The Holiday Cottage by the Sea: An utterly gorgeous feel-good romantic comedy

by Holly Martin

  ‘You and my dad were a thing?’ Elliot asked, clearly having no understanding of what being a thing was. Tori wasn’t entirely sure what qualified as being a thing either, not when it came to her and Matthew.

  ‘No, there was no thing,’ Tori tried again.

  Leo was watching her carefully. ‘Sorry, my mistake. He must have been talking about someone else. To be fair there were lots of girls in Matthew’s life.’

  Lord, her heart was taking a battering today. That’s just what she needed to hear.

  ‘That sounds like Matthew,’ Melody said.

  Was it? Was that how Matthew really was, and Tori had just never seen that side of him?

  ‘And I hear Dobby took a shine to you,’ Leo went on, and Tori was glad of the subject change.

  Isla laughed. ‘That bloody turkey.’

  ‘Yes, it was quite the welcome party,’ Tori said, trying to force away any feelings about Matthew from her mind. What did it matter whether he’d had hundreds of girlfriends? They’d never had any kind of real relationship, not really. One lovely night together when they’d been eighteen; several years later, they’d shared a few months of intimate, close phone calls; and then a few months before he died, one incredible weekend where they didn’t leave the bedroom. That wasn’t a relationship. She’d refused to give him that and now it was too late.

  ‘And I hear you’re going to marry my brother,’ Leo said.

  Melody choked on her cider. ‘Jamie?’ she squeaked in alarm and Tori smirked at that telling reaction.

  ‘No, Aidan,’ Leo said, smirking at Tori. ‘Agatha predicted it and they have a hot date tomorrow.’

  ‘Wow, Tori, you move quickly,’ Melody said, laughing.

  ‘Everyone knows that if Agatha predicts a marriage round here, it must be true,’ Isla said, dryly.

  ‘I don’t have a hot date. It’s dinner, nothing more. We’ll probably be talking about fruit-picking and other boring non-date topics. Nothing sexy about that at all.’

  ‘Yes, that’s exactly what you’ll be talking about,’ Leo said, sarcastically. ‘I hear you two had zero chemistry.’

  ‘Is that what Aidan said?’ Tori didn’t know why she was hurt by that. It didn’t matter if Aidan didn’t like her in that way. She was there to spend time with Melody and Isla and pick fruit.

  Leo’s mouth quirked up into a sexy smile. ‘Quite the opposite.’

  ‘Oh.’

  Tori smiled and then frowned. She didn’t want Aidan to be saying nice things about her. Nothing was going to happen between them and she didn’t want the awkwardness of Aidan wanting there to be something.

  ‘Are you and Aidan a thing?’ Elliot asked, following the conversation with keen interest, even if he didn’t understand half of it.

  ‘No,’ Tori said, firmly, making sure they all knew that this wasn’t going to happen.

  ‘Not yet,’ Leo said.

  ‘Not ever,’ Tori said.

  Leo smirked as if he thought differently. ‘Zero chemistry? That is a problem.’

  ‘There was plenty of chemistry,’ Tori snapped. ‘Doesn’t mean either of us will act on it.’

  ‘You come to Sandcastle Bay, pretty much the capital of love in the UK, in time for the big love festival, to work alongside a man who is single and, by all accounts, “sex on legs” and who you have plenty of chemistry with, and you don’t think anything is going to happen?’ Leo said.

  ‘I have a lot of willpower.’

  ‘So does Aidan if he wants something,’ Leo said. ‘Fifty pounds says you go back to London in two weeks having had some kind of fling or thing with Aidan.’

  ‘They’ll be no flinging, I can assure you of that,’ Tori said. She held out her hand for Leo to shake. ‘You have yourself a deal.’

  Melody laughed and shook her head. ‘You picked the wrong person to have a bet with, Leo. Tori is fiercely competitive.’

  ‘We’ll see,’ Leo said. He turned back to Isla. ‘I thought Elliot could stay with me tonight. I know you ladies will have lots to catch up on, and I’m sure there’ll be a few glasses of wine and cider involved in that. This way you can stay out as late as you want and not have to worry tomorrow morning.’

  ‘I thought Mum was going to look after him for a few hours,’ Isla said.

