The Jersey Scene series box set

by Georgina Troy

  He glanced at Izzy. ‘Sorry, I’m being rude.’

  She shook her head. ‘No, it’s lovely to hear you speaking French and I could work out some of what you were saying. Carry on.’

  But he didn’t. The moment had passed.

  ‘Are you enjoying living in Jersey?’ he asked the waitress, who, going by Izzy’s less-than-fluent French skills, had just told him that she’d only been on the island for the summer but was loving it so far.

  ‘Very much, it is a pretty place and I can be in St Malo in just over one hour. My family lives two hours by train after that, but still very close to travel home if I wish to. Will you both have the fruit de mer then?’

  ‘Please.’

  The waitress bent down slightly, lowering her voice. ‘For a fellow countryman I will ensure you have the very best seafood we ’ave to offer.’

  Izzy wouldn’t argue with such a promising offer. ‘I look forward to sampling it,’ she said.

  Ed nodded. ‘Et moi aussi.’

  The waitress looked much happier as she moved onto the next table.

  Izzy always enjoyed visiting the comfortable café, with its view of St Catherine’s wide bay and the long wide granite breakwater that her great-great-grandfather had come over to Jersey from Ireland to help build back in the mid-1880s. To some locals whose families went back centuries, she still wasn’t considered a local. It made her wonder how long her family would have to live here before she was truly considered so.

  She realized Ed was talking to her and leaned forward to hear him better over the building chatter of the other diners, resting her forearms on the cool granite table. ‘Sorry, I was miles away.’

  ‘It’s fine, don’t worry.’ He took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. ‘I’ve really enjoyed myself today, Izzy. I know you said you’re happy to come out with me kayaking on Tuesday, but do you think we could go out on a proper date one evening?’

  ‘Are you sure?’ It seemed a bit of an about-turn after their conversation earlier in the day.

  ‘I don’t see why not, Izzy. I only told you about me going so that you knew and neither of us allowed our feelings for the other to get too deep.’

  ‘Well, OK then.’ She was happy to see him again, and if her heart got a little crumpled in the process then it was her own lookout. ‘I’ll look forward to it.’

  ‘I’d love to invite you to the cottage to cook a meal for you, but now that Catherine has come back to the manor I wouldn’t want her finding an excuse to interrupt our evening. I know she apologised to you girls, but I still don’t completely trust her to behave properly towards you.’

  Neither did Izzy. ‘That’s fine,’ she said. ‘I would offer to cook for you, but I’m a pretty lousy chef.’ She laughed. ‘And knowing Jess, if she thought someone was making a delicious meal she’d find a way to invite herself to join in.’

  He frowned. ‘Our living arrangements aren’t perfect, are they?’

  Izzy didn’t want him to think that she resented Jess in any way, so said, ‘Not at all, I love living at the cottage, it’s comfy and in a perfect location. Jess is a great housemate too. Well, she’s my landlady really, I suppose. But, no, it’s not the most private place.’

  ‘I didn’t mean to insult Jess,’ he said. ‘She’s lovely and you obviously get on very well.’

  ‘I know,’ Izzy said. ‘I didn’t want you to think I was moaning about her, she’s fabulous.’

  ‘She is. You said she was out with Alex this afternoon?’

  ‘Yes; I hope he remembered she’s a novice surfer. He can be a little overbearing when he wants someone to do well.’

  ‘Do you surf?’

  She nodded. ‘Not for years, but when I was about eight he decided that I needed to learn and took me down to the beach every day for the entire summer holidays.’

  Ed whistled, impressed. ‘You must be very good then?’

  She shrugged. ‘You would think so, but I’m only OK. I’d need to put in some serious practice before I could call myself any good now, much to Alex’s disgust.’

  Ed laughed. ‘I like your brother. We had a lot of fun when we were at school together, although we did get up to a few things that almost got me expelled.’

  ‘No! What?’ She was intrigued to know what they could have done that was so bad.

  Ed sighed. ‘Well, let’s just say we were fourteen and too young to be sneaking lager and cigarettes into the school.’

  She thought for a moment. ‘I think I remember that,’ she stared at him. ‘Weren’t you caught trying to sell them to the other boys?’

