There was one other customer in the store, a balding man who looked around seventy or so, dressed in a tailored suit and tie and highly polished shoes. He had a neat, slender white moustache the likes of which was now only ever seen in black-and-white films about the Second World War. He had turned at their entrance, having just been reading the back of a cornflakes box, and was regarding them with rather more suspicion than the shopkeeper.
Emma looked for a basket and, as she did, Tia strode up to the counter.
‘Hello,’ she said. ‘Lovely day, isn’t it?’
‘Nice enough this morning,’ the shopkeeper replied. ‘Given out rain for later. Hope it’s not going to ruin your plans. On holiday, are you?’
‘Oh no, we’ve just moved here. Like, literally today.’
‘Oh,’ the woman said, looking confused. ‘I don’t recall a house for sale in the village. I know June has been talking about it but…’
‘We’re renting June’s cottage,’ Emma said as she joined them now, basket in hand. ‘We’ve got it for the summer.’
‘We’re hoping to have our own place ready by the end of the season,’ Tia added. Emma glanced to see the old man, who had briefly resumed his perusal of the cornflakes box, look sharply at them now.
‘Your own place?’ the shopkeeper asked. ‘Where would that be?’
‘Honeymoon Station.’
The woman stared at them and the old man put down his box of cornflakes to give them his full attention.
‘You’ve bought that old wreck?’ the woman asked incredulously. ‘We knew it had gone for auction but we never imagined anyone would buy it!’
‘We had to beat a lot of bidders actually,’ Emma said.
‘Really? Goodness! Who would have thought? And you’re… I mean, I wouldn’t have thought it would be someone like…’
‘Two women?’ Tia raised her eyebrows slightly.
‘No, no… It’s not that,’ the woman said. ‘It’s just… well, well… And you’re turning it into a house? You’re going to live there? Together?’
‘No,’ Tia said. ‘We’re turning it into a guest house. And we’re not a couple, in case you’re wondering. We’re just friends.’
‘A guest house, well I…’
At this point there was a loud sniff from the old man. Emma turned to see him looking sourer than he had when they’d walked in, if that were possible.
‘That’s all we need,’ he snapped. ‘A load of tourists tramping up and down the high street all day and night. I suppose amusement arcades and nightclubs will follow and then we won’t be able to afford to live in our own houses and then they’ll be knocked down to make way for some horrible theme park.’
‘Sid!’ the woman behind the counter chastised.
‘It’s alright,’ Emma cut in. ‘Honestly, sir, that’s not what we’re planning at all. The sorts of guests we’ll get might bring a little extra trade to the village, yes, but I would imagine most of them will come for the sort of tranquillity they can only get in a place like this. They won’t want amusement arcades and theme parks.’
‘The resorts that have all those things already do it well, and people who want that kind of holiday will still go to them no matter what we do,’ Tia added. ‘We want to offer a peaceful alternative. It’s going to be classy.’
‘And I suppose there’ll be bulldozers and all sorts driving up and down all day,’ Sid continued as if he hadn’t heard a word either Emma or Tia had just said.
‘We can’t lie,’ Emma said. ‘There’ll be noise and dust for a while, but we hope it won’t be for long.’
‘This is where it starts,’ Sid said, his face getting redder and his posture stiffening. ‘The beginning of the end. The end of Honeymoon!’ He turned to the woman behind the counter. ‘You mark my words – I said it here first! This hotel will be the end of our village!’ He jutted out his chin and turned with a loud huff. ‘And I’ll be buying my cornflakes elsewhere!’ he shouted as he marched out.
‘I don’t know where,’ the shopkeeper said wryly. ‘There are no other shops in Honeymoon and he hates everywhere else.’
‘I hope we didn’t upset him too much,’ Emma said, feeling mortified. It wasn’t their fault but she still felt responsible.
‘Don’t mind Sid,’ the woman said. ‘He’ll have a moan about anything – sort of a hobby of his.’
‘But you don’t mind the hotel?’ Emma asked. ‘When we first mentioned it you seemed a bit shocked.’