  ‘Your mum apparently has a headache,’ Leo said, dryly, and Isla rolled her eyes. She turned her attention to Elliot, obviously not wanting to say anything bad about his gran in front of him. ‘Do you want to stay at Leo’s tonight?’

  Elliot’s face lit up as if it was Christmas Day. ‘Can I? Staying at Leo’s is so much fun. We watch movies and eat popcorn and he tells me the best stories and makes the most amazing breakfast.’

  Isla smiled and kissed Elliot on the head. ‘He does make a pretty good breakfast.’

  Tori’s eyes widened.

  Oh.

  Leo didn’t miss a beat. ‘Well, I can make up the spare room and you can stay over tonight after you finish here. That way you don’t have to make the long walk up the hill to your house. And then I’ll make you both breakfast tomorrow.’

  He said it so innocently as if the only thing he was offering was a room to sleep and some breakfast, but Tori got the impression there was much more to it than that.

  She glanced over at Melody who smirked and rolled her eyes. They weren’t fooling anyone.

  ‘That would be nice,’ Isla said, vaguely, busying herself with playing with Elliot’s fingers. Elliot giggled as she chased her fingers up his arm like a spider. ‘That walk up the hill can be a pain, especially late at night.’

  ‘Good, I’ll see you later. Ladies, I’ll leave you to it. Come on, squirt, you can help me make some chocolate brownies.’

  Elliot lifted his arms in the air and Leo grabbed them, hauled him up in the air and threw him over his shoulder. He walked out of the pub with Elliot hanging upside down and laughing and waving madly as they went.

  Tori smiled and waved at Elliot, waiting until Leo had gone before she turned back to Isla. ‘So, something is going on between you and Leo?’

  Isla looked alarmed. ‘Of course not. What on earth makes you think that?’

  ‘You’re staying over at his house.’

  ‘As friends,’ Isla insisted, her cheeks turning a little pink.

  ‘And how many bedrooms does Leo have?’

  Isla laughed. ‘Four actually. Two spare rooms and Elliot has his own room decorated with space rockets and planets and stars and aliens. And Leo’s room. His spare room is very nice, I’ve stayed there a few times. As friends, nothing more.’

  Tori looked back at Melody. ‘Are you buying this “just friends” malarkey?’

  Melody laughed and shook her head. ‘No, but she tells me the same. That nothing has ever happened between them. I don’t have any evidence that might point to the contrary, so I guess we’ll have to believe her for now.’

  ‘Leo Jackson has had more girlfriends than I’ve had hot dinners,’ Isla said. ‘He is not the settle-down-with-one-woman type of guy and if something did happen it wouldn’t ever be anything serious between us. For Elliot’s sake, if I was to have a relationship with someone, it would need to be with someone reliable, someone who would be there for him no matter what.’

  ‘Leo would do anything for Elliot,’ Melody said. ‘As you said, he even decorated one of his bedrooms for him, so Elliot could have his own room.’

  ‘I know, he’s great with him. He’s like the fun uncle, takes him out for the day, does fun stuff, lets him stay up late and eat cake and then gives him back. Doesn’t mean that Leo really wants to be a dad to him, marry me, and be a proper family. There’s a big difference between the two.’

  ‘Maybe he does, you won’t even give him a chance,’ Melody said, and Tori smiled at her friend’s desperation to see everyone happily married and loved up. ‘You say that he has a different girlfriend each week, but I’ve not seen that from him. I know when we first moved down here he did seem to have a few different girls with hi
m and yes, he does have a reputation for being a bit of a ladies’ man, but for months there has been no one on the scene for him. Maybe that’s him taking his role as godfather for Elliot very seriously and trying to be a good role model for him. Or maybe it’s because he has found the person he wants to be with in you and he doesn’t need anyone else.’

  Isla waved it away. ‘Can you honestly see Leo Jackson marrying anyone, least of all me? Raise a child that isn’t his? That’s a huge commitment. Don’t get me wrong. It’s not that I don’t want him, I fancy the arse off the man, but I just can’t see that he would seriously want anything more than a bit of fun from me.’

  ‘Well, Agatha predicted that the two of you would get married, so it must be true,’ Melody said and they all laughed.

