‘Dog training? I said, nodding at Mabel, who’d abandoned stick-chasing and was now humping the man’s leg. I didn’t even know female dogs did that. I could hear my mother’s voice in my head: ‘Disgusting behaviour; look away, children.’
‘Excuse me?’ yelled the young man. ‘Can you sort your dog out, she’s not my type.’
We covered the last few yards towards the slipway and, much to the man’s relief, Mabel released his leg and bounded up to Jude.
‘And what type are you?’ Jude bristled.
‘A journalist.’ He thrust his card at us. Robin Barker, News Thirst Media Agency.
‘And you’re …’ He clicked his fingers three times. ‘Nina Penhaligon, the actress who chucked ice on Cecily Carmichael.’
I cringed. How long would it be before I was remembered for something I did on screen rather than off?
He scrabbled in his pocket for his phone. ‘Can I take a picture?’
‘Sure,’ I said flatly, knowing he’d take it with or without my consent. I raked my fingers through my hair in a vague attempt at looking groomed, but a gust of wind from behind reversed my efforts. Robin glanced at the pictures and shrugged.
‘Never mind, I’m actually looking for the Mermaids of Mayfair. Don’t suppose you know where I can find them? The pic in the Daily News must have been taken from about here.’
‘You mean Maidens of Mayfair.’
‘Nope.’ He handed me a newspaper. The photo Ruby had posted on Facebook took up half the page with the headline: Mermaids of Mayfair: Sexy Sapphire Spencer and her fellow maidens swap skin for scales at mystery seaside location.
No mention of Sapphire’s sister, Ruby; she’d be livid about that.
‘Took me ages to work out where they were. The lifeboat house gave it away in the end: I zoomed in on the auctioneer’s sign, googled the auction site, found the location and drove through the night.’
‘Why are you here?’ Jude folded his arms across his chest.
‘For an exclusive. I’m on a month’s trial with News Thirst. Come on, guys, I need a story. This could be my big break. I was at the Derbyshire Bugle before that, covering village shows, although I did once interview actress Lucinda Miller in a swimsuit.’ He winked at Jude who stared blankly back, none the wiser.
‘There’s been an embargo until now on Sapphire Spencer’s wedding,’ Robin continued, ‘but now My Dream Day has pulled out, there’ll be a scrabble to be the first newspaper to print proper details. I want it to be my byline.’
‘A wedding isn’t news. I can give you a better story,’ Jude scoffed.
‘Really?’ Robin’s eyes widened. He looked over his shoulder and took a step closer to Jude. ‘I’m all ears.’
‘Look behind you,’ Jude said in a low voice. ‘The Brightside Cove lifeboat house. The council is throwing away our heritage. Selling out to tourism. What about the people who live here twelve months a year? What about the legacy of our fishing communities? We must save it from falling into the wrong hands and you, Mr Barker, could be our champion.’
Robin looked quite taken with the idea of being a champion but then he scratched his head. ‘The thing is, I need a story with national interest.’
‘Oh, I see.’ Jude nodded irritably. ‘And a group of posh girls having a party ticks that box, does it?’
‘Sorry, mate, in my world,’ said Robin, scratching his head sheepishly, ‘yes.’
Jude made a growling noise. ‘Then your world is full of—’
‘They’re getting ready to depart as we speak,’ I said, interrupting Jude before steam started billowing from his ears.
Robin blinked. ‘How do you know?’
‘Look up there.’ I gestured up to the clifftops where two white limousines were gliding towards Driftwood Lodge. The girls would be frantically packing by now. I’d have loved to say goodbye myself; we’d had such a great weekend.
‘Arrgghh, I’m too late!’ Robin thrust his hands into his bed-head hair. ‘Disaster.’
‘You’re telling me,’ I muttered under my breath. ‘I should be there saying goodbye. Not down here skulking in the shadows, waiting until the coast is clear.’
Jude smirked. ‘That’s more like it.’
I stared at him. ‘You think I should have stayed at Driftwood Lodge instead of running off?’
His eyes sparkled. ‘And miss the hours we’ve spent together this morning? No way. But from the little I know of you, you seem feisty enough to fight your corner.’