‘Well I was. Honestly I never imagined it would sell. I’m glad it has, though, and to such nice people.’
‘We don’t intend to make the village change,’ Tia said.
‘If you ask me,’ the woman said with a wink, ‘the village wouldn’t suffer from a bit of change, even if the likes of Sid don’t know it yet. For my part, I wouldn’t say no to a bit of extra trade so I don’t mind. Not that there won’t be a bit of opposition to what you’re doing – it’s only fair to warn you.’
‘We expected that,’ Tia said. ‘But so far most people we’ve met have been very nice about it.’
‘My grandfather was stationmaster there, you know,’ the woman said proudly. ‘And my aunt worked the ticket booth before she got married. Everyone born and bred here has some connection to that old station. It felt like a hand had been cut off when that line closed, and plenty of people felt it cut the village off too. Folks moved away – that’s how come the village is so small now. It used to be much bigger, but nobody wanted to live in a place that was so hard to get to. Of course, plenty of roads now and you can be here as quick as a wink, but by the time decent roads came the damage had been done. It’ll be nice to see new faces round here again, even if they only stay a week or two in your hotel. Now… have you got your tradesmen?’
‘We have someone lined up,’ Emma said.
‘That’s a shame,’ the woman replied. ‘Could have pointed you in the direction of two very reliable boys.’
‘Blake and Aidan?’ Tia asked.
‘Oh yes! You’ve already met them?’
‘Just – in the café,’ Emma said. ‘Only briefly though.’
Tia nodded. ‘If we’d known about them before now we’d have certainly got them on board.’
‘Well,’ the woman said, ‘I expect you didn’t know of them because they don’t advertise. Don’t need to, see – they have more work than they can shake a stick at round here.’
‘I can imagine,’ Tia said.
‘I’m Emma, by the way,’ Emma said, stepping forward to shake the woman’s hand. Tia followed suit.
‘Emma and Tia…’ The woman smiled. ‘Lovely names. I’m Nell.’
‘Have you lived in the village all your life?’ Emma asked.
‘For my sins,’ Nell said. ‘Took this place on from my dad when he retired. Gets a bit boring, truth be told, but it suits me well enough.’
‘But you must be happy here,’ Emma said.
‘Oh, I wouldn’t live anywhere else. For the most part everyone is welcoming and we all look out for one another. You don’t want to mind the odd bad apple like Sid; he’s in the minority. There’ll always be some who feel the need to oppose any kind of change, even when the fool can see it’s good change.’
‘As long as he doesn’t persuade everyone else to oppose it,’ Emma said, and then immediately wondered if she’d overstepped the mark. But Nell just shook her head and didn’t seem offended at all.
‘Sid would oppose a lottery win, but his bark’s worse than his bite. He’ll come round soon enough, and if he doesn’t he’ll find something else to complain about and forget he was supposed to be angry about your hotel.’
‘Has Sid always lived here too?’
Nell gave a solemn nod. ‘And he’s always been a miserable old sod too.’
They were all laughing when the bell of the shop door tinkled and one of the brothers they’d seen at Darcie’s café walked in. It was the broader, more muscular one of the two.
‘Blake!’ Nell gr
eeted him. ‘I was just telling Emma and Tia about you and your brother.’
‘I thought my ears were hot,’ he said, scratching lazily at his six-pack through his T-shirt. ‘I hope you haven’t given them the wrong impression.’
‘I was telling them that if they need any building work you’re the boys to call.’
Blake was regarding them both with more interest now, though his gaze very obviously rested on Tia a little bit longer, and it was all Emma could do not to groan. ‘I just heard you bought the old station.’
Tia gave him a brilliant smile and ran a hand through her hair. ‘News travels fast then – we only arrived this morning.’
‘And you’ve also just been telling Darcie your life story,’ he said glibly, ‘where we’ve been working.’
‘Oh, yeah,’ Tia said.