  ‘And what about you and Aidan?’ Isla said, deftly changing the subject.

  ‘There is no me and Aidan,’ Tori said.

  They both looked at her as if they didn’t believe her. Tori sighed and busied herself with the condensation on the side of the glass. There was no point in pretending that he hadn’t had an effect on her. Her friends would see right through her.

  ‘OK, he’s the sexiest, most beautiful man I’ve ever seen, and we did have chemistry. We just sort of clicked and we were only together for a short while and yes, I have been imagining Aidan Jackson doing rude and dirty things to me since he left me at Blossom Cottage earlier today and I haven’t had feelings like that in years.’ There was a noise from Melody, but Tori kept talking. ‘And yes, I’d like nothing more than to run my tongue from his neck down to his—’

  ‘Stop talking, for god’s sake, stop talking,’ Melody hissed, and Tori looked up to see both Melody and Isla staring in alarm over Tori’s shoulder.

  Her heart sank, and she screwed up her eyes. He couldn’t possibly be standing behind her. Life wasn’t that unfair. But, somehow, she knew that he was, she could sense him there. And life had taught her it was spectacularly unfair so why would it change now? She just needed to brazen this out. She would finish what she was going to say so there was no misunderstanding.

  She swallowed. ‘Down to his… knees. But there is absolutely no chance of anything happening between us. I don’t want that and neither does he.’

  She opened her eyes and downed the rest of her cider before she could turn around and face him. But clearly he couldn’t wait. He appeared at her side, those large muscular thighs filling the gap between her and Melody.

  ‘I bought you ladies a drink,’ Aidan said, his deep rich voice resounding above her. She watched his large hands place three glasses of cider in the middle of the table before she plucked up the courage to look up at him. To her surprise he smiled and winked at her. ‘You got a thing for my knees, Tori Graham?’

  Her mouth was dry, so she took another large swig of cider and then looked back up at him. ‘I bet you have very nice knees.’

  He smirked. ‘If you want, I’ll show you my knees tomorrow night.’

  ‘I don’t want to see your knees,’ Tori said, too quickly. He was playing with her and she needed to give him as good as she got. ‘I’d much rather see your elbows.’

  His smile grew.

  Elbows? Was this her feeble attempt at flirting? She didn’t even want to flirt with him but if she was going to she could try to do better than that. She desperately tried to think of something smart and funny to say.

  ‘I like elbows.’

  She looked at Melody and Isla who were staring at her in shock, Melody’s eyes begging her to somehow recover the situation. But she had nothing.

  She looked back at Aidan. Well at least he wouldn’t be trying anything with her now. She had well and truly put him off. Problem solved.

  To her surprise, he undid the cuffs on his shirt and slowly rolled his sleeves up, so they were above his elbows. His forearms were tanned, smooth and so huge and she had an overwhelming urge to stroke them.

  He offered his elbows out, turning them around as if showing them off, and she couldn’t help but burst out laughing at the ridiculousness of the situation.

  ‘What do you think? Out of ten?’ Aidan asked, a smile tugging on his mouth.

  Tori laughed. Then looked back at the elbows, seriously considering them. ‘Six.’

  ‘Six?!’ Aidan said, incredulously.

  Tori shrugged. ‘I’ve seen better. Six and a half then.’

  ‘Wow. I feel hurt. So, you don’t want to lick them?’

  Tori looked back at them again, hardly believing they were having this conversation. She pulled a face. ‘Meh! They look like pork scratchings, all knobbly and weird looking.’

  ‘Well, that’s put me in my place. Enjoy your drinks, ladies.’

  He turned and walked away, and Tori watched him go and then turned back to face Melody and Isla. They stared at her.

  ‘What the hell just happened?’ Tori said.

  ‘I’m not entirely sure,’ Isla said. ‘I’ve never seen anything like it.’

  ‘You two definitely have a connection,’ Melody said.

  ‘Which I think I just killed. I talked about licking him and how I have a fetish for elbows. Elbows, for crying out loud. There’s nothing sexy about elbows. I imagine he’s running out of the pub as fast as he can and barricading himself inside his house.’

