by Jill Mansell
“Really?” One perfect eyebrow was still raised.
“Really.”
“So if you were living with a girlfriend you were crazy about and one of your friends found out she was being unfaithful to you, you’re telling me you wouldn’t want to know? You’d rather carry on believing everything was fine, even though she’d actually been having sex with God knows how many other men behind your back?”
She was a lawyer. Arguing was one of her specialties, but Seth sensed there was more to it than that. He glanced over the balcony again and saw that Tom was now serving other customers, while Kit had perched on a corner stool and was busy checking his phone. He turned back to Dawn. “It’s happened to you.”
“It has. Only once, but that was enough.” Her tone was cool. “Discovering that my boyfriend at university had been sleeping with another girl was bad enough. But finding out that my flatmates had all known about it was fifty times worse. They didn’t tell me because they didn’t want to upset me. Well, guess what? They did. Because then I felt betrayed and stupid.” Dawn shuddered at the memory and reached for her drink. “So don’t you think Lainey deserves to know the truth?”
Did he? If he told her, and she and Kit broke up as a result, either one or both of them would leave Menhenick House, and everyone in the family would be furious with him.
Plus, what if Lainey were the one to go? What if she left the UK and he never saw her again? It didn’t bear thinking about.
“I still don’t think we should get involved,” said Seth.
“Let me hazard a guess. You’ve been on the other side of the equation.”
Oh, she was good. Yes, a decade or so ago, he’d been caught dating two girls at the same time. But that had been back when he was young. Nor was it the reason he didn’t want to get involved now.
He nodded. “Correct.”
“You’re a player. That’s what comes of being too good-looking.”
“I was a player. I’m older and wiser now.” He smiled slightly. “I’ve learned the error of my ways.”
Dawn raised her glass to him. “I’m very glad to hear it. But I still think Lainey deserves to know the truth about her boyfriend.”
Another glance at the crowd below showed Kit finishing his second drink and slipping away from the bar without looking back or saying goodbye to Tom. Busy on his phone, he began to make his way along the esplanade. Was he heading home to Lainey? Or setting off elsewhere? They couldn’t know.
Oh God, what a dilemma.
Seth said steadily, “Let’s wait and see how things go.”
Chapter 11
“Well?” said Kit the following evening. “Verdict?”
“Pretty.”
“Too pretty?”
Lainey paused. It was eight o’clock in the evening, and they were heading back to Menhenick House, having been for a scouting walk around the harborside so Kit could point Tom out to her. They’d been subtle about it, observed him from a distance while he’d chatted and laughed with the customers at his bar. In his black shirt and narrow trousers, with his chiseled cheekbones and mischievous smile, Tom had the look of a young Leonardo DiCaprio about him. And yes, he was at that level of extreme prettiness that warned you not to get involved if you didn’t want your heart dashed to smithereens, but everyone knew it wasn’t always as simple as that.
“Maybe, but it’s up to you.” She squeezed Kit’s arm as they made their way along the beach. “It doesn’t have to be anything too serious. You deserve a bit of fun.”
He nodded. “I do.” During their time in rural France, there’d been a distinct lack of opportunity to expand his social life. “On the plus side, pretty sure he’d be discreet.”
“Whoops, speaking of discreet…” Shielding her eyes and peering into the distance, Lainey recognized the taller of the two figures heading toward them.
Kit peered too. “Who is it?”
“Well, one of them’s Seth. Which makes me think the one in the red dress might be Dawn.” Lainey paused, remembering. “He asked me how I was this morning. Wanted to know if everything was OK.”
“Me too!” Kit looked surprised. “I thought he meant was everything OK with the apartment, so I told him the hinge had broken on the wardrobe door but that I’d fixed it. Then I got the feeling he hadn’t been asking about the apartment after all. What are you doing?”
“Putting my arm around you. Now you have to put your arm around me, so we look romantic. Like a proper couply couple.”
