‘I hope that’s not your way of saying I’m plump, Sam,’ Bryony said.
Sam grinned. ‘It’s my way of saying you two are perfick together.’
‘We’ll need a bigger table soon,’ Frank announced.
‘Oh, no!’ Eleanor cried. ‘I like it like this. It’s so cosy.’
‘I like it too,’ Polly said, smiling at Jago who was sitting next to her.
‘Tell us some more of your travelling tales, Ben,’ Callie said.
‘Yes, yes!’ Archie shouted.
Ben cleared his throat and told them about the volcano he’d walked up, and about the South American trail he’d explored. As rhubarb crumble was served, he told them about some of the exotic dishes he’d eaten and the copious amounts of wine he’d drunk – just to be sociable, of course.
‘But one thing struck me wherever I went,’ he told them.
‘What?’ everyone said at once.
‘People’s hospitality. No matter where I was in the world, people made me feel welcome. Take one family in Italy, for example. I was staying with them when I was teaching in Rome. The parents were lovely and they had five children.’
‘Like us!’ Lara said.
‘Yes. I thought of them as the Italian equivalent of you guys,’ Ben said. ‘But there was one big difference.’
‘What was that?’ Jago asked.
‘They weren’t you.’
Silence greeted Ben’s statement.
‘No matter where I went or who I met, it wasn’t here and they weren’t you.’
Bryony felt as if her heart had stopped at his words and she could feel tears threatening as he squeezed her hand.
‘Oh, Ben!’ Eleanor said.
‘You old fool,’ Josh teased, trying to make light of the moment.
‘Maybe,’ Ben said, ‘but nowhere was quite like this. This feels like home to me.’
Bryony could see that he was visibly moved by this confession and she leaned towards him to kiss his cheek.
‘No more kissing at the table, please!’ Josh begged.
‘It’ll be you next,’ Eleanor warned.
‘That’ll be the day,’ Josh scoffed.
‘He’s married to his bookshop,’ Lara told them.
‘That’s right.’
‘I pity the poor woman who tries to come between you and your books,’ Frank said.
‘So do I,’ Josh agreed.
‘It’ll happen,’ Eleanor said. ‘Mark my words.’
Once lunch was cleared away and tea had been served in the living room, Bryony got up to check on the dogs. She loved being around them and was beginning to wonder if the time might be right to have her own. For a moment, she pictured her future with Ben. They could get a little place together and have a dog, just like Polly and Jago. She was just dreaming about the future as she let Brontë and Hardy have a quick run in the garden when she heard a voice calling her.
‘Sweetheart?’
Bryony turned around. ‘Dad!’
He crossed the lawn and enveloped her in a warm hug.
‘What was that for?’ she asked.
‘Do I need a reason to hug my own daughter?’
‘No, of course not!’
‘I’m just so happy for you,’ he told her. ‘I knew you two would find your way back to each other.’
‘You had more faith than I did,’ Bryony confessed.
‘You look happy,’ he told her.
‘I am,’ she said. ‘Happier than I’ve ever been in my entire life.’
They walked towards the end of the garden together, stopping to look back at the house. ‘I thought I’d lost him. Twice. But never again, Dad.’
‘He’s home to stay, isn’t he?’
‘He says so and I believe him.’
‘You can take the boy out of Castle Clare –’
‘But you can’t take Castle Clare out of the boy,’ Bryony finished. ‘It has a way of either keeping you here or drawing you back again, doesn’t it?’
They walked around the vegetable beds, her father telling her what he’d planted where and that’s when Bryony remembered Flo. It seemed an age since she’d seen her friend and so much had changed since she had.
‘I’ve got to go,’ Bryony suddenly announced.
‘Already? You mother won’t be happy.’
‘She’ll understand.’
They went back inside, gave the dogs’ paws a quick rub with a towel and walked back through to the living room.
‘I’m afraid we should get going,’ Bryony announced, nodding towards Ben.
‘Oh, darling, already?’ Eleanor said.
‘You’re not coming on the dog walk?’ Sam asked.
‘Afraid not.’
‘Where are you going?’ Lara asked.
‘To see Flo and Sonny,’ Bryony told her. ‘I feel awful. I’ve not seen them for ages and they’ve had so much going on.’
‘Ah, yes,’ her dad said, ‘that thieving nephew of hers.’