I felt a glow of pride at his confidence in me. ‘I guess I panicked and … Well, let’s just say I’m not Theo’s wife’s favourite person. I thought it might be easier if I simply removed myself from the situation.’
‘And now you’ve changed your mind?’ Jude asked.
I took a deep breath. ‘It’s time to sort things out once and for all.’
Maybe I couldn’t save Theo and Kate’s marriage, maybe too much water had gone under the bridge for them ever to get back to where they were, but I would not stand by and be the reason for a divorce.
‘Robin, all is not lost, we’ve still got a chance,’ I said to the young journalist who was looking at his mobile phone dismally.
He looked up in surprise. ‘We?’
I nodded. Now that Sapphire’s exclusive deal with the bridal magazine was off, I might as well try to get some publicity from having celebrity guests. A piece in a national newspaper would increase bookings tenfold. ‘They’ll be ages getting their things together. Well, most of them.’ Catherine would probably be standing by the front door, bag packed and tapping her toe. ‘I can’t promise Sapphire will speak to you, mind you,’ I warned.
‘You’re a lifesaver.’ Robin punched the air and ran to his car. ‘Come on.’
I lingered for a moment, not wanting to leave Jude. ‘Thank you for everything, for last night and today. I owe you one.’
‘Nina?’ He caught hold of my fingers. ‘Did you mean it about helping me fight for the lifeboat house?’
I stared into those hazel eyes and felt a stirring in the pit of my stomach. Eliza was right: Jude was fiery, but his heart was in the right place and he seemed to be motivated by purely selfless reasons.
‘I did.’ I reached up and pressed a swift kiss to his cheek. ‘And did you mean it when you said that kiss we had was amazing?’
He flashed me a lopsided smile. ‘Do you need to ask?’
‘It’s the actress in me; I’m terribly needy.’
‘Then yes, it was,’ he murmured. ‘But, Nina, I must tell you—’
Robin tooted the car horn.
‘And it’s another cliffhanger ending,’ I said, pulling away reluctantly.
‘We’ll have to wait for the next episode.’
There was unfinished business between Jude Trevone and me, and I couldn’t wait to see what would come next.
Chapter 23
We bumped up the drive towards Driftwood Lodge and Robin parked next to the two white limos in the courtyard.
‘So, which cottage is the blushing bride in?’
He pulled the keys from the ignition and prepared to get out.
‘Might be better if you wait here,’ I said, unclipping my seat belt. ‘I’ll go and butter her up first, talk her into it.’
I got out of the car and looked around. It was chaotic here this morning. All the doors and windows of the cottages were wide open and the hen party girls were racing around like headless chickens scooping up phone chargers from the kitchen and single shoes from the garden and, oddly, a pair of skinny jeans from the roof of Kittiwake’s Cabin. One of the chauffeurs was pacing around with his mobile phone at arm’s length trying to get a signal and the other was polishing his chrome hub caps.
I couldn’t see Theo, which I was glad about. A few minutes to sort out Robin and gather my thoughts wouldn’t go amiss. Just then a flash of red hair caught my eye. Molly was here! My heart pitched; she was another person with whom I had to set the record straight.
She was
running from the cottages to the main house, her ponytail flying behind her and her arms trailing bedlinen and towels across the gravel. She stopped abruptly when she saw me.
‘Nina! You’re back!’
I steeled myself for whatever mood she was in as she marched briskly towards me; I still hadn’t quite got the measure of Molly, so far she had loved and loathed me in equal measure. She came to a halt in front of me.
‘Please.’ I held my palms up. ‘I’ve come to see Sapphire; I don’t want another argument.’
‘Nor me.’ She exhaled, her brown eyes just visible over her armload of laundry. ‘I’m sorry I jumped to conclusions about you and Theo. Again. My mouth runs away with me sometimes, as does my imagination. In my defence, I just really need to see their marriage work. It gives me hope that one day I might manage a serious relationship again. But I am very sorry that I called you a terrible actress and it’s me who’s the terrible friend. Please accept my apology.’
‘Apology accepted.’ I let out a sigh of relief, glad that was out of the way. ‘But you do know Kate’s asked for a divorce,’ I added. ‘Because of a picture of Theo and me on the Coastal Cottages website.’
