‘Not a problem.’ She winked at Luna. ‘Thinking about hot men like Logan can do that to a girl.’
‘I wasn’t …’ Luna’s voice trailed off.
What was the point in lying? She’d thought about little else except Logan Dorset since she spotted him at the station. It was time she set her mind on something else. Or if absolutely necessary, someone else. Logan Dorset couldn’t be the only single man around here, could he? Perhaps a fling with no strings attached was what she needed. She was definitely missing sex. Mateus may have been a liar and a cheat, but where sex was concerned, the man knew what he was doing. Not quite a gift from the gods, perhaps, but he would certainly be able to keep a woman happy on a wet and cloudy day like this.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Severine’s chat with her mum had not been nearly as bad as she had expected. In fact, it had all gone rather well. The only fly in the ointment had been the fact that Jessie had insisted on being there too. Not that Jessie said a great deal – and that was a miracle in itself – other than to agree with virtually every statement or piece of advice that Molly uttered. And that was probably because Molly said much the same as Jessie had done earlier.
‘All we want is for you to be happy,’ Molly said, reaching out across the kitchen table and taking Severine’s hand in hers. ‘Jessie told your father and me about your earlier conversation, and John and I agree. Whatever you want to do, we’ll support you one hundred per cent. But the thing is, darling, you don’t seem exactly sure what that is. You obviously need time to think about it, and that’s fine with us. What we don’t want is for you to rush into something and then have regrets. Why don’t you speak to Harvey and tell him that you plan to stay here for a while?’
‘How long is a while?’
‘That’s entirely up to you. Weeks. Months. Years.’
‘Years? Our baby is due in the summer. I think I need to make a decision long before that, don’t you?’
Molly shook her head. ‘Not if you’re still unsure. And you are unsure, aren’t you, darling?’
Severine nodded. ‘I wasn’t until yesterday. I thought I knew exactly what I wanted. Who I wanted. Now …’ She shrugged and shook her head.
‘Love is very strange sometimes. We think we know what our heart wants and then suddenly it shows us it wants something else entirely. Something we had never even thought of until our heart jumps up and down and does a little dance and yells, ‘Him. I want him!’ That’s when we know. Our heart is often right. But not always. Sometimes our heart gets it wrong.’
‘So how do I decide? How do I know? I love Harvey. I’m sure I do. And yet …’
‘Don’t over think it, darling. That’s my advice. Just take each day as it comes and one day you’ll know. Believe me. You will.’
Jessie smiled. ‘Listen to your mother, Severine. And listen to me. You’re a Starr. And a Starr’s heart has never led them wrong. We’ve all had handsome men thrown in our path but we’ve always picked the best. Maybe not in looks. Perhaps not in wealth. But always the best for us.’
‘I haven’t done too well so far, have I? Don’t answer that. Tell me instead, what handsome men have been in your life then? Was Joshua Thorn one of them? I haven’t heard the full story about him yet. Are you going to tell me?’
Jessie looked her in the eye. ‘I suppose it’s only fair.’ She shifted in her chair. ‘Put the kettle on again Molly, there’s a dear. You’ve heard the story anyway.’
Molly smiled. ‘I’ll make us all some more tea.’
‘Come on then, Gran. Spill the beans.’
Jessie gazed into the distance as if her life was playing out before her like a film.
‘Joshua and your grandfather were friends since birth. Joshua’s family lived nearby in those days. I was fifteen when I came here and I fell in love with William Starr the minute I saw him. He was cleaning mud from a horse’s hoof and looked up as I approached. Then, as now, they used a horse and cart to cross the bridge to this inn. I knew in that second that he was the person I was going to marry. He told me later that he had felt exactly the same about me. I didn’t meet Joshua until a few weeks later and William and I were courting by then. You might find this hard to believe, looking at me now, but I was a pretty little thing. Joshua Thorn liked pretty things.’ She tutted. ‘He still does. But anyway. He wanted me the moment he saw me.’
‘So Joshua fell in love with you at first sight too?’
