Escape to the seaside with Part Three of a brand-new four-part serial set on the Devon coast, from bestselling author Cathy Bramley.
As the sun begins to shine, love is blooming for Nina in Brightside Cove. Finally, she has the chance at the life (and love) she’s always craved, but there may yet be a choice between old and new. There’s hardly time to contemplate her options though; the hen party might be leaving but things don’t stay calm at Brightside Cove for long.
Once again, world’s collide as a friend and a foe come to stay in Theo’s beautiful holiday cottages. What is the reason behind their ancient animosity? What connection do they have to Nina?
Struggling to ignore what the future holds… can Nina help mend the broken relationships of her friends? Will building her career take her even further away from her new sense of home?
Cathy Bramley is the Sunday Times bestselling author of the romantic comedies Ivy Lane, Appleby Farm, Wickham Hall, Conditional Love, The Plumberry School of Comfort Food, White Lies and Wishes and The Lemon Tree Café. She lives in a Nottinghamshire village with her family.
Her recent career as a full-time writer of light-hearted, romantic fiction has come as somewhat of a lovely surprise after spending eighteen years running her own marketing agency. However, she has been always an avid reader, never without a book on the go and now thinks she may have found her dream job!
Cathy loves to hear from her readers. You get in touch via her website or on social media.
Facebook.com/CathyBramleyAuthor
@CathyBramley
www.CathyBramley.co.uk
Previously in Part Two of A Match Made in Devon
After a short break from stardom, Nina Penhaligon found herself back in London clinging to her part on Victory Road by a thread. With the help of her boss, Maxine, she managed to smooth over the repercussions of her public meltdown and started to mend her career… kicking off by ditching her troublesome agent, Sebastian.
Having been granted temporary freedom from Victory Road, Nina was given some much needed time to return to Brightside Cove, allowing her to continue to help Theo make his business a success and save his marriage. She also found time to help Eliza realise her dream of filling the world with mermaids… even if it meant putting on a tail herself.
Even with the distractions, Nina worked hard to make the hen party a real success; throwing together impressive cuisine with the help of – effortlessly attractive but surly – Jude and ex-celebrity chef, Big Dave. Despite his flaws, Jude has fast become the person she can see herself falling for… Unfortunately for Nina, Theo seems to be feeling much the same way about her. When last we saw them, it seemed Nina had made everything worse; in trying to get Theo and Kate back together, she may have unwittingly become the reason they’ll be going their separate ways…
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First published in Great Britain as four separate ebooks in 2018 by Transworld Digital
an imprint of Transworld Publishers
First published as one edition in 2018 by Corgi Books
an imprint of Transworld Publishers
Copyright © Cathy Bramley 2018
Cover illustration by Sarah Tanat-Jones
Cathy Bramley has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.
This book is a work of fiction and, except in the case of historical fact, any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
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Version 1.0 Epub ISBN 9781473542754
ISBN 9780552173933
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For Gregory Carven, Hans van Eenennaam and John Dulos. We owe you everything.
Jude steered his blue Deliciously Devon van away from the coast road and headed inland. Getting home to let Mabel out was his priority, so presumably that was his destination. Right now, I didn’t mind where I went; my priority was putting some space between me and Theo. Other than answering Jude’s queries about whether I was warm enough, I hadn’t said much.
I glanced now and then at his profile, catching a flash of his hazel eyes, watching as he drummed his thumbs on the steering wheel. We made eye contact once or twice and although he smiled at me we were content to lose ourselves in our own thoughts.
My thoughts weren’t comfortable ones.
What a fiasco. This was on a par with my storyline leak to Entertainer’s News. All I’d tried to do was help Theo launch Brightside Holidays in preparation for Kate’s return. And now she was demanding a divorce and he was just accepting it. On top of that he seemed to have developed feelings for me.
Not quite the happy ending for them I’d hoped for, to say the least.