  Suddenly something landed in the middle of their table and they all leapt back in shock. Tori looked down to see a packet of pork scratchings. She whirled round to see Aidan by the door.

  ‘Seven o’clock tomorrow night. I’ll have my knees out.’

  She grinned, and he walked out. God, this man was going to be trouble.

  6

  As Aidan headed up the hill towards where Tori had left her car, he saw Jamie walking his dogs and Dobby. Jamie waved, and Aidan strode over to join him.

  ‘Have you met your new fruit-picker yet?’ Jamie asked as Aidan stroked Jamie’s black lab, Harry, on the head.

  ‘I have.’

  ‘I felt bad, poor girl. Dobby chasing her down the road when she had only arrived in the village a few minutes before. I didn’t know who she was until Emily told me later. I hope Dobby hasn’t scared her away,’ Jamie said.

  ‘She seems a hardy sort. I think it would take more than a deranged turkey to scare her off.’

  ‘Hey, Dobby isn’t deranged,’ Jamie said.

  ‘He thinks he’s a dog, I wouldn’t say he is mentally stable.’

  Jamie looked over at Dobby as he followed Ron, Jamie’s collie, along the side of the road, cocking his leg up whenever Ron did.

  ‘A little confused maybe, but not deranged.’

  ‘Well luckily for me, Tori doesn’t seem to have let it put her off,’ Aidan said.

  Jamie paused to take a photo of the candyfloss clouds as the sun very slowly started its descent across the sky. He was always taking photos which he would pin up inside his art studio to help inspire him. He loved nature and a lot of his sculptures were influenced by what he saw around him; anything with texture or unusual colours ended up in his pieces somehow.

  Jamie turned back to him. ‘What’s she like?’

  How was he supposed to answer that?

  ‘She seems nice,’ Aidan said, vaguely. Nice was too bland a word to describe Tori Graham. Extraordinary would be a more apt description. He smiled. They had just talked about elbows. The whole conversation had made him laugh, she was so quirky, and he liked that about her. She was right, they did have a connection and, though they were both wary about getting involved in a relationship, he just couldn’t help flirting with her. She liked him too. That much was very clear. Even if nothing was going to happen between them, he was really looking forward to talking with her the following evening and getting to know her better. Hopefully, with some good food and a few glasses of wine inside her, she would relax enough to enjoy herself around him and not worry about what she was saying.

  He realised Jamie was staring at him. ‘Oh, I recognise that look.’

  ‘There was no look.’
/>   His younger brother was so insightful that there would be no point in denying it. Aidan decided to change the subject instead. Agatha was already picking out the hat she was going to wear to their wedding, he didn’t need to add fuel to the fire.

  ‘How’s the preparations for the love festival going? Have you made your boat for the race yet?’ Aidan asked.

  ‘I’m working on it,’ Jamie said.

  As Jamie was a very talented artist, working mainly in sculpture, Aidan expected it would be something incredible. Though whether it would float or not remained to be seen. Jamie wasn’t the least bit practical.

  ‘What about you?’ Jamie said as Hermione, his greyhound, came bounding over, only just realising that Aidan was there.

  Aidan scratched behind Hermione’s ears. ‘I have the basic shape. I’m adding red and purple balloons to represent the berries and they will hopefully aid with the flotation.’

  ‘Good idea, though sounds like you’ll need a lot of balloons if that’s the main way you intend to float.’

  ‘The boat is made from wood. What’s yours made from, clay?’

  ‘No. Well, there are some parts that are made from Fimo, but those are purely decorations. I had to stop Klaus from making a full-sized figurehead for the front of our craft out of clay. He didn’t seem to believe me that it would probably sink it.’

  Aidan smiled. Klaus was the other artist who worked out of Jamie’s art studio and he was completely over the top in everything he did. A full-sized figurehead seemed very tame for Klaus. Aidan wondered what else he had up his sleeve.

  ‘Leo’s shoots fire of course,’ Jamie said. ‘Apparently the whole thing is rigged with pyrotechnics. But then you’d expect no less from him.’

  ‘Leo’s boat gets more extravagant every year. I think most of the village turn out purely to see what he will produce next.’

  ‘He likes to put on a show. He knows it impresses the women.’