‘Did I say love? It wasn’t love. Although he says it was. I said he wanted me. And even in those days, Joshua Thorn expected to get what he wanted. The man wouldn’t take no for an answer. Oh, he didn’t force himself on me or anything so disgusting, but he wouldn’t leave me alone. Every time I turned around, the man was there. Buying me presents, whispering things in my ear, trying to undermine William in my affections. I told him that nothing would ever entice me to choose him over William. That there was nothing he could do or say to make me change my mind.’
‘Did Grandad know what his so-called friend was up to?’
Jessie shook her head. ‘No. William loved Joshua Thorn like a brother. It never occurred to him for one minute that Joshua might try to steal his girl. And as angry as Joshua made me, I couldn’t tell William his best friend was betraying him behind his back.’
‘So what happened? Why did Joshua owe you money? Why did he give you that massive IOU at Christmas?’
‘I’ll tell you, if you’ll stop interrupting.’
Severine grinned and both she and Jessie sipped the tea Molly had poured for them.
‘William and Joshua had started a business together. William seemed to be the one who did all the work. Joshua was the one who had got them the finances they needed. Even then, Joshua had a magic touch with money, whereas William seemed to have a pocket with a hole in as far as money was concerned. It was only sensible to let Joshua handle that side of things, or so we thought. They started the business shortly after the war. William’s family owned this place and William and Joshua began buying small hotels and inns and turning them into the sort of establishments that would appeal to the middle classes. People didn’t go abroad in those days and they didn’t have six weeks holiday a year.’
‘I don’t get six weeks holiday now. And Mum certainly doesn’t. Sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt.’
Jessie smiled. ‘I’ll cut it short. Joshua said they should set their sights higher. This was a time when stately homes were going for a song. They were being pulled down, or sold off. No one wanted the burden of them. Joshua told us he was ploughing every penny back into the business, paying himself and us just enough to live on. What he didn’t tell us was that what he needed to live on was far greater than our requirements. He bought himself a house in London, unbeknown to us. And later, properties abroad. None of which appeared on the books. I don’t know how he did it. I’m not sure that I care. But he cheated William and me out of a fortune.’
‘So how did you find out?’
‘We didn’t. Not until much later, by which time William and Joshua had parted company. Joshua had persuaded William into some bad investments and money became tight for us. Joshua’s finances appeared to be healthy and William asked him for a loan. Joshua refused. Instead he offered to buy William out of the business. He gave us a valuation and William trusted him. Joshua said – and he still maintains this – that in the market at the time it was a fair price. But he didn’t include any of the properties he had bought with his own substantially higher salary. As I said, William was not the best with money. We soon found ourselves with just this inn. But even so, we were happy. We saw less and less of Joshua. Until one day he turned up at this door and told me that he could take me away from this. He told me just how rich he was. And that’s when I knew he had cheated us, but of course I couldn’t prove it and William would not believe me.’
‘Do you think he planned it? Planned to make Grandad poor in the hope that you would leave him?’
‘Yes. That’s precisely what I
thought. I hated Joshua then. He tells me now that there was no plan. That he just hoped. I’m not sure I’m convinced. And he definitely cheated us. Why else would he give me all this money now?’
‘It was an IOU, wasn’t it? So he knew he owed you money. He’s admitted it.’
‘He says it’s out of guilt for paying himself much more than he paid William for all those years. But he says that William knew. Perhaps he did. I’ll never know now. But I took the money and I’m glad of it.’
Molly smiled. ‘And so are we. Without it we wouldn’t be here now. Things were very grim financially for us. Like it or not, Joshua Thorn was an answer to our prayers.’
‘Were things really that bad?’ Severine had no idea.
Jessie nodded. ‘John is not as bad with money as his father was, but yes, things were fairly grim. Or at the very least they were certainly not looking good.’
‘Gosh. And what about Joshua? Have you seen him since Christmas?’
‘Once or twice. He wants us to be friends. I’m considering it. Not because I like him, but because, somehow, I feel that is what William would have wanted. In spite of everything.’
