‘I still can’t believe it’s been two years since she died. And Dad’s been gone for almost four. Sometimes it feels like only yesterday that we were all together, eating, drinking, dancing and generally enjoying life, or all working in that spacious, top floor studio. Little did any of us know what was in store.’
‘Not knowing is both a blessing and a curse. Would knowing that those we love will leave us long before they should, make it better or worse, I wonder. You’ve had such a lot of sadness in these last few years.’
Luna nodded. ‘I just wish I’d handled it better. Done things differently. But I can’t turn back the clock and I’ve beaten myself up about it so many times that if thoughts were fists, I’d be back and blue all over.’
‘You mustn’t punish yourself for the way things turned out. It wasn’t your fault. You were vulnerable and you’ve got a kind, unquestioning heart – just like your dear mother. But everything will be better from now on. I promise you that, sweetheart. All the pain is behind you now.’
Luna nodded. ‘Selling the house was difficult, but I think in a way, it’s made me feel that this really is a fresh start. A completely new life. I kept picturing Dad sitting at his easel, and me sitting to one side of him, both of us surrounded by paints, whilst Mum was on the other side of the room, her hands covered in plaster or clay, the heady fragrance of Dama de Noche wafting in on the evening breeze through the permanently-open window…’ Luna’s voice trailed off.
‘Dama de Noche – Lady of the Night. She did love the scent of Jasmine. Perhaps because it was her namesake. I should have come and helped you. But I believed you when you said you’d be fine, and I thought you had … had other help.’ Mason coughed and fidgeted on his crutches.
Luna smiled wanly. Mason had stopped himself before mentioning Mateus by name and she was grateful. He was the last person she wanted to talk about right now.
‘It was something I needed to do by myself. And it was made a lot easier by knowing I was coming here. Anyway, I mustn’t get all maudlin.’
‘No, indeed. And we’ll have plenty of time to chat. There’s a roaring fire in the sitting room. Let’s go and get you warm.’ The crutches squeaked and clicked as he made his way along the hall. ‘I feel so useless. I can’t wait until I’m able to get about. It does have its advantages though.’
Luna followed behind. ‘Oh?’
He stopped at the door to the sitting room, turned and smiled. ‘Do you remember I told you about my delightful neighbour, Jane? Jane Dorset. I’ve been trying to get her to spend a little more time with me but she’s been rather stand-offish. I think she’s playing hard-to-get, and her daughter-in-law and grandson were staying with her over the holidays. The grandson’s still here. But since I had my fall, Jane’s been popping in several times a day. She says it’s just the neighbourly thing to do, but I think she’s really as keen on me as I am on her. She simply won’t admit it.’ He chuckled and tapped the tip of his long, aquiline nose with one slim finger.
‘Mason! You sly devil. That’s wonderful news. But … won’t I be in the way? Living here I mean. I don’t want to cramp your style.’
‘You’d never be in the way, sweetheart. Besides, there’s always her place. Logan – that’s her grandson. I’m sure I’ve mentioned him before. Anyway, Logan has his hands full. His father died many years ago but Logan has only recently come into his inheritance and Jane has also given him some money. The lad is opening a restaurant in Michaelmas Bay. Tonight, in fact. Everyone in Snowflake Cove and some of the Michaelmas Bay VIPs have been invited to the party. I can’t go like this, of course, but you should go in my place. I’ll mention it to Jane this morning.’
‘Erm … Thanks, Mason, but I’m not sure that I’m up to partying tonight. Besides, I don’t want to leave you all alone on my first night here.’
‘I’ll be fine on my own, but if you’d rather not go, that’s your choice. We’ll discuss it over a pot of tea.’
Luna smiled. ‘I’ll put the kettle on.’ She glanced towards what was obviously the kitchen. ‘You go and sit down.’
Hobbling into the sitting room, Mason called out: ‘How was your journey? I forgot to ask.’
Luna filled the kettle and switched it on, then went to the sitting room and popped her head round the door.
