The Hen Party

by Cathy Bramley

  About the Book

  Escape to the seaside with Part Two of a brand-new four-part serial set on the Devon coast, from bestselling author Cathy Bramley.

  Just a few weeks in Brightside Cove and Nina has already started to forget the life she’s left behind. But London is calling – lots has happened in Nina’s absence and her exit has left the world of drama completely abuzz. Despite what she thought, it isn’t yet curtains for her character on Victory Road.

  But things are far from settled at Brightside Cove. Theo has been acting strangely and even Mittens, the tiny kitten, hasn’t cheered him up as he desperately struggles to deal with the terrible events of the past. With everything that’s happening, can Nina spare the time to save her friend and his business?

  She hasn’t got long to consider, her two worlds are about to collide. The serenity and beauty of Brightside cove is about to be shattered by a chattering of hens.

  Contents

  Cover

  About the Book

  Title Page

  Previously in A Match Made in Devon …

  Dedication

  Part Two: The Hen Party

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  The Thank Yous

  The Frenemies

  About the Author

  Have You Read?

  Copyright

  Previously in Part One of A Match Made in Devon:

  Nina Penhaligon always dreamed of being a star … but she’s yet to see her name up in lights. Her most recent character – Nurse Elsie on Victory Road – is about to be killed off (!) and her next role (and agent) have been unceremoniously stolen by a fellow actress. Her act of revenge brought short relief and came at a high price …

  Forced to flee London, Nina finds refuge with a long lost friend, Theo, who has also fallen on hard times. He and his wife started Brightside Holidays to overcome the grief of losing their daughter but it isn’t exactly going to plan … and now he’s all on his own.

  Nina might be the only person that can save Theo and Brightside Holidays from ruin. But the season has already begun and guests have started to arrive. Can Nina and Theo continue to make their unannounced visitors welcome and their last minute holidays a success?

  With so many things up in the air, Nina has some important decisions to make. Will she return to the bright lights of London? Will the fickle world of showbiz want her back if she does?

  For Gregory Carven, Hans van Eenennaam and John Dulos. We owe you everything.

  PART TWO

  The Hen Party

  Chapter 1

  All my life I’d secretly yearned to one day put on such a poignant performance that the audience was so blown away, so in the moment, that it was incomprehensible to them that I was only acting. It would be the turning point in my career, the role that propelled me into household-name status, an actress people remembered. So that maybe, possibly, the person who’d long since forgotten me might feel compelled to seek me out.

  Never once did I daydream that a video of me blurting out Victory Road ’s cliffhanger, tipping ice on Cecily Carmichael’s head and punching my ex-agent Sebastian in the stomach would make me famous. The quarter of a million views on YouTube, the internet memes and the 10,000 new followers on my Facebook page were not a source of pride; I was mortified.

  ‘So, Nina, thank you for agreeing to talk to Entertainer’s News.’ Ross Whittaker stared wolfishly at me. ‘Again.’

  I was back in London. It was Saturday lunchtime in the middle of April and outside the skies were blue but inside Ginny Walsh’s office the atmosphere crackled as if there was an electric storm on its way. My insides were feeling pretty stormy too. This press interview, organized by Ginny – who clearly despised me for several reasons, including being hoiked back into work at the weekend – was an exercise in damage limitation. If I managed to pull this off, I really did deserve an Oscar.

  ‘My pleasure,’ I replied, inclining my head. ‘It was the least we could do given the prank we pulled on you.’

  I hoped he couldn’t spot the line of perspiration on my forehead from the other side of the table.

  ‘So you’re sticking to the April Fool line, then?’ Ross sneered, as if the whole thing was a farce.

  Which incidentally it was. But Ginny, the head of publicity for Victory Road, was adamant that the only way to get me out of this PR fiasco was to lie. And because I was firmly in everyone’s bad books, Maxine, the show’s director, had advised me to toe the party line.

  Ginny batted her eyelashes. ‘Now, now, Ross. Let’s all play nicely.’

  She passed an official statement to him across the desk; he ignored it. I didn’t blame him; it was pure fluff.

