by Holly Martin
‘I think there’s only one woman he wants to impress these days,’ Aidan said.
Jamie laughed. ‘I know, but it’s not like him to hold back from making a move. Unless he has made a move and she rejected him.’
‘I can’t see that. Have you seen the way she looks at him?’
‘Yes. They have such a weird relationship. They both obviously adore each other but neither of them seem keen to do anything about it,’ Jamie said. ‘Well, there will be a lot of disappointed women at the festival this year when Leo shares his cake with Isla.’
‘I don’t know if it will go that far,’ Aidan said. The village had a lot to answer for with its loved-up traditions. It was said that if a man managed to sail to the island in the middle of the river and win a slice of the famous heartberry cake, then shared the cake with a woman, that was his way of telling her he loved her. If they ate the cake together they would be happily married. The number of heartberries in their slice was supposed to represent the number of children they would have. It was all very symbolic and, as far as Aidan was concerned, a complete load of rubbish. He went along with it because he owned the heartberries and tradition was very important to the villagers, but he knew it couldn’t possibly be true. ‘Leo has never shared his cake with anyone before, and neither has he given tokens of love to any woman. I can’t see that changing this year.’
‘Leo just loves Emily’s cake. I don’t think it has anything to do with not falling in love with anyone. He holds as much faith in the legacy of the festival as you do. So, are you going to share your cake with Tori this year?’
Aidan laughed. ‘You would have a lot more in common with her than I would. She’s a sculptor too, of sorts.’
Jamie’s eyes lit up. ‘Really?’
Aidan frowned at the punch of jealousy to his gut. Why did he want to push Tori onto his brother?
‘Sort of, she’s an animator, works with clay and plasticine. She’s done a few big animated films. And I looked her up and she was responsible for those TV shorts, Amazing Animals.’
‘Oh, they were really good. Animation is really cool. I’d love to have a go at that. But I would get too protective of my sculptures to start moving them around or destroying them. I’ll have to have a chat with her about it.’
Aidan’s frown deepened, and Jamie laughed.
‘A chat, Aidan, not sticking my tongue down her throat and taking her to bed.’
Aidan smiled and watched him take a picture of a rose, caught between a hedge of brambles and thorns. ‘And what about you, anyone you want to share your cake with this year?’
He watched Jamie shove his hands in his pockets and focus his attention on the grassy bank.
‘Nope.’
Jamie lacked any kind of confidence at all when it came to women. While Leo seem to have it in spades, Jamie had missed that gene. He’d had his heart broken when he’d fallen in love with Polly Lucas and she hadn’t returned his feelings. Other than that, there hadn’t been anyone serious for him. His relationships always ended before they’d got off the ground. The girls all thought he was too nice, which made Aidan’s heart ache for his little brother. Whereas Aidan was definitely not looking for love ever again, and Leo seemed more than happy to do without it, having fun flitting from one woman to the next, Jamie wanted that: wife, kids, the happy ending. And Aidan felt sad that the girls of the village never took the time to get to know him properly. He thought perhaps that Jamie had a soft spot for Melody but if he did, and if she returned those feelings, neither of them had made it known, preferring the wistful-looks-when-the-other-wasn’t-looking approach. It was clearly working so well for them, Aidan thought sarcastically.
They got to Jamie’s cottage and said their goodbyes before Aidan carried on up the hill to Tori’s car, which was thankfully now not surrounded by sheep.
The car was cute, just like its owner. A little blue convertible was the perfect car for Tori Graham. He let himself in and immediately he had to move the seat back, so his legs weren’t jammed under his chin. He adjusted the mirrors too, so he wasn’t looking at his navel, and then he looked around the car. It was spotlessly tidy, not even a sweet wrapper on the floor. But on the seat next to him was a little notebook and a green pen. Curious, he picked it up and thumbed through it. It was some kind of journal and he nearly put it straight back down again, not wanting to invade her privacy; he should never have picked it up in the first place. But he quickly realised that it wasn’t for any kind of personal thoughts, more a record of countless ‘things to do’ lists, a few sketches of some characters she had probably animated, various dates and meetings, minutes or notes from those meetings. This didn’t tell him anything more about her, apart from what she had already said about her being super organised.
