Sophie turned to him, her eyes shy. A faint blush on her cheeks. ‘I’ve never told anyone that story before.’
Her vulnerability, her courage, made Alexander want to wrap his arm around her slim shoulders. To pull her closer. To hold her tight. Protect her from the big, bad world. Protection he knew she didn’t need. With all her independence, it would be an offer she’d reject, he felt sure.
‘It sounds like the perfect day.’ The words came out stilted as desire collided with common sense, leaving him out of sorts, unsure what to do next.
‘It was.’ Sophie’s face edged into his field of vision. ‘I don’t think about it often. They passed when I was very young. When I was five. In a car accident.’
It was like sharing that one memory had turned on a tap; here she was revealing another. One that must have been painful to tell him.
One he knew all the details of.
If Sophie found out he’d looked into her past, would she be angry with him? Hate him? Would she run him out of town? Complete with pitchfork up his bum and a fiery torch thrown after him?
Was saying nothing, pretending he didn’t know, worse? Was silence a lie? And was it right to lie by omission to someone who’d entrusted him with a huge piece of her past? Of her self?
‘I need to tell you something and it might make you… upset. Upset being an understatement.’ Alexander braced himself for a verbal beating. ‘But I know about your parents’ passing, and I could never forgive myself if I sat here pretending I was hearing about it for the first time.’ He gritted his teeth and waited for Sophie’s anger to hit him, full force.
Silence stretched, long and thoughtful. Followed by a soft exhale.
‘I’m not surprised,’ Sophie finally replied. There was no ire in her demeanour, just calm acceptance. ‘I guess looking into a person’s history when you’re planning to work with them is part of the job, right? Know who you’re dealing with before you talk to them? Something you’d have been taught to do by your father?’
‘Something like that.’ Alexander nodded. ‘It’s not my favourite part of the job, but it’s a must if I’m doing a business deal with someone. Better the devil you know and all that.’ He paused, not sure what else to say. He did what he did because he had to. Because it was expected.
‘At least tell me I wasn’t an easy mark.’ Sophie nudged him with her shoulder. ‘Admit it. I was a pain in the arse to research. I keep things tight.’
‘I spent far more hours researching you than I should have.’
He turned to Sophie to see her face fall. He cringed, realising how harsh he sounded. Like she was a waste of his time. When she was anything but.
‘That came out really wrong.’ He reached across the sand and took her hand in his. Squeezed it. ‘I’m sorry.’
Her gaze fell on their hands, but she didn’t break the hold.
‘How was it meant to come out?’
Alexander paused. Aware that what he was about to say could also be taken the wrong way. Afraid that if it was, their precious but tenuous connection would be broken.
‘I’m glad that you were a mystery because … And before I say what I’m going to say, you have to know this is not a line or me being dodgy, it just is what it is.’
‘Duly noted.’ Sophie’s eyes met his, and he saw humour in them. Curiosity. And a slight guardedness. Like she was bracing herself for the worst.
Alexander took a deep breath, exhaled. Forced the words, the thoughts, the feelings, from his mouth. ‘I’m glad I wasn’t able to find out much about you, Sophie, because it meant I had few preconceptions, and the ones I did have were completely wrong. And because of that I’ve really enjoyed getting to know you. You’re not like anyone I’ve ever met. You’re different, your own person, and that makes me interested.’ Alexander shut his eyes and groaned. ‘Okay, that sounded way creepier than intended.’
‘Actually, it sounded… perfect.’ The flush on her cheeks deepened. Her hand twisted in his, so their fingers intertwined. Held.
Her mouth moved towards his. Her lashes fluttered shut. He breathed in. Ready to blur a line that shouldn’t be blurred. Not caring that he was about to blur it.
‘Aunsof? Uncle Alex? Can we please bury you?’
Sophie jerked away, her attention snapping to Joe, whose little hands were pressed together, his eyes pleading. ‘Up to your heads?’
Bella jumped up and down, her hands mimicking her brother. ‘Please? Please, please, please? Say yes, Unca Alex.’