I felt awful about it. I’d been a thorn in their side ever since their wedding day when I’d rashly declared my feelings for Theo. But that had been a silly crush; having grown up without a male role model, when Theo had come along as a friend of Archie’s, so sensible and kind, I’d fallen head over heels. He’d done nothing to encourage me other than listen to me pour out my dreams of becoming an actress.
Since coming to Devon three weeks ago, he and I had become good friends and I’d done the same for him: listened to him talk about Ivy and Kate and his simple faded dreams of being a family.
I kept going over and over it in my head. Had I led him on in some way? But other than do my utmost to make a success of the holiday cottage business to help him get back into his wife’s good books, I truly didn’t think I had. And deep down I didn’t really believe Theo wanted another woman other than Kate. He’d said something to Archie on my very first day in Brightside Cove about his libido … this soldier hasn’t been in active service for months, or something. Perhaps Theo’s soldier was simply ready for action again and I was a convenient target … I shuddered. No need to go any further with that image.
Why couldn’t Kate have read all the joyful emails from Theo, bursting with good news about the business he was building for the two of them, instead of looking at the Coastal Cottages website and spotting the photo of the two of us? But it was a misunderstanding and like all good romances, there was still hope, still a chance that everything would work out in the end. Maybe I could help, email her perhaps, set the record straight? No that was no good; she’d probably delete it without reading …
The van swerved to the right and I shook myself out of my reverie. Jude had pulled into a layby. Had I asked him to drop me off? I’d been in such a daze since leaving Driftwood Lodge that I might have said anything.
‘So,’ he turned off the engine, ‘can I tempt you?’
That woke me up.
He’d taken off his jacket and his white shirt strained pleasingly across his broad chest. He’d pushed up his sleeves and my eye was drawn to the taut muscles in his forearms and a smear of engine oil on his tanned skin.
He really was very attractive.
After an extremely dry period on the man front in London, Devon was turning out to be incredibly good for my ego; last week, Danny had offered to go Dutch on a plate of mussels, this morning Theo had caught me naked and pronounced me to be ‘ravishing’ and now this. Third time lucky. Of the three, Jude was definitely the most appealing.
Could he tempt me?
Yes, I thought, conscious of a sudden pull in my stomach. Yes, he could.
I’d taken so long to reply that Jude started to laugh. That rich warm laugh that had caught my attention the first time I’d heard it.
‘It’s just breakfast.’ He nodded ahead of us. There was a mobile café parked at the far end of the layby. ‘I thought we could grab something to eat now before I pick up Mabel. Plus, there’s nothing in at home.’
Just breakfast. Of course it was. This was a man who’d been up partying with eleven gorgeous women all night. What was I thinking? I almost laughed out loud. Breakfast sounded great. Not as great as whatever I thought had just been about to happen, but still great.
I was starving and a chalk board propped up outside was advertising bacon and brie melts. I reached down towards my feet for my purse in my handbag but it wasn’t there. I’d left Driftwood Lodge with just the clothes I stood up in: no phone or money, nothing.
‘Oh, not for me, thanks,’ I said, doing a ‘I couldn’t possibly eat a thing’ face.
My stomach gave a loud rumble.
He grinned. ‘My treat.’
He hopped out of the van with my order and came back a few minutes later with coffees, my bacon and brie and a sausage sandwich for himself.
‘To make up for the one Theo promised me after I helped get breakfast ready for the ladies,’ said Jude, squeezing two sachets of ketchup under the bread.
‘You helped?’
‘Yep. In exchange for kipping on his sofa last night.’
I was confused. ‘But I thought I saw …’
‘You thought I’d come from the guest cottages this morning, didn’t you?’ He grinned and took a big bite of his sandwich. ‘I’d only popped back to fetch my jacket.’
‘Oh, I’m so glad!’ The words blurted out of me before I could stop them. ‘I mean, I thought … I was worried.’
‘Worried?’ He looked amused.
‘You know, impropriety. With guests.’
Sort of. I felt my face heat up and bit into my breakfast to hide my expression.