He was about to put it back down on the seat when it fell open on the latest page. He smiled when he realised she even had a list of things to do while she was in Sandcastle Bay. ‘See Melody and Isla’ was at the top, even though she would hardly need reminding of that. His smile grew when he saw, underneath that, it said, ‘Pick fruit’, and underneath that it had in big letters ‘Relax’, as if it being on that list would help her to achieve it. Next on the list was ‘Visit Matthew’s grave’. His eyes cast down to the last thing on the list. He frowned. It was in different handwriting to the rest of the notes and he realised he recognised the writing. In the same green ink, but written in Agatha’s spidery handwriting, were the words, ‘Marry Aidan Jackson’.
Aidan burst out laughing. Agatha had clearly been up here, spotted the journal and had no scruples about looking through it and even adding her own notes.
He knew Agatha was going to do everything in her power to get the two of them married off within the next year, especially now there was money involved. He was sure this tiny little note was just the start of it.
7
Tori let herself back into her cottage later that night with a big smile on her face. It had been a lovely evening talking to Melody and Isla, laughing and giggling as if they had never been apart. They’d discussed everything, about Aidan and Leo, how Elliot was getting on and how Isla’s mum didn’t think Isla was doing a good enough job raising him, which was crazy. Anyone could see how much Isla adored him and how happy he was. They had talked about Matthew, about the fond memories they had of him, and it was so good to talk about him after all this time. They had chatted long into the night until the owners of the pub had come over to kick them out. She had missed her friends so much. She really needed to spend more time down here with them. She could drive down here late Friday nights and leave late on Sundays. She could even fly to Newquay and maybe get a bus or a train the rest of the way. It was definitely more doable than she’d thought.
She closed the cottage door behind her, plunging the little house momentarily into darkness, and she fumbled around for the light switch. There was nothing by the door, which meant the switch had to be somewhere else.
Damn it. She really should have checked where the light switch was in the daylight rather than trying to find it in the dark.
Tori was rummaging around in her bag for her phone, so she could have some light until she found the switch, when suddenly she heard a giant thud upstairs.
She froze.
The noise was followed by heavy footsteps and a scratchy sound that accompanied each step. Suddenly the footsteps were on the stairs and they were coming down them really quickly.
Tori grabbed the door handle, yanked open the door and ran back outside. The footsteps were hot on her heels, so she quickly slammed the door behind her. There was a giant thud as whoever it was hit the door as it slammed in their face and then a groan from the other side and then nothing.
Her breathing was heavy, her heart thudding against her chest as she ran to the other side of the gate, but whoever was in there wasn’t following her outside.
Her phone was still clutched in her hand and she quickly thought about phoning the police but then she remembered Melody sa
ying that the local police station, several miles out of the village, was only manned nine to five, two days a week. She guessed the emergency services would take a while to get there too.
She’d call Aidan. His house was bound to be nearby because of the fruit-picking and it was his cottage that was currently being broken into. He could damn well come and do something about it.
She dialled his number, thanking her foresight that meant she had already programmed it into her phone.
It took a few moments for him to answer and when he did he sounded sleepy.
‘Hello?’
Evidently, she had just woken him up.
‘There’s someone in the house,’ Tori hissed.
‘What?’
‘In Blossom Cottage, someone has broken in.’
Immediately his voice sounded clearer and more awake. ‘Where are you?’
‘Outside the gate. I think he might have knocked himself out. He was running for me and I slammed the door in his face and then after that there was silence.’
‘Don’t go back in there. There’s a dirt track about a hundred yards up the road from your cottage. Head for that and I’ll be down in a few seconds.’