  ‘Nina, please tell Ross what you told me,’ said Ginny in clipped tones. ‘And then we can put these silly rumours to bed once and for all.’

  Ross leaned his elbows on the table and fixed his eyes on me as I cleared my throat.

  ‘Sorry, Ross,’ I said, my tone contrite, ‘but Cecily and I played a joke on you. The whole thing was a set-up.’

  ‘I’ve seen Cecily act.’ Ross rubbed his nose as if hiding a smile. ‘She’s not normally that good.’

  I sucked in my cheeks, trying not to react. ‘I bet her she wouldn’t go through with it.’

  Ginny coughed.

  ‘When I say, bet,’ I corrected swiftly, ‘I mean that I offered to make a charity donation if she let me tip ice over her.’

  I had sent her a message via Twitter to this effect last night, offering my sincere apologies and offering to donate money to her nominated charity. No reply so far.

  Ross narrowed his eyes. ‘So you did it for charity?’

  ‘Exactly,’ Ginny beamed. ‘So, moving on—’

  Ross held up a hand to silence her. ‘But Cecily has got the part you went for in Mary Queen of Scots? Aren’t you annoyed about that?’

  ‘Not at all.’ I frowned, feigning confusion. ‘I could never have taken that part because of my … other filming commitments.’

  His eyes locked on to mine. ‘But not for Victory Road?’

  I licked my lips, not breaking eye contact. ‘Yes. In fact, I’m due in the studio next week.’

  ‘So,’ he leaned closer, ‘Nurse Elsie is not dead?’

  The beads of sweat on my forehead were surely the size of golf balls by now. I glanced at Ginny, who shot me a pinched look. Ever since I’d arrived in her office this morning she’d adopted this martyred expression, as if I was making her life impossible. She wasn’t fooling me. Her pupils were dilated and there were two pink spots on her cheeks; she might hate me but she was loving the drama.

  ‘I can confirm that Nina still has scenes to shoot, Ross,’ she said, making cow eyes at him. ‘You’ll have to draw your own conclusions from that.’

  Ross thumped his fist on the table. ‘So what can you tell me, then? You disappeared to,’ he glanced at the press release for the first time, ‘Devon? What were you doing there, rehab? A love tryst?’

  My eyebrows shot up at that. The last thing Theo needed was to be romantically linked to me in the press. That would get Kate back from South America quicker than you can say divorce settlement.

  ‘I was resting,’ I said hastily, ‘I was overdue a break.’

  ‘So it was rehab?’

  ‘No!’ I stammered. ‘I was staying with a friend. Friends. Of my brother.’

  I glanced at Ginny for help. She was picking her nail.

  ‘A man? So there’s a man involved?’ Ross raised an amused eyebrow. ‘You’re blushing.’

&n
bsp; My jaw opened and closed pathetically until Ginny finally stepped in to rescue me. ‘We’re not dealing with Miss Penhaligon’s private life today, Ross,’ she said primly. ‘Now let me give you this DVD of exclusive Victory Road content. I’m sure we can trust you with the embargo …’

  I slipped away and left them to it, exhaling with relief. One ordeal down, next my meeting with Maxine …

  ‘I’m so sorry,’ I said, pale faced, as Maxine opened her office door. ‘I’ve made a huge mistake.’

  Dressed in her habitual black wrap dress and heels even on a Saturday, Maxine pushed her mass of grey curls off her face and scowled at me for what felt like an eternity. She had good skin, I noted absently, a bit sallow from spending too much time at work, but very few wrinkles around her eyes. I knew she must be about sixty, but she could pass for much younger. She was taller than me and had a sturdy matronly figure, and right now, with her arms folded and her eyes trained on me, she was absolutely terrifying.

  ‘We’re all allowed one mistake,’ she said finally, standing aside.

  I heaved a sigh of relief and entered her office. It was full of clutter: a wilted pot plant, piles of papers on every surface and a teetering in-tray marked ‘scripts’. Was there a part suitable for me in amongst all of those? I wondered. Probably not the time to ask, all things considered.