He hadn’t spent the night with anyone. What a relief. I didn’t want him to be a man who took advantage of women who’d had too much to drink because … because I just didn’t. Was he single? I wondered. Eliza had said that he didn’t give his heart away easily, so I’d assumed he was. But what about Angie, was she a business partner like Jude said, or the other sort of partner?
He grimaced. ‘It was me you should have been worried about. Ruby is wild. She was very keen to play strip poker. That’s how I lost my jacket. Even the game of truth or dare got a bit close to the bone at times.’ He shuddered. ‘I was grateful to get out with my trousers on. I managed to escape the party just after three but then the van wouldn’t start. It’s Angie’s van and it has always been temperamental. I gave up in the end because it was making such a noise right under your bedroom window. Luckily Theo heard me and offered me his sofa for the night.’
‘Good.’ I had a big silly grin on my face. ‘That’s all right then.’
A blob of ketchup landed on his chin and I reached across and wiped it away with my fingertip.
‘You should use your mirror more often,’ I said cheekily. ‘That was the first thing you ever said to me.’
I held up my finger to show him the sauce.
He took hold of my hand and sucked the ketchup from the tip of my finger. I bit back a gasp at the intimacy of the gesture.
Single. Definitely. Hopefully.
I lowered my sandwich down to the bag on my lap, still looking at him. He did the same and for a second time hovered between us and I could hear my heart thudding with anticipation. And then we kissed.
One exciting fierce kiss. Which came out of nowhere and any thoughts I had about whether he was single or not evaporated into thin air.
It was shocking: the feel of his stubble on my skin, his lips against mine, the smell of him, the taste …
We broke apart, our breathing heavy, and stared at each other. The amber flecks in his eyes looked like fire, his pupils dark and intense.
‘I guess I could say something about using your brakes,’ he said huskily. ‘Like the first words you said to me, but I’m not sure I want to stop.’
He remembered, my stomach flipped.
‘Nina Penhaligon,’ he murmured, a smile playing on his lips, ‘this is not usually the way I behave on a first breakfast. But I’m glad I did, that was amazing.’
‘Ditto.’ The way he was looking at me heated me up from inside and then something struck me … I hadn’t realized he knew my surname. ‘Please don’t mention this to anyone, will you? I’d rather not be in any more gossip columns for a while.’
‘I’m the soul of discretion.’ He mimed zipping his lips. ‘Eliza said you were an actress but I only know your name because Sapphire told me about you last night,’ he explained. ‘I don’t watch much TV. I’ve never kissed anyone famous before; I feel … honoured.’
Jude looked so bashful that I couldn’t resist teasing him.
‘We learn to kiss like that in drama school,’ I said lightly. ‘All in a day’s work.’
‘Oh.’ He looked deflated. ‘Not for me, it isn’t.’
‘I’m kidding,’ I said with a soft laugh. ‘A screen kiss is more like …’
I leaned across cupping his face in my hands, hardly believing what I was doing. But why not? I could treat this as an experience to add depth to my craft just like Maxine had recommended. How had she put it? Oh yes, feast on life. And Jude was delicious. Deliciously Devon, in fact …
There was a sharp blast on a car horn behind us and we both jumped.
‘Just as we were getting to the good bit,’ Jude murmured.
‘Saved by the horn,’ I agreed.
Jude flashed me a look of amusement. ‘Fancy a walk on the beach?’
After fleeing from Driftwood Lodge, I had nowhere else to be. ‘I’d like that very much.’
He looked pleased. ‘Let’s go and collect Mabel.’
‘Would you mind waiting here? I’ll only be five minutes, I promise,’ Jude said, rubbing a hand through his dark hair. Whatever product he used to tame his hair had worn off now and it was springing up from his forehead in thick waves.
‘I’m timing you,’ I said, turning on the van’s radio.
He laughed and ran up the driveway, disappearing indoors.
Jude’s house was a surprise. I’d envisaged him living somewhere quirky like a little studio with views of the sea. But this was a modest 1950s semi in a quiet avenue. Edging the lawn was a narrow border of lavender and pots of purple pansies lined the steps leading to the front door. There were net curtains at every window and a vase of yellow silk flowers adorned the window sill in the wide bay window to the right of the door. The place was neat and homely and reminded me that I still didn’t have a clue who Angie was. And that perhaps before I resumed my demonstration of the perfect screen kiss, I ought to find out.