Raven appeared in the kitchen doorway. ‘What are you three chatting about?’
‘Money,’ said Severine.
‘Friendship,’ Molly said.
Jessie sighed. ‘Love, Raven. We’re talking about love.’
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Luna caught the bus into Michaelmas Bay almost an hour later than she had planned. Jane Dorset may be the village gossip, but Juniper Green came a very close second. Luna now knew something about everyone who lived in Snowflake Cove, and several of the residents of Michaelmas Bay. She made a mental note never to divulge any secrets to Juniper, unless they were secrets Luna wanted people to know.
Rain still pelted the village and, apart from Luna, there was only one other passenger on the bus. She didn’t know where she was going but the High Street seemed as good a place as any to start, so that was the destination she had given to the driver when she boarded.
‘This is the High Street, love,’ he informed her several minutes later. ‘Unless you want the end that comes out at the marina?’
‘No,’ she said, remembering that Logan’s restaurant overlooked the marina. ‘This end is fine.’
Stepping off the bus and opening her umbrella, she looked around her. There were clothes shops, gift shops, a couple of card shops, a bookshop and a small, department store. She could see a couple of cafés and a cocktail-cum-wine bar that looked rather inviting. But she had probably consumed enough alcohol last night to keep her going for a week. She wasn’t looking for anything in particular, so she ambled down the street, window-shopping as she went. Hearing the footsteps of someone running behind her, she glanced over her shoulder to check she wasn’t in the way, and careered into something solid, knocking her backwards.
‘Shit. Sorry. Are you OK?’ a man’s voice asked, as a firm hand grabbed her arm to support her. ‘I wasn’t looking where I was going.’
Luna peered up at him from beneath her umbrella and let out a little gasp.
‘Um. Neither was I. I heard someone behind me.’
No sooner had she said that than another man pounded by, throwing her a friendly smile, water dripping from his dark-blond hair.
‘Him,’ she said, pointing at the runner disappearing around the corner.
‘Yes,’ the first man said. ‘That’s Ian.’
‘You know him?’
The man grinned. ‘It’s a small town.’
So the runner wasn’t smiling at her, he was smiling at this man.
‘Not as small as Snowflake Cove.’
His grin widened. ‘Nowhere is as small as Snowflake Cove. I’m Chris. Hello.’
‘Hello. I’m Luna. And that’s a rather sweeping statement. How do you know that nowhere is as small?’ She returned his grin.
‘Luna? Doesn’t that mean Moon? That’s an unusual name. There’s a restaurant around the corner called Moonlight.’
‘Yes. I was at the opening party last night.’
‘Were you? So was I. How did I miss seeing you? And to answer your question, I don’t know if anywhere is smaller. But I can’t imagine it, can you?’
‘Were you really there last night?’
‘Yes.’ He tilted his head slightly and narrowed his eyes, but the mischievous grin remained. ‘Were you really there?’
‘I was.’
‘Wait a minute. Are you Luna, as in Luna Blake?’ He tutted. ‘Of course you are. Why am I even asking? There couldn’t be two Lunas in Michaelmas Bay. So you’re an artist?’
‘Yes. And you are…?’
‘Impressed.’
‘I meant, what do you do?’
He grinned. ‘I do all sorts of things. But for my day job, I work in Michaelmas Bay
Books.’ He pointed to the other side of the road and beyond.
‘The bookshop?’
‘Yes. The clue was in the name.’
‘You should be a comedian.’
‘Funny you should say that. That’s what I moonlight as.’
‘Oh ha ha.’ Luna made a face with a silly smile.
He laughed. ‘I’m serious. I work as a comedian one night a week. But I’m the first to admit, I’m not very good at it. Why are we standing in the rain?’
‘Because it’s raining.’
‘Funny woman. What I meant was, if we’re going to have a conversation why don’t we have it over coffee?’
‘Oh.’
‘I can tell from your expression that’s not a thrilling prospect.’
‘No. I mean yes. I was just surprised.’