  He nodded. ‘Yes, to my shame. My godfather was furious and threatened to send me back to France.’

  The waitress stopped by their table with the food. Ed let go of Izzy’s hand and they sat back to give her space to lower a cradle of locally caught delights.

  ‘Wow, this looks amazing,’ Izzy said, staring at the display of king prawns, moules, oysters, whelks, and a lobster and dressed crab sitting on a bed of crispy lettuce.

  ‘Enjoy,’ she said smiling at them both. She seemed unsure whether to say something further and then added, ‘This is your first date?’

  Izzy shook her head. ‘No. We’re not on a date,’ she laughed.

  Ed stared at the waitress pointedly, smiled, and asked, ‘Why do you think we’re on a first date?’

  The waitress hesitated, then said. ‘You, er, look a little shy, but both very happy to be with each other.’

  Izzy hated the thought that her shyness was so obvious. It hadn’t occurred to her that Ed ever looked remotely shy or awkward.

  ‘No, we’re just friends out for a meal.’

  The waitress looked at him and smiled. ‘Of course, I am mistaken. Please, forget me and enjoy your food.’

  She walked away and Izzy stared after her before turning her attention back to Ed. ‘Do you really think we look uncomfortable with each other?’

  ‘No,’ he soothed. ‘She probably noticed me looking a little less sure of myself than I usually do.’

  Izzy was taken aback by his comment. ‘I didn’t realize you two had met before.’

  ‘Not to talk to, but I have been here a few times with my godfather and I think even with Alex once or twice, so she probably notices a difference in my behaviour.’ He laughed. ‘Then again, I’m bound to be a little different when I’m with a lady to when I’m having dinner with those two.’

  Izzy smiled. ‘Yes, you’re probably right.’ She looked at the sumptuous plate of seafood. ‘Tuck in,’ she said, ‘I’m still deciding what to have first.’

  ‘I think we should both have some of this,’ he said lifting half a lobster onto her plate with his fork and a knife and then the other half onto his own. ‘It looks so fresh.’

  She watched him and sensed the waitress watching them. Looking over at her, Izzy smiled. She didn’t blame the woman for watching Ed over the summer – after all, she’d been doing the same thing for the past couple of weeks.

  The meal was delicious and getting to know Ed a little better was interesting. ‘I can’t believe you spent time working on a ranch in Arizona,’ she said after he’d paid the tab and was walking with her back to the Land Rover.

  ‘I was seventeen, and I suspect my parents thought I was too young to be getting serious with Marie and needed to be sent somewhere where I’d be exhausted each day and unable to get into trouble at night.’ He held the door open for Izzy, helped her inside and got into the driver’s seat.

  ‘They meant business sending you that far away,’ she joked.

  ‘You’re not kidding.’ He put the key in the ignition, started the engine and drove off. ‘The ranch was about fifty miles away from the nearest town.’

  ‘Sounds tough.’

  He nodded. ‘Yes, but I did end up enjoying myself. I loved the scenery and was able to go out each evening with Angel, one of the guys who worked on the ranch. He was a fascinating character and taught me how to lasso cattle.’

  Izzy pictured
a young Ed out riding in the sunshine. ‘Wow. The most exciting job I had was a Saturday job working at a newsagents.’

  ‘That doesn’t sound too bad,’ he said as they reached the top of the hill before turning down towards Rozel Bay and the cottage.

  ‘It wasn’t; I could read all the magazines for free. It saved me a fortune.’

  Ed laughed. They continued in companionable silence for a while, till he broke it.

  ‘So, when can we do this again?’

  ‘I’m free most evenings,’ she said, wishing she sounded a little less available. ‘I mean, we’re so busy in the daytime that I tend not to do much at night.’

  ‘That’s good to hear.’

  ‘That I’m unpopular?’ she joked.

  ‘No, that now you’ve told me your diary is fairly free, so you can’t refuse to come out with me.’

  ‘I can always refuse,’ she said giggling.

  ‘True, but I’m hoping you won’t.’

  He had to park up the road from the cottage in the nearest available parking space. ‘How do you two cope when you need to bring the van closer to the cottage to load it in the summer?’

  She opened the door to get out. ‘We park outside the cottage. Our neighbours know we won’t be stopping there for long, so we don’t usually have a problem.’