The line went dead and Tori looked around, peering suspiciously at all the shadows and up the darkened road Aidan had told her to go up. The place suddenly felt silent and sinister and Tori didn’t fancy walking up the road in complete darkness. Sandcastle Bay seemed such a quiet, peaceful little haven and she hadn’t even been there twenty-four hours before someone had broken in. And they had been in her bedroom. What on earth were they doing there? Rifling through her underwear, maybe?
She shuddered at the thought of some pervert lying unconscious on the other side of the door and decided the road was probably a much safer option than waiting for the pervert to wake back up and give chase again.
She quickly hurried up the lane, checking over her shoulder to make sure she wasn’t being followed. She found the dirt track and fumbled her way up it, over uneven ground and through muddy puddles. She couldn’t see a thing. She pressed her phone to get some illumination and a shadow suddenly loomed from the darkness.
‘Arghhh!’ Tori wailed, swinging her fists and kicking out her legs, her phone going flying.
‘Ooof,’ came the sound of Aidan’s voice as she punched him in the chest. ‘It’s me, you daft sod.’
‘Oh god, sorry, you scared me,’ Tori whispered into the darkness.
She saw the shadow reach down and pick up her phone. He passed it back to her and in the light from the screen she could see that Aidan Jackson was wearing only his jeans and boots. No top. All other thoughts went out of her head for a second and she found herself subtly moving the phone around, so she could fully appreciate his chest in all his yumminess.
‘Did you get a good look at him?’ Aidan said.
‘Mmm? No, it was pitch black,’ Tori whispered, trying to focus on the situation at hand. ‘I only heard him running for me. He sounded big and heavy though.’
‘Why are we whispering?’ Aidan whispered.
Tori straightened and realised how ridiculous this was. ‘I don’t know. Will you go and have a look and sort him out?’
Aidan nodded and took her hand and they walked back down the lane towards the cottage. His hand felt nice in hers, warm and safe. As they cleared the trees, the moon lit up Aidan’s half-naked body in all its magnificence.
‘Right, stay here,’ Aidan said as they arrived back at the gate.
He marched off towards the door without any kind of weapon or anything to defend himself. But then it was unlikely that whoever it was on the other side of the door would be bigger or stronger than Aidan, the man was a giant. However, suddenly fearing for his safety, she grabbed a thick branch from the wood store near the gate and followed him down the path, wielding it in the air as if going into battle.
He opened the door, stepping into the darkness, and immediately there was a big scuffle, followed by the sound of Aidan swearing and muttering. As she heard a thud she ran into the cottage yelling and screaming and waving her branch around her.
Suddenly light filled the lounge and as her eyes became accustomed to the sudden brightness she saw Aidan standing by the kitchen door, his hand on the light switch. Next to him a big black fluffy dog who was wagging his tail and looking ridiculously pleased with himself.
She lowered the branch.
‘I believe this is your intruder,’ Aidan indicated the monster dog next to him. ‘Tori, this is Beast. Beast, this is your new landlady for the next two weeks.’
Oh god, it had been the dog the whole time. She had dragged Aidan from his bed because of a dog.
She looked at him to see if he was mad, but she couldn’t tell, and she was still very distracted by his chest.
She decided that she would take the defensive route. ‘Well how the hell did he get in?’
Aidan suddenly looked awkward, rubbing his neck. ‘The kitchen window doesn’t close properly.’
‘So, an intruder really could have broken in?’
‘Well yes, possibly, but that isn’t going to happen round here.’
‘Didn’t stop you running down here in only your jeans to confront my mystery intruder.’
‘You should be grateful I stopped to put on some jeans. I was lying in my bed naked a few minutes ago. You sounded scared, I wanted to make sure you were OK. I didn’t really think it was an intruder.’
Tori looked at him in disbelief. He had been as worried as she was.
Beast barked and wagged his tail so hard his body shook, and Tori felt herself soften. He really was very cute, in that big woolly dog kind of way. Realising he had secured another fan, Beast came running over and then flopped on the floor, so she could stroke his belly.
