The Oddest Little Cornish Tea Shop: A charming and quirky romance for the beach
Page 12
‘No.’
‘Some concussion, perhaps. Better be careful.’ He held out his hand. ‘Here, let me help you.’
‘I’m fine, honestly.’
She swung her legs out into the ditch and attempted a dismount. But her legs had other ideas, melting away as soon as she put weight on them. ‘Oops.’
‘Gotcha.’
He caught her in his arms. Gosh, they really were very strong, muscular arms. This guy must be constantly in the gym, pumping iron. She gazed up into those blue eyes. Was he laughing at her?
‘It wasn’t my fault,’ she said, a little defensive. ‘Did you see it?’
‘See what?’
‘The … ’ Sophie might be a townie, but she felt sure reindeer were not exactly a common sight in these parts. She doubted there were many freely roaming the byways of England. Maybe none. ‘The deer. Did you see it?’
Something flickered in those blue eyes. ‘I saw it.’
She wanted to ask if he’d seen a reindeer. But did not quite dare. He might suspect concussion then for sure.
Effortlessly, he swung her free of the car and onto firm ground. ‘I’m Mark Fisher,’ he said. ‘What’s your name?’
‘Super Sophie,’ she said, then flushed. She could have bitten her tongue out. How stupid that must have sounded. ‘Sorry, that was my nickname at school. I’m Sophie. Sophie Soper.’
His mouth twitched. ‘Good to meet you, Sophie.’ He glanced down at her low heeled boots. ‘I hope those are comfortable.’
She frowned.
‘It looks like we’re in for a long walk,’ he pointed out, glancing back the way she had come. ‘Are you a local?’
‘No, I’m here for a conference.’
His head turned, and he stared at her. ‘Not the Time Management and Efficiency Conference?’
‘TME, yes. Why?’
He dragged a sheet of paper from his coat pocket. She recognised at a glance the headed paper. ‘I’m a delegate too.’
Sophie reached back into her car, located her handbag – careful not to overbalance on the edge of the ditch – and kicked the door shut.
‘Well, at least we can still get there in your car.’ She fished her phone from her handbag, and made a face. ‘No signal. I’ll have to ring for a tow-truck once we reach the conference hotel.’
There didn’t seem to be much point locking the car, given its state. But she did anyway. All four indicators flashed as it locked, and by the bright orange light she saw what the dark had been hiding.
‘Erm, about that …’ he said, looking ruefully in the same direction.
His black BMW had ploughed into a tree. The front bonnet was not quite staved in, but the broad trunk had made quite an impressive dent. As he shifted the torch beam across the road, she saw how bad the damage was. Steam was rising from under the bonnet, and she could smell burning rubber. He must have been braking hard when he hit the tree.
‘Oh my God. It’s a miracle you walked away unscathed.’
‘I hurt my thumb,’ he said.
She was not sure if he was being funny or not.
‘How about you?’ Mark asked again, shining the light intrusively up and down her body. She blinked, putting a hand up against the light. ‘You seemed a bit wobbly just now.’
‘Shock, that’s all.’
‘I don’t suppose you passed a garage on the way.’
‘I didn’t come that way, unfortunately. I was lost.’ She pointed back down the road a few hundred yards. ‘I’d just done a three-point turn, and was heading back towards the main road when … ’
‘You saw a deer.’
His tone made her stiffen. ‘You saw it too.’
‘I saw … something.’
Sophie folded her arms. It was bloody cold. And getting colder by the minute. ‘Have you got a phone?’
‘No signal.’
‘Well, perhaps another car will come along soon.’
‘Perhaps.’ Mark sounded unconvinced. His voice deepened. ‘You look pale. Are you sure – ’
‘I told you,’ she said sharply, ‘I’m fine. There’s nothing wrong with me that a warm bath and a large glass of red wine wouldn’t sort out.’
‘Okay.’ He shone the torch beam back down the way they had both come. ‘Look, I think I passed something back there.’
‘Something?’
‘A shop sign, with an arrow.’
‘But no shop?’
‘It must be off the road. Probably a short walk through the wood.’ He shone the torch between the dark trunks as they automatically began to walk in that direction, side by side. ‘I saw a track.’
A thought hit her. ‘Turn right on road.’
‘Sorry?’
‘I thought my Sat Nav was broken.’ Silently, she apologised to the annoying disembodied voice. ‘It kept insisting there was a road through the woods, and that the conference was that way. But I couldn’t see a road.’