  He walked with her down to the cottage. ‘I’ve enjoyed today very much,’ he said.

  ‘Me too.’

  They reached the front door and seeing the lights were still off, Izzy dug around in her small bag for her front door key. She located it and turned to him. ‘Would you like to come in for a coffee?’ she asked, looking over her shoulder.

  ‘Yes, that would be lovely.’

  Izzy couldn’t help wondering if Jess was back yet. She unlocked the door and walked in. ‘Take a seat in the living room and I’ll put the kettle on.’ She went to the kitchen and took two mugs from the cupboard. ‘I’m afraid we’ve only got instant left,’ she shouted, aware that he was probably used to proper coffee.

  ‘That’s great.’

  She made the coffees and carried a mug each into the living room. ‘Sugar?’

  ‘No thanks.’

  She sat down in the chair next to the sofa where he was sitting. ‘So, when are we going out?’

  He laughed. ‘You tell me. I’m pretty flexible.’

  ‘How about next Friday?’ she suggested.

  Ed frowned. ‘That’s over a week away. How about Sunday? If you’re not too shattered after Lacey’s wedding celebrations.’

  ‘OK, great.’ She was glad he’d brought the date forward. She didn’t want to be the one to seem too eager.

  ‘Now we’re alone, Iz,’ he said, ‘I wanted to speak to you about France and what you think you saw with Catherine and me in that cabin.’

  Izzy lifted up her mug of coffee and blew on it. ‘I believed you when you explained about it before. I know she’s determined and difficult,’ she hesitated. ‘I have to admit discovering you and Catherine had some sort of history together was a bit of a shock.’

  ‘It was nothing, really.’

  He shrugged, believing him. ‘And finding you were married to the woman you still live near and work with was a little harder.’

  ‘Ahh, I can see how that must look.’ He rubbed his unshaven chin. ‘My relationship with Marie is completely different now to how it used to be and I admit that for a while I found that difficult.’ He stared at her to gauge her reaction. ‘I promise you, Iz, that we really are finished and have been for a long time. She’s a good friend of mine now. I wouldn’t be able to live at the manor with her there if I didn’t think she saw me the same way.’

  Reassured, Izzy smiled. ‘I believe you.’

  ‘Good, I’m relieved.’

  ‘We’ve all got a past, Ed,’ she said thinking about David, the man she’d thought she would be married to by now. ‘We’ve all been disappointed at some point too and I think it shows strength of character that you and Marie have been able to move forward with your relationship and remain friends.’

  ‘It does make life a lot easier,’ he said. ‘I can’t imagine my godfather would have us both living there if he thought there would be problems. He’s a private man who doesn’t like dramatic shows of hysteria.’

  It must be hard for him having a daughter like Catherine then, Izzy thought, but held back from voicing her feelings.

  He laughed.

  ‘What?’ She couldn’t understand what he found so funny.

  ‘You were thinking about Catherine, weren’t you?’

  ‘No,’ she fibbed. Then seeing his expression and that he obviously wasn’t convinced, smiled. ‘OK, I was. How can she be so unlike him?’

  ‘I think she takes after her mother rather than him. She was very …’ he considered his next words. ‘Shall we say, exuberant? I think she nearly sent him insane when they divorced, and she made such a fuss of the settlement he intended giving to her. It was fairly rough for him for a couple of years.’

  His voice trailed off and he reached out, taking her mug from her hands and placing it on the table. Then he took hold of Izzy’s hands and lifted them to his lips.

  Her stomach contracted at his touch and her heart began to pound more rapidly. She looked into his blue eyes and yearned for him to kiss her.

  ‘I want us to forget about both our pasts and everyone else and get to know each other, at least for the time I have left on the island.’

  ‘So do I.’

  He pulled her gently to her feet, took her in his arms, and kissed her. The pressure of his firm lips on hers was delicious. The heat of his body caused all the senses in her body to intensify in their reaction to him. She groaned as he held her tighter and their kissing intensified.

  Eventually they broke slightly apart, but he held her tightly. ‘Izzy, I …’ he began, his voice husky.

  ‘Oh, sorry.’ Jess was standing in the doorway.