True to his word, Jude reappeared a few minutes later. Mabel bounded out ahead of him and I opened the van to let her in.
She yelped with delight, pinned me to my seat and tried to lick my face.
‘Thanks for the wash, Mabel,’ I said, trying to escape her hot tongue, ‘but I’m all good.’
‘She celebrates my homecoming like that every time.’ Jude started the engine and snapped on his seat belt. ‘Whether I’ve been gone two minutes or two hours. Daft dog.’
‘Don’t listen, Mabel.’ I pressed my hands over her floppy ears. ‘You’re not daft; I think you’re very clever.’
‘I’ll take that as a compliment.’
His hair, still damp from the shower, was all glossy and he smelled lovely and his eyes lit up when he smiled.
You should, I thought.
The drive to the beach at Brightside Cove only took ten minutes and as soon as Mabel caught a glimpse of the sea on the horizon she turned to rubber and started to bounce off every surface. Jude pulled up behind the lifeboat house next to another car, opened his door and Mabel flew down the slipway and down on to the sand barking with glee.
‘There’s someone in there,’ said Jude as we walked past the other car, a battered VW Polo.
The driver’s seat was fully reclined and a young man was fast asleep with a newspaper on his lap. Empty burger cartons and takeaway coffee cups littered the passenger seat.
‘A surfer, probably,’ I said. The tide was coming in but the beach was still wide and golden. There was a light breeze and the fresh smell of the sea filled me with joy. ‘He might have driven up last night ready for a Sunday spent riding the waves.’
‘I hope not, for his sake,’ he said, shielding his eyes with his hand and scanning the beach.
‘Oh?’ Not that I was an expert, but the sea looked perfectly surf-able to me. ‘Why’s that?’
‘He’s forgotten his surfboard.’
I glanced back at the car: no roof rack. ‘Ah.’
Jude rubbed his chin as if trying to conceal a smile.
It was still early and apart from a runner at the far end of the cove, we had the beach to ourselves. We walked down the slipway and on to the sand, following Mabel’s paw prints to the edge of the shore. Jude pulled a tennis ball out of his pocket and threw it into the sea for her. She leapt into the waves and came back with it seconds later with a big doggy smile. She dropped it at my feet and when I went to pick it up she shook herself.
‘Oh, right in my eyes!’ I yelped, as the salt water stung my eyes.
‘Mabel!’ Jude chided, quickly throwing the ball back into the sea. Mabel chased after it. ‘No manners, that dog.’
He offered me a tissue and I wiped my face.
‘Your eyes.’ He tipped my chin up and stepped closer. ‘They’re what? Grey, no, blue, or maybe green … they’re constantly changing, like the colour of the sea. Like magic.’
The magic of the sea.
My head spun. That was the memory that I hadn’t quite been able to catch hold of when I was talking to Big Dave the other day. The beach, the warm safe hand over mine, skimming stones, and laughing, always laughing … I remembered it all so clearly now.
‘What have I said?’ Jude’s smile faltered.
I shook my head, lost in the memory.
A piece of sea glass sparkling in the sunlight caught my eye and I bent to pick it up. It was triangular with a notch at the top, a rough heart-shape. I turned it over in my hands, recalling the man who had once owned the whole of my heart. And then broke it.
‘It’s nothing. It’s … You’re the second person to say that to me, that’s all.’
‘And the first?’ he asked softly.
I took a deep breath and held the piece of sea glass out to Jude.
‘My dad,’ I said finally.
‘My dad once said that my eyes held the magic of the sea.’ I glanced up at Jude.
He took the sea glass from me and studied it before slipping it in his pocket.
‘And I thought I was being original.’
I smiled as Jude threw the ball again for Mabel and I altered my gaze to look at the waves, rolling in, one on top of another, and I was transported back to another time, and to a place I’d almost forgotten …