She shuddered. ‘Yep. She’s supposed to be Skyping me tomorrow; I’ll talk to her about it then.’
I wondered why Kate hadn’t been in touch with Theo that way? If they’d been in contact with each other more regularly this whole misunderstanding could have been avoided. ‘Or maybe I should speak to her myself?’
‘Brave woman.’ Molly sucked in air, but smiled. ‘I think that would be awesome.’
‘I’m glad you came back to help after all,’ I said.
‘Theo called in a flap.’ Molly grinned. ‘New guests are arriving in the morning and without you here, he knew he’d never manage.’
I racked my brains. ‘But we don’t have any bookings tomorrow.’
‘There’s one new one,’ Molly filled me in. ‘Some guy from London, Theo said, Carl. He sounds like he could be a handful, requesting that all ceilings should be hoovered for cobwebs and the curtains removed from his bedroom window because he likes to wake with the dawn.’
I tutted. ‘Who does he think we are – The Savoy?’
Molly grinned. ‘And your friend Maxine has brought her booking forward; she’ll be arriving tomorrow too.’
‘Gosh, no wonder Theo’s panicking,’ I said. I couldn’t wait to see Maxine; I wanted to ask her advice about finding a new agent and get all the gossip from the Victory Road set.
‘Who’s he, by the way?’ She jerked her head towards Robin’s car.
‘A journalist wanting to speak to Sapphire. I’d better go and find her.’
Molly blew her hair out of her eyes. ‘Strip the beds while you’re there, will you? And tell those girls to hurry up and clear off!’
As predicted, in Penguin’s Pad, Catherine was ready to leave. She was doing a thorough check for forgotten items inside every cupboard and under every chair while the others rushed round her. All except Sapphire who was nowhere to be seen.
‘She’s been in her room for ages.’ Catherine frowned, picking up the famous itinerary from the kitchen table. ‘Making important phone calls. We should have left eighteen minutes ago. If she’s much longer, we’ll have to miss our scheduled stop at Bristol services.’
I patted her shoulder sympathetically.
‘There’s a reporter from London outside hoping for an exclusive interview with her,’ I said. ‘I guess the answer will be no, but I promised I’d ask.’
‘A reporter? Here?’
Catherine and I turned to see Sapphire running down the stairs. Her eyes were red, there were tear stains on her cheeks and she was still in her pyjamas.
I nodded. ‘From the News Thirst Media Agency, but don’t worry, I can send him away if you don’t want to talk to him.’
‘Oh, Sapph.’ Catherine scanned Sapphire’s face. ‘You’ve been crying, is the wedding off?’
Sapphire giggled and threaded an arm around her friend’s waist. ‘No, you silly goose, but something exciting has happened.’ She turned to me, her eyes shining. ‘I need five minutes to get dressed. But tell him yes, he can have his interview.’ She ran back upstairs. ‘Actually, make that ten minutes.’
Catherine flung the itinerary in the air. ‘I give up.’
‘Sorry for keeping you waiting, everyone!’ said Sapphire, twenty minutes later, appearing from Penguin’s Pad with Robin after giving him a very quick interview.
‘Right, people. Go, go, go,’ yelled Catherine. She held one of the limo doors open and flapped her arm frantically to usher the girls in.
‘Have you got what you came for, Robin?’ I asked, swallowing a smile.
The poor boy looked completely star struck, he was bright red and wearing a goofy smile. ‘They’re never going to believe this at the office.’
‘But you recorded it all?’ I said anxiously.
He took his Dictaphone out of his pocket and held it up. ‘Oh yeah, although I’ll never forget a word.’
He stumbled off to his car punch drunk and disappeared down the drive in a cloud of dust.
‘Thank you for a wonderful hen weekend.’ Sapphire kissed my cheeks. ‘But most of all thank you for helping me with a decision I’d been struggling with for a while.’
I blinked at her uncertainly. ‘What did I say?’
The driver approached us and took her suitcase.