Tori knelt down to stroke him. ‘You big lump, you gave us all a fright. And what were you doing in my bedroom?’
Beast snuffled against her hand.
She looked up at Aidan. ‘I’m sorry for waking you up.’
He smiled, fortunately seeing the funny side. ‘You just wanted to have another look at my elbows.’ He started showing them off again, turning slightly so they were catching the light, and she couldn’t help but laugh. ‘Is there anything else you need from me before I go back home? Maybe you’d like me to check under the bed for spiders?’
‘Hey, I’m not some little damsel in distress,’ Tori protested.
‘I could tell that by the way you came storming in here brandishing that branch like an axe.’
‘I didn’t want you to get hurt.’
Surprise registered in his eyes. ‘You came to defend me?’
Tori focussed her attention on Beast again. She didn’t say anything. She didn’t want to explain that the thought of him getting hurt had actually scared her because that was crazy.
‘Maybe I should just check upstairs, make sure everything is OK before I go.’
Tori stood up and nodded. She watched him go upstairs and, giving a little glare at Beast for starting this fiasco, she followed him up.
The bedroom felt so much smaller now with him in it, and although she was only staying there a short time, she had unpacked and made it hers. It felt a bit weird having him in her bedroom. Too intimate.
He was picking a few leaves off the bed, evidently where Beast had been sleeping when she came home. But apart from a few blades of grass and one or two leaves, the duvet wasn’t dirty.
‘I’m sorry,’ Aidan said, brushing the duvet down.
‘It’s a bit of a cheek that the dog gets to sleep in the bed even before I do.’
Aidan smiled. ‘I know, you should at least get to christen your own bed.’
Tori looked down at the bed and back at Aidan in his bare-chested yumminess. He cleared his throat awkwardly at the double meaning of his words.
‘Well, I’m sure you want to go to bed now,’ Aidan said, patting the sheets encouragingly and his eyes widened as he realised what he’d just said.
Tori d
ecided to tease him. ‘Is that how this damsel in distress thing works, you come out and rescue me and I jump into bed with you as a thank you?’
His eyes widened even more. ‘No, no, I meant you want to go to sleep… alone, I mean—’
She couldn’t help but smirk. ‘You come down here, flashing your elbows, and you think I’m going to be putty in your hands.’
He burst out laughing, realising she was playing with him. ‘Well, apparently not as they only get a six and a half in your book. If only my elbows were better-looking, we could be having mad passionate sex right now. Instead, I’d better take my elbows back home.’
‘I think you should. Maybe next time, wear elbow pads then I won’t be thinking about pork scratchings when I’m having sex with you.’
He stepped closer, so she could smell his wonderful sea spray scent. ‘Tori Graham, if we were to have sex, the very last thing on your mind would be pork scratchings.’
She laughed. ‘Oh, you’re so confident and sure of yourself. That’s not an attractive feature.’
It was such a lie. His confidence was very sexy.
He chuckled. ‘I’m looking forward to dinner tomorrow.’
‘It’s just dinner, don’t be getting any ideas.’
‘About you licking from my neck down to my… knees, no why would I even think of that?’
‘You’re never going to let me live that down, are you?’ Tori said.
‘Nope, and when we’re married, I’ll still remind you.’
She laughed. ‘Never going to happen. And flaunting your elbows isn’t going to change that either.’
‘That’s just part of the courtship ritual. Like peacocks displaying their feathers, I’m showing off my elbows.’
‘Is it working for you?’
He gave her a devastating smile. ‘You tell me?’
She smiled and looked away. It was working too bloody well. Him and his chest, his smile, his heavenly scent, his gentle eyes, this whole conversation, even his bloody elbows. The whole package was infuriatingly sexy and endearing. Just a few hours ago he had promised her that nothing would happen between them but now they seemed to have fast-forwarded several steps to full-on flirting. It excited her and scared her in equal measure.