When Bryony had stayed at Campion House earlier that week, she’d told her parents about Flo’s recent trials.
‘What’s happening with that?’ Sam asked. He’d obviously been filled in by the family.
‘I’m not sure,’ Bryony said.
‘Well, let us know,’ Polly said.
‘I will,’ Bryony promised.
Ben stood up. ‘Thanks for a delicious lunch,’ he said.
‘Our pleasure, Ben,’ Eleanor told him. ‘We’ll see you next week?’
‘Of course you will,’ Bryony said. ‘And all the weeks after that too!’
Cuckoo Cottage had never looked prettier than on that May afternoon when Bryony and Ben arrived together.
‘Come in, come in!’ Flo said, ushering them inside with enthusiasm. ‘What a lovely surprise.’
‘Hello, Miss Lohman,’ Ben said.
‘Oh, Ben! How lovely to see you. And call me Flo, for heaven’s sake! My my, what a handsome man you are.’
‘He’s shaved his beard off,’ Bryony told her.
‘Ah! And you look good without it. Good with it too, mind,’ Flo said.
‘It wasn’t going down well with the women in my life,’ Ben confessed as they walked through to the kitchen, ‘and I decided that it had to go.’
Bryony smiled. ‘It tells me he’s home,’ Bryony said.
‘How’s that?’ Flo asked.
‘It was his travelling beard,’ Bryony explained, ‘and shaving it off means that he’s now home to stay.’
‘And you’re back together, I take it?’
‘We are,’ Bryony said.
‘Well, that is good news,’ Flo said, a huge smile on her face. ‘Oh, my!’
‘What is it?’ Bryony asked as Flo’s hands flew to her face.
‘What about that nice baker?’
Bryony could feel herself blushing. ‘I think he knew we’d never work out.’
‘Oh, dear, oh, dear.’
‘She’s a real heartbreaker, isn’t she?’ Ben teased, earning him a thump in the arm from Bryony.
‘I apologised profusely to him. I felt so awful.’
‘She apologised to me too,’ Ben said. ‘She’s very good at apologising.’
‘I’ve behaved very badly,’ Bryony acknowledged.
Flo moved towards her and hugged her. ‘You have a big heart, my girl. Never forget that.’
‘Oh, Flo!’
‘Ben – did she tell you what’s been going on around here and how she’s helped me?’
‘She did indeed. It sounds like you two could set up your own private investigation company,’ Ben said.
Flo laughed. ‘Well, I don’t know about that.’
‘Did you see Mitch?’ Bryony asked as Flo turned to put the kettle on.
‘I did. It wasn’t easy, but we’ve come to an understanding and Sonny is to stay with me from now on.’
‘Oh, that is good news,’ Bryony said. ‘And did you get your things back?’
Flo shook her head. ‘I let him keep them.’
‘Why?’ Bryony asked.
‘Because he let me keep Sonny.’
It was Bryony’s turn to hug Flo. ‘It’s you who has the big heart.’
Flo finished making the tea and they sat around the kitchen table.
‘There was one thing I told Mitch I wanted back,’ Flo said.
‘What was that?’ Ben asked.
‘My grandmother’s gold locket. But I don’t suppose I’ll see that again. He said he’d sold it.’
‘You really should call the police,’ Bryony said.
‘No, no,’ Flo insisted. ‘It’s all done now. Time to move on.’
It was then that Sonny came in from the garden.
‘Hello,’ he said as he saw them all sitting there.
‘Hello, Sonny,’ Bryony said, noticing the difference in the boy at once. He looked happy, confident even, and he was holding a couple of eggs in his right hand.
‘Sonny, come and meet Ben,’ Flo said.
‘Hello, Sonny,’ Ben said.
‘Hello,’ Sonny said. ‘Would you like an egg?’
‘That’s very kind of you,’ Ben said with a laugh.
‘I’ll get you a box to take some home,’ Flo told him.
‘What’s happening with that neighbour thief of yours?’ Bryony asked, thinking of the pale bony hand which popped through the hedge to steal Flo’s eggs.
‘Didn’t I tell you?’ Flo said. ‘He’s stopped stealing. I told him I’d set man traps all around the garden and he was liable to get his hand stuck in one of them if he kept poking them through the hedge.’
‘You didn’t!’ Bryony said with a nervous laugh, not knowing whether to believe her or not.
