so be nice to him.’
‘Matt.’ A slight flush caught her cheeks, and he wondered if it was the wind, or if she thought asking her to use his shortened name was too familiar. ‘So, Chewie after the Wookie from Star Wars?’
Amusement sparked in her eyes. ‘Interesting that you think there’s another option. The gum, maybe?’
He gave himself another kick. Maybe the cold wasn’t just tightening his muscles, it was squeezing all sense out of his brain. ‘I hear a lot of people name their dogs after chewing gum.’
To call her eyes grey, he realised, was a disservice. They were more silver, especially when she laughed.
‘Much as I’m enjoying discussing dog names, I think Chewie’s had enough.’ As if to emphasise the point, the shaggy mutt let out a bark and tugged again on the lead. ‘I’ll see you next week for the book club?’
He inclined his head, figuring it was safer than whatever else might come out of his mouth.
When he arrived back, he headed straight for the shower, grateful for the heat as it loosened his muscles. Yet he knew if Lottie hadn’t ended their conversation, he’d still be out there, freezing his balls off. It was the first time since his divorce he’d enjoyed talking to a member of the opposite sex. Hell, the first time he’d felt such a powerful connection with a woman who wasn’t his wife. He didn’t know what to make of it, only that he needed to tread very, very carefully. His old self hadn’t been good for Patricia and he wasn’t sure if his new self, the one he was trying to invent, would be any better at relationshi
ps.
After getting dressed he wandered into the kitchen, only to find his dad already filling the kettle. ‘You’re up and about early.’
‘Noise of the wind woke me up.’ His dad busied himself getting out the mugs. ‘It was never this windy—’
‘Back home,’ Matt finished for him. Exhaling, he shoved his hands in his pockets. Should he apologise again for asking him to come? But he’d been through all that. Before coming here they’d had countless discussions about it, how the change wouldn’t just do him good but Amy, too. And Amy would settle more if her dad also came.
Of course, during each discussion, Matt had known they were both thinking of his mum’s final words, about them looking after each other. It was why he’d always won, though victory felt hollow right now, coming at the cost of his dad’s misery. ‘Is there anything you actually like about this place?’
His dad grunted as he poured boiling water into the mugs. ‘What was that beer we had at the pub the other night?’
‘London Pride?’
‘Aye. It wasn’t Pedigree, but it was drinkable.’
Not exactly fulsome praise, but Matt grabbed onto it like a starving man eyeing up the last burger at a barbecue. ‘Maybe we should give it another go. Might taste better the second time.’
‘It might.’ A mug of tea was thrust into Matt’s hands. ‘The shop, the pub. I know what you’re doing, son.’
‘Pardon?’
‘You’re trying to chivvy me out of my grief. Get the old guy out so he doesn’t spend every day moping in his room.’
It wasn’t so much his dad’s words, but the bitterness of the tone that had Matt looking sharply at him. ‘Is that how it feels?’
‘At times, yes.’
Heart heavy, guilt and loss tugging hard, Matt put a hand on his dad’s arm. ‘Then I’m sorry. You’re going to grieve, we all are, but you feel her loss more than anyone. I know that.’
The older man nodded, then picked up his mug and headed out towards what Matt referred to as his dad’s suite of rooms: a bedroom, bathroom and small living room the builders had created out of the original downstairs dining room and study. Now he wondered if his dad saw it as his own private prison. A place he didn’t want to be, but felt locked up in just the same.
Hand on the door to his bedroom, Matt’s dad turned. ‘About that beer. Tonight?’
Emotion clogged Matt’s throat. ‘Sounds good.’
When he walked to the shop half an hour later, his step felt a tiny bit lighter. They were all trying, and as long as they kept doing that, surely anything was possible.
Chapter Five
February meeting, nominated book:
Mount! by Jilly Cooper
Lottie grabbed Chewie’s lead and stared down at him. He looked back up at her with huge, adoring, brown eyes. Crap, she really was a sucker for eyes the colour of chocolate.
‘You promise you’re going to behave? Because tonight is important for me.’
His long pink tongue licked her hand.
‘That’s dog-speak for Yes, Lottie, I promise, huh?’
She received another lick, and decided it would have to do. Thanks to the inconvenience of her mum and dad going out tonight, the alternative was to leave Chewie home alone. Past experience told her that would end with chewed things she didn’t want chewed. And one grumpy dog for the rest of the evening. It was why he went with her to every job. Usually owners were happy for him to come in with her, but on the rare occasions he had to sit outside or stay in the van, Chewie didn’t seem to mind because he knew where she was. It was humbling, being adored so much, but at times it was exhausting, too.
‘I’m sure Matthew … Matt…’ The shortened name didn’t sit quite right on her tongue. Too informal for a man clearly born to wear a suit and tie. Then again, she’d seen another side to him. Windswept, sweaty, his shorts and running top showcasing a long, athletic body she’d tried hard not to stare at. ‘I’m sure Matt’s not expecting me to bring you, so you need to be perfectly behaved.’ As if the word behaved was even in Chewie’s vocabulary. ‘He’s going to be mad enough that I’m late.’
When she’d first met Chewie at the rescue centre, he’d been a sad, bedraggled mess. Abandoned to the streets because his owner had found his need for human contact, for company, too much. Lottie gave Chewie a pat. Yeah, she’d take this overly protective, overly affectionate version any day.