  ‘Made an almighty one myself once,’ she continued. ‘I lived in fear of the consequences for years before life went back to normal.’

  It was hard to believe that Maxine Pearce, so totally in control, could ever have made a mistake. There was a misty look in her eye and I was tempted to ask what she’d done; whatever it was, it obviously hadn’t held her back. But she waved me into a seat at her meeting table and carried on talking.

  ‘Shame you followed Sebastian Nichols’ advice and decided to hide in Devon,’ she said, switching on a coffee machine in the corner of the room. ‘It must have been awful for you.’

  ‘Hmm,’ I said noncommittally.

  I thought of Theo and me drinking coffee on his garden bench, the tang of sea in the air, watching the hens pecking amongst the grass; I remembered the shells I’d collected on the beach and splashing through the foamy waves getting my jeans wet. Awful.

  ‘And no mobile phone signal, you say?’ She pushed a cup of coffee in my direction.

  ‘None,’ I said, trying to keep the wistfulness from my face. Not being contactable had been very liberating once I’d got used to it, although I’d soon got back into the habit of checking my mobile every five minutes in case I was missing something. I’d be back at Brightside Cove in a heartbeat, given a chance. Especially as giving autographs to the small crowd gathered outside the studio doors this morning hadn’t been half as thrilling as I’d imagined. All they were interested in was where I’d been and whether Cecily really was going to press charges.

  ‘Maybe not all bad, then.’ Her brow furrowed as her own phone began to buzz. She grabbed it and turned it off. ‘As far as your ex-agent goes, I think he’s been blinded by Cecily Carmichael’s sexy image and forgotten that actresses need to have talent too. Have you spoken to him?’

  ‘Only via email,’ I admitted. ‘I’ll be looking for new representation. Sebastian has made it quite clear that Cecily is his priority from now on.’

  ‘He’ll regret having anything to do with that family eventually,’ she said darkly. ‘I know I did. Anyway, that’s his problem. But ask someone else for advice in future.’

  ‘There isn’t anyone else,’ I said, blowing on my coffee. ‘My brother is lovely, but he’s a businessman with no idea about acting. And I have no parents; my dad—’ I cleared my throat. I rarely spoke about him and don’t know why I’d even mentioned him. Maxine cocked an eyebrow. I carried on. ‘And my mum died a few years ago.’

  Although she would have been the last person I’d ask for advice about my career. She’d told me once in no uncertain terms that acting was a sordid profession. Adding in the next breath that anyway, with my physique, the best I could hope for was the chubby and cheerful best friend. It had been a relief to leave home for university at eighteen and be away from her negative vibes. I supposed I should have been grateful that she used the word ‘cheerful’. Within eighteen months she had died and never got to see me on television. I think she’d have loved Victory Road and would have been proud of me. That was all we really ever wanted from our parents, wasn’t it? Love and pride, a place in their hearts.

  Maxine was still regarding me intently and I held my breath, hoping she wouldn’t probe about my family.

  ‘I could never confide in my mother,’ she said with a shudder, echoing my own thoughts. ‘She had very set ideas on what one should and shouldn’t do. I had to wait until she’d passed away before I could truly be myself. Anyway, in future, if you’re ever in need of a mature ear, ring me. I’ll listen.’

  ‘Really?’ A lump in my throat appeared from nowhere. ‘Like a mentor?’

  She gave me a brief but genuine smile, which transformed her usual steely face. ‘Exactly.’

  ‘Thank you. So much.’

  She gave a quick nod to end the discussion and picked up a slim stack of papers. ‘Now would you like to know what Nurse Elsie has been up to while you’ve been away?’

  On Monday I was back on set. I’d spent the morning apologizing to everyone on the cast and crew as I’d encountered them and it was a relief to get down to work. In Studio Three it was the middle of the night, during the Blitz in February 1941, and I was in a hospital bed. I was in a white gown, with a white face and my head was swaddled in bandages. I had to look ill because I was in a coma. Which meant all I had to do in this scene was lie still.