‘You said that if working in the lab was where my heart lay, I should rethink. So I did,’ she shrugged casually. ‘I realize that Maidens of Mayfair is never going to let me mention my ant research project. So if I want to make a name for myself in the field of cleptobiosis, that’s where I need to focus my efforts. I’ve pulled out of the next series of Maidens of Mayfair and I’m going to start lobbying companies for funding. Robin is going to get the story printed.’
I hugged her warmly. ‘If anyone can make a name for herself studying theft in ants, it’s you.’
‘And guess what?’ Ruby said, poking her head out of the car. ‘They offered me the chance to replace Sapphire.’
‘Brilliant,’ I cried, genuinely pleased for her, ‘just what you wanted.’
‘I turned them down.’ Ruby flicked her hair over her shoulder. ‘I haven’t got time for that any more. I’m going to work on my singing career; I’ll probably win The X Factor next year,’ she added before slamming the door.
Sapphire shook her head fondly as she climbed into the other limo beside an apoplectic Catherine. ‘She’ll have changed her mind before we hit the motorway.’
‘Drive!’ I heard Catherine yell as soon as the door closed.
Theo poked his head over the gate from the back garden and Molly appeared at the window of Kittiwake’s Cabin and we all waved as both limos turned around and glided away.
If it were possible for a house to sigh, I think Driftwood Lodge would have done it just then.
For a moment I stood while the air settled around us and the sounds of Brightside Cove made themselves heard again. The wind carried children’s laughter from the beach along with the ever-present roar of the sea. And closer to home, from the patch of grass in front of the kitchen window, came the sound of the chickens chatting to each other in their comical took-took-took language. I looked back at the house with its thatched roof and tiny windows and crooked cream walls and smiled.
‘Peace at last,’ I said out loud. ‘But not, I fear, for long.’
And I went inside to make coffee.
Just as I switched on the kettle, I heard the sound of tyres on the gravel and crossed to the window. I smiled to myself, assuming one of the girls had left something behind. But it wasn’t the hen party, it was Archie.
I ran outside and flung my arms around my brother’s neck. ‘What a surprise,’ I said, winking at him.
He looked tired. There were dark circles under his eyes and a ghostly pallor to his skin.
‘Everything okay? You’re not ill, are you?’
&nbs
p; ‘I’m fine.’ He seemed to give himself a shake. ‘The usual cut and thrust of business, but you know me, I thrive on a bit of pressure.’
‘Hmm,’ I said, unconvinced. ‘I’m just making coffee, come in.’
He looked around the courtyard, craning his neck to see in the garden. ‘Is Molly around?’
I grinned at him. ‘She is. I’ll make us all a drink and give her a shout.’
‘Great.’ He smoothed the non-existent creases from his shirt. ‘Does my hair look all right?’
‘You look fine. Tired, but fine.’
He made a dismissive noise to tell me to stop fussing. I poured mugs of coffee for us all, glancing at him sideways from time to time. Perhaps he was simply nervous. Who could blame him? Molly wasn’t the easiest girl to try to impress.
Archie had phoned me after seeing Molly in her mermaid outfit last week and asked whether I thought he stood any chance with her. I wasn’t sure if any man stood a chance with her. But my brother hadn’t become successful in business by not taking risks. So I’d told him if he happened to be in the area this morning, he might bump into her collecting the laundry. And here he was.
And here she was, right on cue, blowing her long red hair out of her eyes, arms full of more laundry.
‘The beds are done. Give me caffeine. I need a hit before I bundle as much of that washing on the back of my bike as I can manage and cycle home,’ Molly said as she came in and then noticed Archie. ‘Oh, you’re here.’
‘Yes,’ he said, with false jollity. ‘I am. How nice to see you again. You look well.’
‘I am roasting,’ said Molly, sniffing her armpit and pulling a face. She gulped her coffee and put the mug back down on the kitchen table. ‘Thanks for that. I’ll go and tell Theo his is ready too.’
Archie coughed to get my attention and jerked his head towards the door.
‘I’ll go and tell him,’ I said swiftly.
‘Lovely weather,’ Archie blurted out in a thinly disguised attempt to keep her chatting.
I stuck my head out of the front door and yelled at the top of my lungs, ‘Theo! Coffee’s ready!’
A Match Made in Devon Page 24