He gave her a playful dig in the ribs. “Whatever next? Sex on the beach?”
“Maybe not that. But you could give me a kiss. You know, just a little one.”
He laughed and pressed his warm lips against her temple. “They’re probably not even watching.”
But Lainey knew they were. As the distance between them lessened, she murmured, “Dawn’s stunning. Look at her hair. And her eyes.”
“Don’t feel inferior. You have hair and eyes too.” Pretending to spot them for the first time, Kit raised a hand in greeting and called out easily, “Hi, we weren’t sure if it was you!”
They were now near enough for Lainey to be able to see that Dawn’s swirly scarlet frock was made from peach-skin silk and clearly expensive. Up close, she was also even more stunning, with immaculate eyebrows and dark lashes that must surely have been extensions.
“How nice to meet you,” Dawn said when Seth had made the introductions.
“You too!” Lainey wondered what it must feel like to be so completely perfect from head to toe, although the intensity of Dawn’s gaze was making her feel a bit like a fascinating insect. Turning to Seth, she said, “How’s Majella?”
“Not great. It’s definitely one of her migraines.” Earlier that afternoon, feeling sick and headachy, Majella had taken tablets and retired to a darkened bedroom to try to stave off the worst of the symptoms.
“Poor thing. How horrible. I’ll check on her later, shall I? See if there’s anything she needs.”
“That’d be great, thanks. And she won’t be able to work tomorrow,” said Seth, “which means I’m going to need one of you to give me a hand in the office.”
The way Kit was currently fantasizing about Tom was pretty much the way Lainey had been doing her best not to fantasize about Seth. As she opened her mouth to volunteer him for the task, Kit said, “Well, we’ve got a truck delivering a load of flagstones tomorrow and I told the guy I’d take care of the unloading, so you’d better have Lainey.”
“Fine.” Seth nodded; it clearly didn’t make any difference to him either way.
“So where have you two been this evening? Anywhere interesting?” As Dawn asked the question, Lainey was aware of the miss-nothing gaze flickering over her from head to toe before moving on and doing the same to Kit. It was like being expertly assessed by an undercover police officer.
“We’re still getting to know St. Carys, just checking it out,” Kit said easily. “Exploring the bars and cafés, seeing what looks good.”
“We spotted a gorgeous little bistro up on Silver Street,” Lainey chimed in. “The food looked fantastic. We’ll definitely have to try it out some time.”
“Well, I’m pretty new around here too, so any recommendations are welcome.” Dawn glanced at Kit’s hand as he slid it casually around Lainey’s waist. “We’re on our way to the harbor for a stroll around. Anywhere in particular you think we should stop for a drink?” She was doing it again, eyeing them in that curiously intent manner that was so at odds with the ultra-casual tone of her voice.
“Come on,” said Seth. “I know plenty of places we can go.”
“Did you see the way she was looking at us?” said Lainey when Seth and Dawn were safely out of earshot.
“I did. And you know why, don’t you?”
Baffled, Lainey shook her head. “No. Why?”
Raci
ng ahead to avoid a clip around the ear, Kit called back, “She’s wondering what on earth a gorgeous specimen like me is doing with an ugly bird like you!”
* * *
“You’re an angel. And thanks so much for helping Seth out.”
“Hey, no problem. How are you feeling now?” Lainey placed the steaming mug of tea on the bedside table. Poor Majella was still looking dreadful, waxily pale and utterly wrung out.
“Well, I’ve stopped being sick and the worst of the headache’s over.” Even her voice betrayed her exhaustion. “I’ll spend most of today asleep. That’s the thing about migraine; they always follow the same pattern, so at least you know what you’re getting. By tomorrow, I’ll be fine.”
“OK, can I bring you anything else? How about some dry toast?”
“Nothing, thanks. I couldn’t face eating.” This time Majella managed a weak smile. “Just as well I’ve got a couple of days to recover before the big date.”