  Handy really because I hadn’t got much sleep last night. Trudy had rented my room out to two male Korean foreign language students for a month, which meant I was having to share a bed with her. She had talked until midnight and then even talked in her sleep. But I was grateful to have a bed at all given my emergency flit from Devon on Friday. It was odd being back; Trudy’s flat no longer seemed like home. With one Korean making a huge spicy mess in the kitchen and another Skyping his entire family at full volume in my old bedroom, it felt cramped and stuffy.

  Even having a bath had been difficult; someone had draped their wet washing over every surface and a row of misshapen T-shirts hung damply from the shower rail. I thought longingly of the big bathroom at Driftwood Lodge with its roll-top bath and its little window carved into the thatched roof with the view of the harbour in the distance …

  ‘Hey!’ Freddie Major, the man who played my boyfriend, Constable Ron, had arrived.

  My stomach flipped. I’d seen him across the canteen earlier but we’d not spoken yet. He, more than any other character, had been affected by me leaking the plot and I wasn’t sure what sort of reception I was going to get.

  ‘Nurse Elsie, as I live and breathe,’ Freddie said, bouncing on to my bed and rucking up the blanket.

  ‘My darling Constable Ron,’ I said casually. ‘Have you missed me?’

  ‘I have, actually. You’re not looking too hot, though,’ he said, peering at my white face. ‘You’re like that Lazarus from the Bible. Back from the dead.’

  I raised an eyebrow. ‘Maybe. Or maybe I am dead and we’re just shooting this scene to throw people off the scent.’

  ‘What?’ He gave me a quizzical look. ‘I just meant back from Devon. It’s gotta be dead there. You must be relieved to be back from exile.’

  ‘Um …’

  I didn’t get a chance to argue with him because someone shouted, ‘Quiet please,’ and I took some deep breaths ready for shooting to commence.

  Was I relieved? I’d always loved London: the energy, the bustle, the noise of it all and the feeling of being part of something exciting. And I loved my job, no doubt about that. But after two weeks with Theo at Brightside Cove, where the light was clear and the air was pure and the constant restlessness of the sea gave a different sort of energy to the rhythm of the d
ay, the city had lost a teeny bit of its sparkle. Plus, now I was allegedly famous, I spent my time scurrying around behind my sunglasses. I knew it wouldn’t last; someone else would do something outrageous next week and I’d soon be forgotten, but right now, for someone used to a quiet life, it was exhausting.

  Maxine shoved her phone into her back pocket and blew her curls out of her eyes. ‘And action,’ she called.

  I lowered my eyelids, keeping them slightly open so I could still make out what was going on.

  ‘Elsie, sweetheart, can you hear me?’ Freddie as Constable Ron pleaded softly. He slid further along the hospital bed towards me. Fake tears glittered in his eyes.

  ‘She’s had a serious blow to the head, Constable,’ whispered Becky Burton, from the other side of the bed. Becky played flirty Nurse Marjorie and was my best friend in the Victory Road cast. Or had been – she was a bit frosty with me because I hadn’t returned her texts when I was in Devon. She took my pulse and checked it against the fob watch pinned to her apron. ‘But the sound of your voice might bring her round. You can touch her, too.’

  I kept my arm heavy and lifeless as he clasped my hand in his.

  ‘If you can hear me, squeeze my fingers,’ he breathed over me.

  I stayed resolutely unresponsive.

  ‘Keep talking,’ said Nurse Marjorie, replacing a clipboard on the rail at the bottom of my bed. She paused to rest her hand on his shoulder, adding breathily, ‘Imagine how wonderful it would be to wake up to find you on the bed.’

  She batted her eyelashes at him and they shared a long look. Poor Elsie. How could Marjorie do that to her, they were supposed to be friends? The audience would be shouting at their TV screens.

  As soon as she had gone, Ron took a ring box out of his pocket. He held up a slim diamond engagement ring to the light and then slipped it on my finger, wiping a glycerine tear from his eye.

  ‘I love you, Elsie,’ he murmured, pressing a kiss to my nose. ‘You’re my girl and I’ll wait for you. As long as it takes. One day I will make you my wife.’