‘It was fine. Except my flight was late arriving and I had to run for the train. I leapt in just as the doors were closing and got one of my cases caught. So that was fun. Then the train pulled away as I was trying to get my bags stowed on the rack and I managed to fall on to the lap of an unsuspecting man. And I’d already run over his foot with my cases. He wasn’t very happy and he moved seats. But it gave Severine and me a conversation starter. I wish she’d told me she was getting off in Michaelmas Bay. It would—’
‘Severine? Did you say Severine was on your train? Severine Starr?’ He looked surprised.
Luna nodded. ‘She didn’t give me her surname but yes, her name was Severine. It’s a pretty unusual name. Oh! Is she the sister? The one who lives in London. I remember you telling me about the Starrs. They own the inn opposite, don’t they?’
He sat forward in his chair and nodded, his eyes as bright and eager as a schoolboy’s.
‘That’s right. I can’t recall how much I told you about the family but there have been more than a few revelations over Christmas. I’ll fill you in with it all but first, what did Severine say?’
‘I don’t know why you’re so excited but you’ll have to wait five minutes whilst I’ll get the tea and then we can have a lovely, long gossip.’
Mason harrumphed loudly and folded his arms across his chest, but they grinned mischievously at one another before Luna returned to the kitchen. He would probably be disappointed when she told him, because the truth was, Severine didn’t actually say very much. Not about herself. She did repeatedly say how wonderful her fiancé, Harvey was and how she’d had to postpone her wedding due to family commitments, but that she couldn’t wait to marry him as soon as she returned to New York. Luna had wondered for a moment whether Severine was trying to convince herself how much she loved the man, or whether she loved him so much that she simply couldn’t stop saying it. Severine hadn’t mentioned that her family owned Snowflake Inn. Which was a bit odd now that Luna knew who she was. It was as if Severine had wanted to keep it all a secret. And that was rather weird.
Chapter Seven
Logan pulled up beside the old wooden bridge linking Snowflake Isle – and Snowflake Inn – to the mainland.
He and Severine hadn’t spoken since they’d left the station. Severine had closed her eyes and pretended she was asleep, which had suited him fine. Except he couldn’t stop himself from shooting a couple of glances at her. Maybe more than a couple, if he were honest. Even now, as he took in the curve of her full lips and the dark lashes resting against her rose-coloured cheeks, she didn’t open her eyes. Bundled up with the collar of her coat and a thick scarf around her neck, her arms crossed in front of her and her shoulders oddly hunched, she looked like a wax image of herself. Perhaps she actually was asleep. She had said she was exhausted.
‘We’re here, Severine.’ He gently touched her arm but soon wished he hadn’t as she glared at him with an angry look in those gorgeous, hazel eyes.
‘Thank God for that. It’s freezing in here. I can hardly feel my feet.’
‘Sorry. I don’t think it’s that cold, but I wanted to keep it cool so that the ice around the oysters doesn’t melt. Do you want me to give you a hand with your luggage? Or are you going to phone your dad and get him to bring the carriage?’
Severine screwed up her pretty nose. ‘I’d die from cold by the time he got that horse and cart contraption ready. If you could leave your precious oysters for just five minutes to give me a hand, that would be great.’ She shoved open the door and got out.
‘Your wish is my command.’
He smiled wanly in spite of the way she was behaving. What the hell did he see in her? She was ba
d-tempered. Selfish. Demanding.
She was complicated. Beautiful. Sexy as hell.
He sighed as he got out and went to the back of the van. He had already rearranged Severine’s luggage at the station so that it was as easy to get to as possible but it still took him several seconds during which Severine stomped her feet as if they were frozen and clapped her gloved-hands together. Anyone would think they were in the arctic. It was cold but it wasn’t that unbearable. He pulled up the handles on her cases and nodded forward.
‘After you.’
A sudden and completely unexpected smile swept across her face and it was as if the clouds had parted and the sun had come out.
‘Thank you, Logan. I’m sorry if I’m being a bit of a cow. I’m simply exhausted. And a little anxious about seeing that lot, as you can no doubt imagine.’ She tipped her head in the direction of the inn. ‘I’m looking forward to seeing Raven of course, but as for the rest of them. The sooner I can leave, the better.’