“You can always cancel if you’re not up to it.”
“No need. I’ll be back to normal by Thursday. Well, as normal as I’ll ever be. Jess is excited. She’s convinced meeting Justin is going to change my life. According to her, we’re a match made in heaven.”
“If you are, I’m taking all the credit.”
Majella’s smile broadened as she nodded in agreement. “It’s all thanks to your little pep talk. I feel like you’ve given me permission to find someone and get myself out of hibernation at long last. And won’t it be amazing if that someone turns out to be Justin? Who’d have thought it could be so easy?”
If anyone deserved that kind of luck, it was Majella. Lainey grinned. “Fingers crossed.”
* * *
The office, on the top floor of the house, was airy and bright, with views from the wide dual-aspect windows over St. Carys to the right, and directly ahead of them, Menhenick Beach. But Lainey was more distracted by the sight of Seth as he stood at his desk, leaning across it to double-check details on the screen of his Mac and continuing his phone conversation with a client.
From her position at the shaded end of the office, Lainey was ostensibly concentrating on collecting numbered pages from the printer and stapling them together. In reality, she was coming to the conclusion that if a hundred men were lined up in a row, Seth would be the most beautiful of them all.
She was also wondering if he’d come home last night or stayed over at Dawn’s place and walked back early this morning. OK, time to stop thinking about it, because the next step would be imagining him naked.
And that could cause all kinds of kerfuffle. Best not.
At midday, she brought coffee upstairs to the office. Since the phones were quiet, she asked Seth how the business had come about.
“I was at university in Bristol, studying economies and management.” He stirred his coffee and leaned against the edge of the desk. “In my second year, I moved out of the halls of residence into a basement flat in Clifton and took a part-time job in a travel agency in Clifton village. A man came in one day asking us to arrange a holiday for his family, who required help because they had two children with autism and a mother-in-law in a wheelchair. When he explained how much assistance they’d need, my boss said they couldn’t deal with that kind of situation; it was just too complicated. Which really upset the guy, so I offered to put together a holiday plan myself.”
“Brave,” said Lainey.
“Either that or stupid. It could all have gone horribly wrong. I did it partly because I felt sorry for him.” Seth added more sugar to his coffee and shrugged. “But mainly because I didn’t like my boss.”
“Good for you. And it went OK?”
“If it hadn’t, it’d be a bit of a rubbish anecdote.” Seth’s eyes were bright with amusement. “Yes, it went really well. And the family, the Sandersons, were over the moon because it was the first time they’d ever managed a holiday abroad. Four months later, they asked me to arrange another one, for them and their extended family, and that was a success too. Then a year after that, our branch was closed down and I was let go, so I took an evening job delivering food from local restaurants to people’s homes—like Deliveroo, but before Deliveroo was invented.”
“It never occurred to me that students from rich families would have to take evening jobs. Sorry.” Lainey shook her head. “Does that sound rude? I just assumed you’d get an allowance.”
“I think you’ve been watching too much Made in Chelsea.” He smiled briefly. “Anyway, I was taking a meal to a house on Royal York Crescent one evening when who should be walking past but Ted Sanderson. He said, ‘Good grief, lad, how many part-time jobs d’you have?’ So then I had to explain that the travel agency had closed down and I was delivering food now instead.” He paused. “Is this getting boring?”
“Are you kidding?” Lainey had been trying to carry on with addressing the envelopes piled up on her desk, but it was impossible to concentrate. She put down her pen and reached for her coffee. “I’m listening. Carry on.”
“So I went into the house to unload the boxes, and when I came out, Ted was still there on the pavement, not looking happy at all. He said, ‘Who’s going to sort out our holidays now, then?’ And I said that if he wanted, I’d carry on doing it for him. I felt sorry for him. He had tons of money, but his life was incredibly difficult, and it had made him tetchy. I gave him my contact details, told him to call me the next time he needed me to sort everything out. Two days later, he turned up on my doorstep with a proposition: if he put up the money and leased the premises where I’d been working before, would I be interested in going into business with him, setting up and running my own independent travel agency?”