  ‘You’re home!’ Izzy said, trying not to show how frustrated she was to see her friend. ‘We were just, um –’

  ‘I think it’s pretty obvious what you were both doing,’ Jess teased. ‘Sorry. I didn’t mean to burst in on you both.’

  Izzy reluctantly stepped back from Ed, feeling the warmth of his arms slipping away from her. ‘It’s fine, don’t worry about it.’

  ‘Liar,’ Jess whispered as she walked past Izzy to go to the kitchen. She stopped and turned. ‘Luke called, he’s not going to be able to come around tonight after all. He said he’ll rearrange coming here in the next few days.’

  ‘No problem,’ Izzy said, disappointed that they wouldn’t be discovering the contents of the mysterious room just yet.

  ‘I’d better be going anyway,’ Ed said, leaning forward and kissing Izzy on each cheek. ‘I’ll see you both tomorrow at the manor.’

  ‘Bright and at sparrow-fart,’ Jess said pulling a face.

  ‘She’s not a morning person,’ Izzy said, putting her arm round her friend. ‘Then again, I’m not that good if I’m honest.’

  ‘I love the mornings,’ Ed laughed. ‘Though it’s probably got something to do with spending so many years at boarding school and being woken so early.’ He looked at Jess. ‘What did you call it?’

  ‘Sparrow-fart,’ she repeated, making him and Izzy burst out laughing.

  ‘Yes, that’s about right.’ He walked over to the door and pulled it open. ‘Till tomorrow, then,’ he said, smiling at Jess and giving Izzy a lingering look.

  ‘Tomorrow,’ she said, looking forward to being able to see him again. It had been a busy but fun day, and one she couldn’t wait to repeat.

  ‘I think it’s all coming together nicely,’ Jess said, giving Izzy a hug once he’d gone.

  ‘What, me and Ed?’

  ‘Everything,’ Jess said, walking into the kitchen.

  Izzy followed her, a warm feeling coursing through her. She didn’t want to spend hours chatting so didn’t tell Jess about Ed leaving the island. ‘Yes, I think you could
be right. The business is back on track, thanks to Ed and the Seigneur, and we’re both happy.’ She pulled out a chair and sat down, watching Jess make a cup of tea for herself to take up to bed. ‘So, how was your afternoon and evening with my brother?’

  ‘It was awesome.’

  Izzy looked at her dreamy expression. ‘He kissed you, didn’t he?’

  ‘No.’

  She could see by the innocent look Jess was trying to give her that he had.

  Jess forgot her tea and pulled out a chair to sit down next to Izzy. ‘Oh, Iz, he’s so lovely.’

  Izzy groaned.

  ‘Oh, I knew you’d be like that,’ Jess said leaping up, grabbing hold of her cup and marching into the living room in a sulk.

  Izzy followed, annoyed with herself for not checking her response. ‘Sorry, Jess. I didn’t groan because I don’t want you to see my brother, but because I don’t trust him not to hurt you.’

  Soothed slightly, Jess looked at her. ‘Fine, but I’m a big girl, Iz. I’m not a teenager who sees a wedding at the end of every kiss.’

  ‘I realize that,’ Izzy said. ‘But you do like him, a lot. Even I can see that. And I just don’t want you to forget all those times girls have turned up at my mum’s house crying because he’d dumped them just when they thought things were getting serious.’

  Jess leaned back in her chair and sniffed. ‘I haven’t forgotten.’

  ‘But?’

  ‘I’m just hoping that maybe he’s grown up a bit and won’t be so quick to do that now.’

  Izzy hoped so too, but Alex would have to fall hard for Jess to be remotely reliable and not let her down. ‘I hope so too,’ she said. ‘What about Roman, I thought you liked him too? Maybe if you see him again you’ll realize you like him more than you do Alex?’

  Jess thought about this idea and took a sip of her tea. ‘Maybe, but I don’t think so. Anyway, I think Roman has his life sorted in France. At least Alex is over here and I know he’s fun and won’t be going anywhere.’

  Unlike Ed, Izzy thought, her mood dipping. ‘Apart from travelling for competitions, Jess,’ she said. ‘Don’t forget that. And we both know that Alex attracts a lot of attention from girls who follow the surfers on the tours.’