He smiled back. ‘But your family are all so nice. I know you always used to feel as if you were the odd one out, but surely that’s not the case now. They’ve been nothing but kind and helpful to me.’
‘How lovely for you. You don’t know them as I do. And you weren’t around when I told them I was expecting Raven. All these years, they’ve made me feel as if I had let them down. Evie, of course, can do no wrong, but me. Everything I do is just another screw up as far as they’re concerned.’
‘Are you sure you’re not misjudging them? Perhaps, deep down, it’s you who feels you’ve let them down and …’ Her smile turned into a frown and now she was positively glowering at him. He had better shut up before she really lost her temper. ‘Sorry. None of my business.’
‘It’s not me, Logan. It’s them. You should’ve heard the lecture they gave me when I didn’t come back for New Year. And then there was all that business about Raven’s schooling. I was going to say that Raven was still in shock from the accident and wasn’t ready to go back, but no. They insisted we couldn’t lie about such things, and if I wasn’t coming back and taking Raven home to London, I had to inform her school that she was going to be home-schooled by Mum. Can you believe that? You have no idea of the forms I had to fill in to sort that out.’ She stopped suddenly and ran a gloved-hand across her forehead. ‘But you’re right about one thing. It isn’t any of your business. I shouldn’t have mentioned it.’
She marched off, leaving him to follow behind with her luggage.
What a wonderful day this was turning into.
Just as he was about to step on to the bridge he heard his name.
‘Logan! What are you doing here? I thought you were busy with the restaurant.’
Logan turned and smiled. ‘Hello Gran. I am. But I met someone I know at the station. They were coming to Snowflake Inn so I offered to give them a lift.’
He didn’t mention Severine’s name because he knew that if he did, his gran would be rushing over the bridge to catch her up and would fire a dozen questions at her, one after another. He glanced in Severine’s direction and wasn’t the least surprised to see she had picked up speed. She was almost on the other side of the bridge and although she could, without a shadow of doubt, hear his gran’s booming tones, Severine was clearly pretending she couldn’t and had buried her face deeper into her upturned collar, and her scarf.
‘Oh. Anyone I know?’ Jane asked, peering at Severine’s rapidly retreating figure.
‘I’ll pop in for a very brief chat when I’ve taken these cases over. Can’t stay long, mind you. I’ve got oysters in the van.’ He stepped on to the bridge.
‘For tonight? How divine. I was popping next door to Mason’s but that can wait. I’ll put the kettle on.’
He glanced back over his shoulder. ‘You go to Mason’s, Gran. I’ll nip in and say hello to you both.’
That was a bit of luck. Mason and his gran would no doubt enjoy gossiping about Severine when he told them she was here. At least at Mason’s he could make his excuses and leave them to it. If he had had to go to his gran’s, he’d be lucky to make an escape this side of lunch time.
He covered the distance between himself and Severine in a matter of seconds.
‘I take it you’re avoiding my gran.’
She peeped over her collar. ‘I’m avoiding everyone I can. Don’t take it personally.’
‘I’ll try not to. And I’m sure Gran will understand and won’t try to pry.’
Their eyes met and Severine grinned. ‘Jane Dorset. Really? She must have changed one hell of a lot since I last saw her.’
Logan grinned back. ‘Nope. She hasn’t changed a bit.’
Severine glanced towards the row of cottages sitting across from the isle and opposite Snowflake Inn. ‘She’s still watching.’
‘I’m sure she is. I’ll get the third degree when I nip in to say hello.’
‘So you’ve got time to stop for coffee with your gran? What about your precious oysters?’
‘I’m not stopping for coffee. I’m merely saying hello.’
‘You said hello when she saw you. Do you need to say it twice?’
‘Does it matter? You don’t care about me or my oysters so what’s the problem?’
She scowled at him. ‘No problem. I just can’t believe you made so much fuss about them and yet you don’t seem so bothered now. But I suppose your gran is much more important to you than I am.’