Alexander glanced at Sophie to make sure she was okay, that she wasn’t embarrassed by what nearly happened, but her focus was on the kids.
‘First of all, Alexander isn’t your uncle.’ Sophie reached out and pulled Bella into her lap for a cuddle. ‘Second, yes you can bury us. As long as Alexander has the time. We’ve probably taken up too much of it already, and I’m sure he has lots of work to do.’
Was it his imagination or did Sophie look relieved at the interruption? Like she’d been given a ‘Get Out of Jail Free’ card. Saved from making a mistake. Doing something she’d regret. As for all this talk of him being too busy? Business could wait. This was his first proper trip to the beach and being buried next to a woman who intrigued him more than any other had before was too good an opportunity to turn down…
Especially when a little girl and her brother had turned their big brown eyes on him and looked like they might cry if he said no.
‘Work can wait. This is my first trip to the beach, remember? And what would a beach trip be without a good burying? Then maybe afterwards we could go for a swim? What do you guys think?’
No confirmation was needed. Their little foot stamps and cheers of happiness said it all.
Alexander glanced at Sophie from the corner of his eye. Her lips were smiling but her eyes were cautious, like she didn’t trust herself to be around him too long.
His father’s stern face, his mother’s constant expression of expectance, flashed before him, reminding him of his duties, that he was meant to preparing Herring Cove for their intrusion, not swanning about in the sun.
Intrusion.
Was that how he saw it now? And was seeing it that way a betrayal of his father? Of his family? For their hopes and plans for him? For the company’s future?
Guilt threatened to rise, but he pushed it away. He had the rest of his life to do right by his family, but today he was going to make two kids whose father had taken off happy, and the warmth and fullness it created in his heart would carry him through the coming years of all-work and no-play. Of intruding on villages and towns that would rather be left alone.
‘In that case…’ He lay back in the sand, closed his eyes and crossed his hands over his chest mummy-style. ‘Get digging. I’m not going to be buried that easily.’
CHAPTER ELEVEN
‘Can we do that again tomorrow?’ Joe plodded along next to Sophie, his hand in hers, the other nestled in Alexander’s, Sophie noticed.
In the few hours they’d spent together these two had bonded, and Sophie could see that Joe already hero-worshipped Alexander. How could he not?
Alexander had been the perfect playmate. Letting the kids bury him up to his neck, then chasing them up and down the beach, before racing them into the water where they’d spent a good hour splashing and paddling.
‘I’d love to, Joe, but I need to work. Your Aunty Sophie’s got me building shelves, and after that a new sign and all sorts of things. Maybe another day?’
Joe nodded, his little face turning serious. ‘Maybe another day. And maybe another day we could go camping? Daddy always said we’d go camping one day. But I don’t know if he’s going to any more and I still really want to go camping.’
Alexander’s face as he looked down at Joe was wistful. ‘I’ve always wanted to go camping too. It looks fun. So yeah, one day we should.’
One day? Sophie went to reprimand Alexander. To tell him it was wrong to make promises to children that you couldn’t keep, but stopped herse
lf. The way he’d said it, something in his tone… a clarity, an honesty, solidity. Alexander sounded like he meant it. Like he would take the kids camping. Like he wanted to come back to Herring Cove. Or to never leave.
She shook the thought off. She was being silly. Reading too much into it. Alexander would have to leave Herring Cove. For good. He was the heir to a huge company. He had no choice but to go, even if the unbelievable, the unthinkable, were to happen and he gave up everything to stay.
Could one kiss make him stay? She closed her mind to the possibility. What had happened – nearly – on the beach was a potential transgression she had no intention of being part of again. She’d been an idiot to allow things to get to that level. A few sweet words and a moment of openness and she’d all but swooned into his arms.
And where did swooning get a girl? Nowhere good.
Sophie breathed a sigh of relief as they reached their homes. She opened Natalie’s door and herded the kids up the stairs, Alexander trailing in their wake.
‘Nat? We’re home. You decent?’ Sophie peeked around the corner to see Natalie lying on the sofa, a magazine in one hand, a glass of wine in the other.