It just went to show, you never knew when a small favor might be repaid with a far bigger one. Lainey said, “That’s amazing.”
“It was.” Seth nodded. “I took my finals a few weeks later, and we opened the business to the public a month after that. Ted wanted us to be able to provide everything anyone could possibly need, and he had a lot of contacts more than happy to spread the word. We’d collect our clients from their homes and get them to wherever they wanted to go. Any special requests, we’d arrange them. Any problems, we’d sort them out. We started thirteen years ago and made a name for ourselves with our bespoke holidays and second-to-none customer service. And that’s how it all took off. When the clients appreciate what you do for them, they recommend you to everyone they know. Most people don’t need us, but some really do. And they’re glad we exist.”
Lainey nodded; she’d already realized this. On the phone earlier, he’d been arranging a nurse and childcare for a young mother with MS and her three small children, who were embarking on a cruise of a lifetime to Australia. Other clients had no health problems but required assurance that every step of their holiday had been dealt with, leaving them with an experience that would be completely stress free. She said, “I bet Ted’s glad he ambushed you all those years ago.”
Seth grinned. “It ended up working out pretty well. I bought him out three years ago, when he and his family moved to Guernsey. But he still makes me organize all their holidays for them.”
“I should think so too. Oh dear.” Lainey had glanced out of the window to where Kit, stripped to the waist, was hauling the recently unloaded flagstones across the driveway and around to the side of the garage. “Look at his shoulders.”
Seth raised an eyebrow. “They’re…fine. You can tell he works out.”
It was her turn to smile. “I wasn’t asking you to admire them. I meant they’re getting burned.” Picking up her phone, she sent Kit a brief text: Sunscreen!
They saw him look at his phone, then twist around and peer up at the window to find them watching him. He gave a good-natured shrug and nodded before gathering up the next flagstone.
“Now he’ll tell me off for being a nag.” Lainey returned her attention to the envelopes; c
lients of Faulkner Travel preferred to be sent hand-addressed glossy brochures in the post, rather than links to internet sites online.
“And how are things going with you two?”
She paused, glanced up. “You asked me that question yesterday.”
“Did I?” Seth exhaled. “So I did. Sorry, just wanted to make sure you’re OK, happy working here, settling in, that kind of thing.”
“We’re fine. No regrets so far.” Lainey wished she could read his mind; it was nice that he cared, but the way he was looking at her was making—
“Woof woof woof, woof-woof.” The volley of barks blasting through the baby monitor signaled that a visitor had disturbed Ernie’s and Glenda’s sleep.
“Shall I run down and see who it is?” said Lainey, because from up here, the kitchen door wasn’t visible. But then came the sound of the door being opened and Richard’s voice saying, “Well, now, this is a surprise!”
Seth raised an eyebrow. “That’s the thing about living with my grandfather. When a visitor turns up, it could be absolutely anyone.”
Chapter 12
Thirty seconds later, they heard footsteps on the stairs. The next moment, the door to the office opened to reveal a fortysomething woman with wild rock-chick blond hair and a ton of sooty shadow and mascara lining her huge gray eyes. She was wearing torn jeans, an expensive-looking sea-green silk top, high-heeled crimson ankle boots, and half a dozen jangling silver bangles around her wrists.
The bangles were jangling because her tanned arms were outstretched and she was throwing them exuberantly around Seth.
“Darling!”
“Mum!”
So this was Christina Faulkner, which meant that she was actually in her fifties—older than she looked, then. Lainey registered the expression on Seth’s face, a mixture of fondness and exasperation, as he gave his mother a hug.
“What are you doing here? Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?”
“Because I wanted to surprise you! It’s more fun that way!” Turning to Lainey, Christina said, “Hello. Haven’t seen you before. Are you the latest girlfriend?”