‘Not such a mystery then,’ Emma put in, if only to break the unbearable sexual tension that was already sizzling in the air between Blake and Tia.
Blake leaned against the doorway and lowered his voice. ‘Why… was it supposed to be a secret?’
‘No,’ Tia whispered back and he started to laugh.
‘You’ve got your builders,’ he stated rather than asked, and Emma supposed Darcie had told him that too.
‘We would have asked you if we’d known about you,’ Tia said.
‘That’s alright,’ Blake said, folding his broad arms across his chest and regarding Tia with an indulgent look. ‘We’re quite busy anyway. Who’ve you got in?’
‘Someone called Purcell and Sons… know of them?’
‘Can’t say I do.’
‘That’s a shame,’ Emma said. ‘You could have told us in advance if they were any good.’
‘Sorry.’ Blake shrugged. ‘Not a clue. But if they don’t work out for you feel free to give us a call and we can check our schedules.’
‘I’d definitely give you a call,’ Tia said.
He grinned, and the way they both looked showed they understood each other perfectly. Emma took a moment to get a closer look. Blake was very hot, but he also gave the impression that he knew it. From what she could recall of his brother earlier, Blake also seemed the more groomed of the two and clearly worried about his appearance. He was undoubtedly a hunk, but if Emma had been forced to choose (and thank God she wasn’t), she’d have gone for the subtler charms of his brother. Aidan had given the impression that you could take him as he was or leave him, and seemed a lot less high-maintenance. She wondered who was the oldest. It was hard to tell, but they were almost certainly close in age – not more than a couple of years between them – and perhaps in their late twenties to early thirties.
Blake bounced himself off the door frame and sauntered to the counter where he picked up a packet of gum from the display, holding it up to Nell.
‘Would you put it on the tab for us, Nell? I’ll be in to settle up later when I’m done at the café.’
‘Right you are,’ the shopkeeper said, taking a notebook from beneath the counter and flicking through the pages before jotting a figure down at the bottom of a list headed with Blake’s name. As she did, Blake winked at Emma and Tia.
‘I’ll be seeing a lot more of you girls around then?’
‘You can be sure of it,’ Tia said.
With a lazy flick of the hand to bid them farewell, he left the shop.
‘He’s a one, that Blake,’ Nell said as she watched him leave. ‘Him and his brother are lovely boys but that one… he’s got a wild side. Aidan’s as steady as they come, but Blake…’
She didn’t finish her sentence, but she didn’t really need to.
‘He seems very charming,’ Tia said.
‘Oh, he could charm the birds from the trees,’ Nell agreed. ‘Just ask Missy Baxter, or Lisa Pendle, or Holly Edwards, or—’
‘Hmm, I think we get the picture,’ Emma said, laughing. She had to laugh because Nell’s summary was quite funny, but also because she was so uneasy about Tia’s obvious attraction to Blake. The idea of her getting into a fling so soon after they’d arrived in the village was bad enough, but it was even worse to hear that the man was such a well-known Casanova. It was obvious Tia’s recent divorce had left her with a thirst for adventure that involved more than just moving across the country; Emma just hoped it didn’t involve Blake Ronson. Perhaps Nell’s veiled warning would do the trick.
‘Anyway,’ Emma continued, glancing up at the clock over the counter, ‘I suppose we ought to get this shopping done before the rest of the day gets away from us.’
‘That’s me, keeping you talking,’ Nell said. ‘I’m terrible once you get me going… so bored in this shop for most of the day.’
‘Oh, don’t think that,’ Emma said. ‘We love that you want to chat.’
‘Don’t tell me that,’ Nell said with a light laugh. ‘I’ll think you mean it and you’ll never be able to pop in quickly ever again!’
Chapter Twelve
Emma was woken the next morning by the sound of rain beating against the windowpane. Groggy, she lay in bed for a moment in the half light of the dawn, taking in the details of the tiny bedroom that still felt so new and strange and not like home at all. It was an odd, in-between kind of home, somewhere they were certain to spend a good many months but not forever, somewhere that was homely and comfortable enough but with no expression of her own tastes or personality in the way home usually was. It was like a nice hotel that she’d be staying in for a very long time; she’d get used to the way it looked, but she would never have designed it that way.