‘Decent.’ Natalie set the book and wine down and stood up. ‘There are my babies. I missed you.’ Natalie dropped down to her children’s level and brought them in for a hug. ‘Did you have fun?’
Joe and Bella nodded their heads, their sun and wind-reddened cheeks high with delight, their smiles so wide Sophie half wondered if their jaws were in danger of dislocating.
‘Thanks so much, Sophie, Alex. It was nice to have the opportunity to miss them.’ She brought the kids in for another hug. ‘What do you say to fish and chips for dinner down at the pub?’ She looked up at Sophie and Alexander. ‘Would you two like to join us?’
A yawn overwhelmed Sophie. The combination of heat, sun and sea breeze along with weeks of worry and the excitement of turning the business round had drained her, more than she’d realised.
‘I’d love to join you, really, but my plan to do work at the beach didn’t quite pan out, so I’ve a night of loading up books to the online store ahead of me at home, and I want to solidify the last of the stalls for the Midsummer’s Night Market.’ Sophie turned to Alexander to tell him he could go without her, but he was already shaking his head.
‘Could I take a raincheck? It’s been a long day and I have to check my office email, then collapse into bed.’
‘Right then. Looks like it’s just us three.’ Natalie ran her hands through Joe and Bella’s hair, then waggled their heads a little, laughing as they ducked out of her reach. ‘See you tomorrow?’
Sophie leaned over and gave her a quick hug. ‘Of course. I’m not going anywhere.’
After Alexander waved goodbye to the kids, he and Sophie tromped down the stairs into the balmy evening air. Sophie breathed in the scent of the honeysuckle that weaved its way over the empty building across the road, which had once been a tea room and before that a bakery, and before that a butcher. Each venture had opened with enthusiasm, only for dreams to be destroyed as sales became scarce as the village shrank in size as people moved to bigger villages, towns and cities looking for greater opportunities, wanting more for their children or deciding the pace of a small fishing village wasn’t so much laid-back as flat-out boring.
She’d sworn she’d never let All Booked Up go that way. And yet she had. One bad decision. One bad choice. Putting her trust in the wrong person had seen her shop’s survival in peril.
She shivered, despite the night’s warmth. One giant mistake and she’d become so afraid to take another wrong step that she’d made no steps at all. But no more.
She squared her shoulders as she unlocked the shop’s door. Tonight she’d get a good chunk of the books loaded up, finalise the market, advertise her site through social media the way Ginny had shown her, and then she’d be up and running. She could reinvent All Booked Up without destroying its old school charm. She could, and she would.
A soft cough behind her made her jump. She twisted round to see Alexander rocking back and forth on his heels, his hands buried in the pockets of his shorts. ‘Alexander, you gave me a fright. I totally forgot you were there.’
‘Glad to know I’m that forgettable.’ He tipped his gaze to the sky and shook his head. ‘You spend a day with a girl, looking after two kids, and you become invisible. Who knew?’
‘Oh shush. I’m just excited to get the online shop up and running, to start making proper progress.’ She opened the door, then looked back at Alexander, who had restarted his rocking and was looking like a man who had nothing better to do, despite saying he had work to be getting on with.
A man who was waiting for an invitation to come in.
One she knew better than to extend.
‘Alexander, would you like to come in for a quick cup of tea, or maybe even a beer?’
So, of course, she was going to extend it.
If she could start making leaps of faith in her business, perhaps it was time to make leaps of faith in others too – and herself. To learn to trust.
Alexander ceased his swaying, a slow smile spreading over his face, revealing a road map of creases that splayed from his eyes over his temples. ‘I wouldn’t say no to a beer.’
‘But you would say no to dinner at the pub?’ Sophie indicated for him to follow her as she made her way through the shop and into the backroom to the door that led upstairs. She paused at the threshold. Was letting Alexander up into her space crossing a boundary between kind-of colleagues to… friends?
Because spending a day at the beach having deep and meaningful conversations that lead to a nearly-kiss is such a kind-of colleague thing to do?