Still, she crossed her fingers as she entered the shop. Please God let Chewie be good today.
Matthew – damn it, Matt – appeared from behind a set of bookshelves, looking darkly attractive in his habitual suit, tie still straight, collar still done up, even though it was after hours. Immediately his eyes zeroed in on Chewie.
‘I’m sorry.’
‘For being late, or…’ He nodded towards Chewie.
‘Both, though they kind of go together. Usually my parents look after Chewie when I go out, but when I took him round today, they told me they’d had a last-minute invite to dinner with friends.’ Crap, nerves must have hit her, because she seemed unable to stop talking. ‘Don’t worry, I told them how selfish they were being, but apparently they are allowed a life, and I’m the one who decided to have a dog. Though actually I only went to the rescue centre to see my friend Gretchen, but then I saw Chewie, or maybe he saw me first.’ She sucked in a deep breath, embarrassed. ‘I’m sure you don’t want to hear all this. Suffice to say, tonight I’m afraid we come as a pair, but he’s promised to be good.’
His dark gaze dropped to Chewie, who was sitting like the most perfectly behaved dog on the planet, and then back up to her. ‘Promised?’
‘Yep. He crossed his paws and everything.’
‘That’s a relief.’
Why was it so difficult to tell if he was amused, or laughing at her? She guessed it was that shutter he always pulled over his face.
He waved a hand over to the café where Gira and Heidi were already sitting on a sofa in the large bay window. ‘I think you’ll find two of your members are already here. Amy arranged some chairs around the coffee table in the window. We weren’t sure how many were coming?’
‘Four. Plus me,’ she added quickly, because four sounded pathetic. ‘So there’ll be five of us.’ She kicked herself. The guy owned an expensive suit, he ran a business. He could bloody add up.
‘Thank you for the clarification.’
A blush scorched her face. ‘Sorry. I’m weirdly nervous, this being the first meeting.’
His face relaxed and there was a glimmer of sympathy in the small smile he gave her. ‘You don’t strike me as someone who would accept failure. Not if you want something enough.’
The words were so unexpected, for a few beats Lottie was too stunned to answer. ‘Thank you.’
And now he was the one who looked embarrassed. As if he’d overstepped some line he had in his head that stopped him going from polite to personal.
The bell on the door jingled and Lottie turned to find Sally pushing her way in. ‘Hi. Sorry I’m late. I had trouble wedging this huge belly into the car.’
Lottie grinned. ‘No worries, I’ve only just got here myself, and I don’t have pregnancy as an excuse. Sally, this is Matthew, the bookshop owner.’
‘Matt.’
Damn, yes. If he’d only take off his jacket, loosen his tie. Something to make him look more like a Matt.
‘Well, hello, Matt.’ Sally glanced between the two of them. ‘Don’t think I’m being rude, but I need to go and park myself and this oversize belly on a chair, or I’ll get varicose veins.’
As Sally waddled over to join Gira and Heidi, Lottie turned back to him. ‘At least I can cross off one of my nightmare scenarios. I won’t be sat here by myself at the first club meeting.’
He cleared his throat. ‘Nightmare scenarios?’
‘You know, the things that haunt you in the middle of the night when you’re worried about something.’
He gave her a pained look. ‘Dare I ask what else is
on the list?’
‘Oh, just the usual. A hurricane, fire sweeping through the building, being attacked by a plague of rats.’
Were those eyes warming, just a little? ‘Well, it’s good to be forewarned.’
Behind them the door opened again and Audrey barrelled through, bringing with her a blast of cold air. ‘I’ve read the book,’ she announced in lieu of a greeting. ‘You told me there’d be bonking, but blimey O’Reilly! That Rutshire must have Viagra in the water.’
Lottie’s eyes flew to Matt’s, and she had to bite the inside of her cheek to stop from howling with laughter at the expression on his face: shock, bewilderment, a dash of embarrassment.
He cleared his throat. ‘Right, well. I’ll leave you to your … deliberations.’
‘Oh, there’s no need for you to run off, love.’ Audrey gave Lottie an unsubtle wink. ‘We can find a chair for him, can’t we?’
God, she was so close to losing it. Lottie knew if she took one more glimpse of Matt’s face, at the horror he was trying so manfully to mask, she’d end up rolling on the floor with tears streaming down her face. ‘Of course Matthew can join us. If he likes.’
‘Matt.’ She watched his Adam’s apple move as he swallowed. ‘And thank you, but I have orders to complete. And paperwork to tie up.’
She couldn’t help it. ‘Paint to watch dry?’
His eyes sought hers and she could sense his indecision; agree and risk seeming rude, disagree and risk having to join them. Yet just as she was about to give him an out, he did something unusual. He relaxed his features and let out a bark of laughter. ‘Was I that obvious?’
And now the joke was on her, because while she could handle handsome but distant Mathew Steele, this man made her belly flip and her brain turn to mush.
‘Well, come on, what are we waiting for.’ Thank God for Audrey, even though she was now digging into the bag she was carrying and, oh help, producing a huge bottle of gin. ‘Matt, was it? Be a good man and bring us some glasses.’
The Beach Reads Book Club: The most heartwarming and feel good summer holiday read of 2021! (The Kathryn Freeman Romcom Collection, Book 5) Page 4