Her thoughts turned to breakfast. There hadn’t been a huge choice at Nell’s shop, but she and Tia had got the basics so at least there was cereal. June had promised to drop off eggs if there were any spare from her chickens too, so they wouldn’t go hungry. Emma had never been a big breakfast-eater anyway, though she’d vowed to force as much down as she could this morning because they had a lot of heavy jobs to do and fainting wasn’t going to help. Once they’d driven out to the nearest DIY store and picked up all the things on their list (and some they hadn’t realised they needed until they saw them) the previous day, and then got unpacked at the cottage, there’d barely been any of the day left, so they’d decided to start work at the station today instead.
There was a light tap at her bedroom door.
‘I’m awake,’ she said, sitting up. Tia came in with a cup. She looked bright and fresh and as if she’d been awake for hours, even though Emma had thought it early enough when she woke.
‘I’ve made a pot of tea,’ she said. ‘Want one?’
‘I’d love one.’
‘Here…’ Tia put her cup down on the cabinet next to Emma’s bed. ‘Have this; I’ve just made it and not drunk any yet. You don’t have sugar, do you?’
‘Well remembered.’ Emma took the cup. ‘Thanks.’
Tia sat on the edge of the bed. She looked full of barely contained excitement and flashed Emma one of her manic grins.
‘Today’s the day!’
Emma smiled. ‘It is.’
‘How do you feel?’
‘Ready to run home.’
‘Really?’
Emma gave a light laugh. ‘No, I’m kidding. I’m perhaps not as excited as you at the prospect of trying to pull up thistles that are taller than me, but I’m raring to go.’
‘I still can’t believe we’re actually here and this is actually happening.’
‘Well it is, and I think that’s mostly down to your tenacity.’
‘I couldn’t have done it without you.’
‘You’d have found a way; I’m certain of that. I’ve never met anyone in my life who is so determined… Apart from my sister, and she got what she wanted too.’
‘You will,’ Tia said gently. ‘Are you still feeling OK about what happened between you and your boyfriend? You don’t talk much about it.’
‘Ex-boyfriend,’ Emma said. ‘And no, I’m not sure I am alright, which is why I don’t talk about it. I’m never going back, that much I d
o know.’
‘Has he called you recently?’
‘No, so I suppose that means he’s given up and he was never really as into me as I was him.’
‘Or maybe he just knows a lost cause when he sees one. Does he know you’ve moved here?’
‘I think my dad took great delight in telling him when he saw him out a few days ago,’ Emma said. ‘He never did care much for him.’
‘My parents loved Jerome,’ Tia said, her mood flatter now. ‘I think it was because he was from a well-heeled family. I think they were more gutted when my divorce came through than I was.’ She smiled at Emma. ‘What a pair we are. I think that old man in the shop yesterday thought we were a couple and maybe that’s actually not such a bad idea. We certainly can’t rely on blokes.’
‘He actually looked a bit horrified about that too,’ Emma said. ‘Despite us telling him we weren’t a couple I don’t think he believed it. And I hope you don’t mind if I don’t put anyone right, because if the men of the world leave me alone from now on that will suit me just fine.’
‘Really?’ Tia poked her playfully. ‘Because even you have to admit those builder brothers are very attractive. You’re telling me if one of them asked you wouldn’t be a teensy bit tempted?’
‘No, you’re OK. You take your pick with my blessing.’
‘I don’t actually know if either of them are single.’
Emma put her tea down and stretched. ‘There’s only one way to find out. Just promise me one thing, would you? I don’t want to be a party pooper, but if you get involved please promise it won’t interfere with our renovations.’
‘Of course not!’ Tia said. ‘Absolutely not! That has to come first – it’s the only reason we’re here after all.’
The Hotel at Honeymoon Station : A totally heartwarming romance about new beginnings Page 12