‘That’s because it hardly qualifies as a road.’ Walking briskly, they had reached the dark road, headed by a hand-painted sign sunk into loose soil at the side of the road. ‘Damn. Doesn’t sound very promising.’
Sophie studied the sign. In wonky orange letters it read: GINGERBREAD SHOP, OPEN.
‘Open,’ she said, and checked the time on her phone. It was coming up to half past five. ‘Not for much longer though, I imagine.’
Mark turned off the torch. The world became pitch-black. Sophie held her breath, spooked out by the stillness and loneliness of this forest road.
He peered between the shadowy trunks.
‘Look,’ he said suddenly. ‘There’s a light down there. About five hundred yards away. See that?’
There was indeed a light in the woods, flickering uncertainly at a distance, like a hanging lantern caught by a breeze. Except there was no breeze.
‘Right, come on,’ Mark said, and set off down the track without waiting for her.
She did not move.
Glancing back over his shoulder, he frowned at her stillness. ‘Sophie? You not coming?’
Sophie was abruptly aware that she was alone on an empty road at night with a man about whom she knew next to nothing. Except that he had fabulous biceps. And now this stranger-danger companion was suggesting they plunge deep into the woods themselves.
‘Erm …’
Mark tilted his head questioningly, and then strolled back towards her. He was not stupid, she had to give him that. His voice dripped sarcasm. ‘Let me get this straight. You think I rammed my BMW into a tree on the off-chance that a sexy female would stop to help me, so I could drag her into the woods and, what, molest her?’
Put like that, it did sound silly.
‘Maybe,’ she said.
‘Trust me, I could molest you just as well at the side of the road. I wouldn’t need to lure you into the woods to do that. In fact, Super Sophie, if I were the molesting type, I could molest you right here and now. And there wouldn’t be a damn thing you could do about it.’ Again his voice deepened. ‘Do you need a demonstration of just how easily that could happen?’
Oh bloody hell. Perhaps she ought to run away while she still could ...
Sophie glanced back at where they had left the cars, wondering how often cars passed along this road, and caught a brief glimpse of something moving in the trees on the opposite side.
Something large and stealthy.
‘What is it?’ he asked at once, his eyes narrowing. He shone the torch in the same direction, its bright beam penetrating the darkness.
She stared, her heart thudding.
‘I thought I saw … ’
The torch beam picked out frosty-looking tree trunks, one by one. There was nothing else there. Just a dark wood. Ancient trunks. Silence.
‘Nothing,’ she finished, trying to sound nonchalant. ‘I’m still a bit wired after crashing my car, that’s all. Okay, let’s go and find this Gingerbread Shop.’
‘Changed your mind?’ he asked drily.
I’m not staying here on m
y own, she thought, but would not give him the satisfaction of admitting she was a little scared.
‘No,’ she said calmly, ‘but you were right. There was a light down there. We both saw it. I can’t believe that shop’s open. Not at this time of the evening, out here in the middle of nowhere. But if the owner’s still about, it’s probably our best chance of finding a phone.’
‘Agreed.’
He held out his bare hand.
She looked at his hand, then at him. She never accepted a man’s help if she could avoid it. Not that she disliked men. She was simply too busy for such nonsense. Far too busy and far too independently minded.
Sophie swung her handbag over her shoulder and set off down the forest track, striding past him with her head held high. It might be too dark to accurately gauge Mark Fisher’s expression, but she’d heard the smile in his voice.
He was laughing at her.
Read more of THE ODDEST LITTLE GINGERBREAD SHOP here …
THE ODDEST LITTLE GINGERBREAD SHOP (Amazon UK)
THE ODDEST LITTLE GINGERBREAD SHOP (Amazon US)
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Other romances by Kindle All Stars author Beth Good (UK links):
The Cornish Colouring Book Club
The Oddest Little Book Shop
The Oddest Little Gingerbread Shop
The Oddest Little Chocolate Shop
The Oddest Little Christmas Shop
The Oddest Little Romance Shop
The Oddest Little Beach Shop
The Oddest Little Christmas Cake Shop
The Oddest Little Shop Trio
(a 3-story edition)
Beth Good also writes best-selling psychological thrillers under the pen-name Jane Holland.
Find the latest Jane Holland thrillers on Amazon UK now!