‘I jolly well did! And do you know what? Shortly after that, the donkeys stopped braying. It’s the strangest thing. They don’t seem bothered by the trumpet anymore. I actually have a suspicion that they’re in love.’
‘Belle and Beau in love?’ Bryony said. ‘That’s so romantic!’
‘Perhaps donkeys in love don’t bray,’ Flo said. ‘Anyway, problem solved.’
It was then that they heard a knock at the door.
‘Just a minute,’ Flo said, getting up and walking through to the hallway. A moment later, she came back into the kitchen. ‘Someone’s just posted this.’ She was holding a padded envelope.
‘What is it?’ Sonny asked.
Flo opened it and reached inside, gasping as she took out a small blue box and opened it.
‘It’s the locket,’ she said, her eyes misting with tears. ‘My grandmother’s locket.’
‘The one Mitch stole from you?’ Bryony asked.
Flo nodded and took the locket out of the box, opening it carefully.
‘Grandma,’ she said, her fingers hovering over the image of her beloved relative.
Bryony and Ben stood up, looking over Flo’s shoulder at the old sepia photograph in the locket.
‘She’s beautiful,’ Bryony said.
‘She’s home,’ Flo said. ‘Just like you, Ben.’
Ben smiled and Sonny walked up to Flo, hugging his arms around her waist.
‘It’s wrong to steal,’ he said. ‘I told Dad that.’
‘Yes, darling,’ Flo said, bending to kiss the top of his head. ‘It’s wrong to steal.’
Ben cleared his throat. ‘There is one exception.’
‘What’s that?’ Flo asked.
Ben took Bryony’s hands in his and looked into her eyes, making her feel giddy and gorgeous and so very loved.
‘You can have your heart stolen,’ he said, ‘and that can’t be wrong because it feels like the most wonderful thing in the world.’
The Book Lovers Series
The Book Lovers
Rules for a Successful Book Club
Natural Born Readers
Christmas with the Book Lovers
About the Author
Victoria Connelly is the bestselling author of The Rose Girls and The Book Lovers series.
With over half a million sales, her books have been translated into many languages. The first, Flights of Angels, was made into a film in Germany. Victoria flew to Berlin to see it being made and even played a cameo role in it.
A Weekend with Mr Darcy, the first in her popular Austen Addicts series about fans of Jane Austen has sold over 100,000 copies. She is also the author of several romantic comedies including The Runaway Actress which was nominated for the Romantic Novelists' Association's Best Romantic Comedy of the Year.
Victoria was brought up in Norfolk, England before moving to Yorkshire where she got married in a medieval castle. After 11 years in London, she moved to rural Suffolk where she lives in a Georgian cottage with her artist husband, a springer spaniel and her ex-battery hens.
If you’d like a free ebook and to hear about future releases, sign up for her newsletter. She’s also on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
www.victoriaconnelly.com
Also by Victoria Connelly
The Book Lovers
Rules for a Successful Book Club
Natural Born Readers
Christmas with the Book Lovers
The Heart of the Garden
Love in an English Garden
The Rose Girls
The Secret of You
Christmas at The Cove
Christmas at the Castle
Christmas at the Cottage
The Christmas Collection ( A compilation volume)
A Summer to Remember
Wish You Were Here
The Runaway Actress
Molly’s Millions
Flights of Angels
Irresistible You
Three Graces
It's Magic (A compilation volume)
A Weekend with Mr Darcy
The Perfect Hero (Dreaming of Mr Darcy)
Mr Darcy Forever
Christmas With Mr Darcy
Happy Birthday Mr Darcy
At Home with Mr Darcy
One Perfect Week and Other Stories
The Retreat and Other Stories
Postcard from Venice and Other Stories
A Dog Called Hope
Escape to Mulberry Cottage (non-fiction)
A Year at Mulberry Cottage (non-fiction)
Summer at Mulberry Cottage (non-fiction)
Secret Pyramid (children’s adventure)
The Audacious Auditions of Jimmy Catesby (children’s adventure)
Acknowledgements
Thanks, once again, to the great team who help put my books together: Roy, Catri, Jane and Jan. Also special thanks to Ros Byam Shaw and her wonderful book Perfect English Farmhouse which inspired the braying donkeys in this novel.
Natural Born Readers (The Book Lovers 3) Page 23