‘So that’s a yes?’
Luna nodded. Possibly a little too enthusiastically. ‘Yes.’
‘Great. I’ve been standing here for hours waiting for someone to come along so that I could bump into them and get them to buy me a coffee. As a struggling bookseller and a second-rate comedian, I can’t afford to buy my own.’
‘Oh. OK.’
He shook his head and laughed. ‘That was a joke. Now you know what a crap comedian I am.’ He took her by the hand. ‘I’m buying. The café is this way.’ He nodded his head in the direction of the marina.
‘Oh.’ Luna held back, surprised at the way he had taken her hand as if it were the most natural thing in the world to do. But she also hesitated because Logan Dorset’s restaurant was in that direction and she had a vague recollection from last night, that to get to any of the cafés on the marina, they would have to pass Moonlight, Logan’s restaurant. As foolish as it was, she didn’t relish that prospect.
‘Is something wrong? Have you changed your mind?’
‘How do I know you’re not a serial killer?’
He let go of her hand and crossed his heart. ‘I swear I have never hurt a cornflake in my life.’
‘That’s a terrible joke.’
‘I’m a terrible comedian. So, yes or no to coffee? I can give you my mum’s phone number, if that might help. She’ll tell you what a lovely young man I am. I always give her as my alibi.’ He grinned again. ‘Sorry. I’ll stop now.’
‘OK,’ Luna said. ‘But if you kill me, I’ll never forgive you. Don’t you have to work this afternoon?’
He shook his head. ‘I own the bookshop and it just so happens this is my afternoon off.’
‘That’s handy.’
‘Yes. I decided that about a minute ago.’ He took her hand again. ‘We’re running. I don’t want you to trip.’
‘Why are we running?’
‘I need the exercise.’
Luna laughed, and they ran towards the marina, jumping over puddles on the way, their two umbrellas bashing against one another like dodgem cars at a fair and sending little waterfalls of rain pouring to the ground.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Logan sat at one of the tables in the two bow windows of Moonlight, supposedly planning menus for the week ahead, but in reality, staring out of the window
at the rain and the boats bobbing on the choppy waters of Michaelmas Bay. His mum had given him an even sterner talking to than his gran had done, and he had gone from feeling elated to deflated rather quicker than he had hoped. He had never expected the feeling of euphoria he experienced on discovering that he had finally kissed Severine and told her how he felt, to last, but he thought it might at least survive the day. His mum, his gran and even, apparently, Molly Starr, all had other ideas. No one apart from him, it seemed, felt that there was any chance of a relationship working out between himself and Severine.
‘It’s not that I don’t like Severine,’ his mum had said. ‘But your gran and I both agree that you simply aren’t right for one another.’
‘I’m a grown man, Mum. I think I should be allowed to decide who is or isn’t right for me.’
‘Of course. And you know that I would never usually interfere in your affairs. No pun intended. Perhaps I should say, your love life. But Severine is engaged and carrying another man’s child. On top of that, she already has one child by someone else’s husband.’
‘Sylvie and Roggero were never married.’
‘Don’t nitpick, darling. You know what I mean. She had an affair with someone else’s partner. She doesn’t exactly have a good track record as far as relationships are concerned. I want you to be happy. Your gran wants you to be happy. Your father would want you to be happy. Rest his soul. What do you think he would be saying to you if he were sitting here instead of me?’
Logan had glared at his mum. ‘That’s a low blow, Mum. Bringing Dad into this. But you know what, I think Dad would simply say that if this was what I wanted, what I really wanted, then I should go for it. And I think he would wish me the best of luck. I’ve loved Severine all my life, Mum. Don’t you get that? No one else has ever replaced her. I’ve never felt about any of the women I’ve dated, the way I feel about her. Don’t you think I would rather be with someone less complicated, less … difficult, if I had a choice? But I don’t. Yes, she has faults. Yes, she has history. But we all have faults. We all have some history. But can’t you see, that in spite of that, I still love her. Surely that means something?’
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