‘She’s my gran, Severine, and I’m living in her house. But where did that come from? You haven’t seen me for more than fifteen years. Please don’t pretend you care about what – or who – is important to me, because we both know you don’t.’
Severine coughed and flicked her hair from beneath her collar. ‘Of course I don’t care. I’m simply making a point, that’s all.’ She pulled open one of the heavy, ancient doors of Snowflake Inn, with ease. ‘At least the hinges have been fixed, I see. You can leave my luggage in reception. They’ve got a porter now I hear.’
‘Yes, ma’am. Whatever you say, ma’am.’ He walked into reception and placed her bags to one side of the desk.
‘Sarcasm doesn’t suit you, Logan. Don’t let anyone tell you it does. Thanks for the lift and the help with my bags. I suppose I’ll see you around.’
She turned to walk towards the kitchen where Logan knew her family would be seated around the table, laughing and chatting and drinking coffee. He wanted to go with her; to offer his support, but that was out of the question. Besides, he had his oysters to think about.
‘Severine.’
She stopped and swivelled round to look at him. ‘What?’
‘Um. I don’t suppose you’re interested but I’m having a little opening party at my restaurant tonight. It’s in Michaelmas Bay. I believe your family will be coming. Please feel free to join them. If you want.’
‘Your restaurant? But … don’t you work here?’
He shook his head. ‘I helped out over Christmas and stayed until your parents employed a full-time chef. I don’t expect you’ll remember but Dad left me some money and I’ve just come into that inheritance. I’ve always wanted a restaurant of my own and one became vacant just before New Year. Gran also gave me some money, so I took the plunge and signed a five-year lease.’
She seemed surprised. ‘I had no idea. So are you rich?’
‘Would you be interested in me if I were?’
She grinned. ‘I might be. Seriously Logan. Good for you. I wish you lots of luck. I’d love to come to the party. Oh. Will everyone else from Snowflake Cove be there?’
‘I’ve invited everyone.’
‘In that case … probably not. But thanks.’
‘Oh come on, Severine. You’re going to have to face them all at some point. They’ll all be piling in here the minute they find out you’re back. Why not show them you don’t care what they think or what they say? You always loved a party.’
She tilted her head. ‘That was a long time ago. I’ve grown up a lot since then.
Besides.’ She ran a hand over her tummy. ‘You seem to have forgotten. I’m pregnant, Logan.’
For one brief moment, he had.
‘Severine!’ He recognised Jessie Starr’s voice – and so did Severine by the expression of dread on her face. ‘Good grief girl. Is that you? Have you finally deigned to honour us with your presence? Molly! John! Evie! Get out here this minute. The fatted calf has returned.’
Severine tutted loudly as Jessie appeared from the lounge. ‘I think you mean the prodigal daughter has returned, bring out the fatted calf, Gran.’
Jessie screwed up her eyes and smirked. ‘No I don’t. I meant exactly what I said. Logan? What are you doing here? Don’t you have a party to prepare for?’
‘I’m leaving now. Lovely to see you, Jessie.’ He smiled at Severine. ‘Good luck, Severine. It is really good to see you again. I hope I’ll see you tonight.’
He hurried towards the door and closed it just as a cacophony of voices flooded into the reception, no doubt giving Severine the welcome she was hoping. Or possibly not.
Chapter Eight
Mason rubbed his chin. ‘So Severine didn’t mention that she was a Starr, or that she was coming home to see her family?’
Luna shook her head. She had told Mason the few things Severine had said during the train journey. ‘Not once. She didn’t mention her daughter either. Didn’t you say that something happened over the holidays?’
Mason was about to reply when the sing-song sound of the doorbell made his eyes light up and a huge smile spread across his face.
‘That’ll be Jane. Would you let her in please, sweetheart?’
‘Of course.’
Luna walked into the hall and opened the front door to an elegant-looking woman who was probably in her eighties. The woman was smiling broadly at first, but looked a little taken aback to see someone other than Mason standing before her. Then the penny clearly dropped.
Blame it on the Moonlight Page 3