She pushed the door open and began to climb. The barriers between them had been breaking down all day, and would have fully eroded had they not been interrupted by Joe and Bella. Why stop chipping away at the wall between them now?
Sophie reached the small landing. ‘This is me.’ She stepped inside and waved Alexander in. Self-consciousness prickled her. What would someone like Alexander, who was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, think of her cosy, simple space?
‘It’s perfect. It feels like a home should.’ He took another step in and ran his hand along the arm of her sofa, then perched on it. ‘And I didn’t want fish and chips because I’ve eaten enough junk today to last a lifetime.’
‘Those two kids. Terrible influences.’ Sophie laughed as she walked through to the kitchenette, opened the fridge and pulled out two bottles of icy lager, took the tops off, then walked them back into the lounge.
‘Here you go.’ She passed a bottle to Alexander, then took a seat on the sofa.
‘So about today…’ Alexander set the beer between his knees and fixed her with an intent stare. ‘I just wanted to say thank you for thinking of me. Including me. It was an almost perfect day.’
‘Almost?’ Almost because they hadn’t kissed and he wanted to finish what they started?
Sophie searched her mouth for a hint of moisture. Nope. None there. All gone. That’d make kissing him a desert-dry experience.
‘Having sand biffed into my mouth by overenthusiastic people buriers wasn’t my most favourite life moment ever.’ He grinned and took a sip of his beer. ‘But everything else was amazing. Everything I hoped a trip to the beach would be.’
‘It’s a pretty amazing spot to spend a day. Not that I’ve been to all that many other beaches.’ Sophie allowed herself to relax into the sofa. Alexander hadn’t misconstrued her invitation for a drink. Didn’t expect to pick up where they’d left off. It was just two friends having a chat after a busy day. ‘After my parents passed away my aunty came to look after me and run the shop. She wasn’t much of a beach-goer, and the shop took up a lot of her time. If I did go, it was with Natalie or Ginny and their families.’
‘It must be nice to have such close friendships.’ Alexander’s thumb circled the rim of the beer bottle.
‘I’m lucky. They
all but adopted me. They’re more like sisters than friends. We can be brutally honest with each other one second, squabbling the next, teasing each other mercilessly minutes later.’ Sophie grinned as she took a sip of her beer. ‘I wouldn’t be without them. They’ve made life bearable when it’s been at its toughest.’ Sophie bit her tongue so it would stop rambling on.
She’d shared enough with Alexander today. As much as she was comfortable with sharing. More than she’d intended, if she were honest. Talking about her family and friends was one thing, but to talk about the great mistake that was Phillip? She didn’t want to look weak or stupid in front of Alexander. Didn’t want to feel weak and stupid with a man ever again.
‘I like Nat and Ginny, they seem like good sorts.’ Alexander set his half-empty bottle on the ground. ‘And the way you describe your relationship reminds me of how my school friends’ siblings used to behave with each other. The ultimate love/hate relationships. One moment they’d be in a scrap, the next defending each other against the world.’
She felt Alexander’s warm and strong hand encasing hers. Again.
He held it close, snug. And it felt so right. Like she had his support. His respect. That he saw her as an equal, despite the difference in their background, in their upbringings. She almost believed she could trust him. Which was daft. She barely knew him, and the last time she’d dared trust a man he’d nearly ruined her life.
But Alexander wasn’t like Phillip. Phillip had hurricaned his way into her world. Whipping in, wooing her, moving in almost overnight. Promises of love and happily ever after. Everything her lonely heart yearned for.
Then just as quickly as he came, he was gone. No note. No sorry. Leaving her with not much more than the clothes in her dresser, the furniture in her home, and the books in the shop.
Alexander was the opposite of a hurricane. He’d been straight up with her from the start. As solid and dependable as the bookcases he’d built.
Her mind might caution her, might tell her to be careful, but her heart told her Alexander wasn’t a liar. Or a cheat. He was a good man.
The Little Bookshop at Herring Cove Page 11