The Hotel at Honeymoon Station : A totally heartwarming romance about new beginnings

by Tilly Tennant

  ‘You’re not getting out of it that easily. I asked you for yours. You can hear mine from anyone in the village – everyone knows everything about me here.’

  ‘Say I didn’t want to ask anyone in the village. Say I felt rude asking other people about you?’

  ‘I’d say you’d get far more entertainment asking Blake for his life story.’

  Emma rolled her eyes. ‘Oh, I know all about Blake. No offence, but I’m sick of hearing about Blake – Tia doesn’t talk about anything else.’

  ‘That can’t be true.’

  ‘Trust me, it’s not far off the truth. She’s got it bad.’

  ‘I have to admit,’ Aidan said, thoughtful now, ‘she’s making quite an impression on him. For a while it looked like he’d never get over Stacey…’

  ‘Is that the girl who was supposed to have broken his heart?’

  He nodded.

  Emma nibbled on a chunk of walnut. ‘But you think he might be serious about Tia?’

  ‘She’s older than the girls he’s been dating since his break-up with Stacey. More assertive and wiser too. Maybe that’s what he’s needed all along. I haven’t seen him like this over a woman in a long time.’

  ‘What about you?’ Emma twisted another walnut from the cake in front of her and popped it into her mouth.

  ‘What about me?’

  ‘You must have had loads of girlfriends.’

  ‘A few, but none worth mentioning. How about the guy you left at home? He’s definitely history?’

  ‘I thought you didn’t know my story.’

  ‘I know that bit. Am I not allowed to know anything else? Is there a rule because I’m working for you?’

  ‘It sounds so weird when you put it like that… to have someone working for me. I’m used to being the employee and not the employer.’

  Aidan leaned across the table and looked straight at her. ‘That’s not answering my question.’

  She shook her head. ‘I’m having a good time; don’t ruin our perfectly nice tea party by making me talk about him.’

  ‘Is that what this is?’

  ‘God, now it really does sound boring, doesn’t it? Maybe we should go to the pub after all.’

  ‘We could… I don’t know about you but, as much as I love Blake, I don’t want to sit at a table and watch him slobber over your friend.’

  Emma laughed. ‘Me neither. So that’s a no to the pub?’

  He smiled slowly. ‘I’ve got a better idea. Give me ten minutes to run home and get some stuff. And while I’m gone maybe you want to find some good boots and a warm coat.’

  He’d arrived back shortly afterwards with blankets, wine and two flashlights.

  ‘What on earth do we need all that for?’ Emma had asked.

  ‘I’m going to take you to the best spot in Honeymoon. Actually, it’s a bit outside Honeymoon and it’s a bit of a climb. It’ll be worth it, though, I promise.’

  His promise had held good. The climb had left her breathless, but the view from the top of the hill as the sun set, huge and blazing across the woods and fields and rivers of the countryside, had left her dizzy.

  ‘Wow.’

  ‘I told you it would be good,’ he said with a grin. ‘Should I put it on my tour?’

  ‘Why?’ Emma watched as he spread blankets on the ground for them to sit. ‘Is it tragic? Don’t tell me something horrible happened up here.’

  ‘Don’t worry; it’s just a hill. Pretty good view, though, don’t you think? On a clear day you can see right over to the coast. My granddad said it was the closest you could get to heaven without going there.’

  ‘I think he might be right.’ Emma sat on the blanket and took a wine glass from him. ‘It even smells amazing.’

  ‘No pollution, see. Just clean air as God intended. And the best sunsets you’ll ever see.’

  Emma eyed him with a wry smile. ‘Do you bring all newcomers to the village up here?’

  ‘No, just you. But then, we don’t get that many newcomers.’

  ‘But you must bring your girlfriends up here? I mean, all those amazing sunsets…’

  ‘One girl,’ Aidan said, but then suddenly went quiet. ‘She didn’t get it,’ he went on after a minute. ‘The closest I ever got to the one, I suppose. The fact she didn’t get it should have told me it wouldn’t last. Still… all in the past now.’

  ‘Well,’ Emma said, trying to find the brightness of a conversation that had taken a sudden melancholy turn, ‘I definitely get it. There’s nowhere like this where I come from; it’s beautiful.’

  ‘Wait until the stars come out.’ He poured some wine into her glass. ‘They don’t call it Shooting Star Hill for nothing. I guarantee you’ll never see as many anywhere else as you do up here. You can make as many wishes as you like.’

  Emma took a sip of her wine. It was a bit warm, but she didn’t mind. ‘I can’t wait; it’s a definite must for your tour then.’

  ‘Is this tour becoming an actual thing?’ Aidan asked as he poured his own wine.

  ‘I think it might be. Interested?’

  ‘I might be. I’m expensive though.’

  ‘I’m sure you’ll be worth it.’

  She looked across, and his skin looked gold in the setting sun. He looked good… handsome… exactly her type… The girl he’d brought up here before must have been a fool to let him go…

  She tried not to think about it as she tore her gaze away.

  ‘So,’ Aidan continued, looking appreciatively at the wine as he tasted it. ‘What will you wish for if you see a shooting star?’

  ‘I suppose I’ll wish for the hotel to be a success. It’s very sensible and boring but it’s all I have going on right now.’

  ‘What if you could stop being sensible for a minute and wish for something crazy?’

  ‘I don’t know…’ she said, gathering her knees to her chest, her gaze on the horizon. ‘I’d have to think about it.’

  He placed his glass down and lay back on the blanket with his hands behind his head, staring into the sky with eyes that seemed to see the whole of the universe beyond. Emma looked at him and found her gaze dragged to those deep, dark eyes.

  She hadn’t been telling the whole truth. She did have another wish. It had been the first one actually. She was very afraid she was falling for Aidan, but it was too quick and too soon after Dougie, and there was too much else going on, and she wished she could do something to stop it. But as she watched Aidan now, smiling into the sky with a head full of stories and a heart as kind as any, she wondered if there would ever be enough shooting stars in the sky to make that one come true.

  Chapter Eighteen

  ‘Nothing happened. We had a few drinks, watched the sunset, talked about cement mixing and planning laws and then I came home.’

  Tia’s expression was more than a little sceptical as she ate her porridge.

  ‘Scoff all you want,’ Emma said, ‘but it’s the truth.’

  ‘You must like him though. Blake’s pretty sure he likes you.’

  ‘I’m sure Blake must be wrong.’

  ‘Why would he be wrong? Surely he knows his own brother well enough.’

  ‘Don’t go getting any ideas!’ Emma warned.

  ‘I’m not, I’m just asking. It’s an innocent enough question.’

  ‘No question is innocent when it comes from you.’

  Tia grinned and then scooped the last of her oats into her mouth. ‘Any of that toast left? I’m still starving.’

  ‘I’m not surprised. You must be famished after another workout last night.’

  Tia stared at her, and then turned a deep crimson.

  ‘Oh, Em… I’m so sorry! I didn’t realise you’d…’

  ‘I hate to break it to you but the walls are pretty thin. You might want to bear that in mind next time you bring Blake back.’

  ‘Oh God, how mortifying.’

  Emma took her bowl to the sink. ‘Forget about it. Let’s chalk it up to experience and move on.’


  ‘Did I keep you awake?’

  ‘Not for long to be honest. There’s nothing like a late-night climb to send you off to sleep.’

  ‘I should get Blake to take me up there one day.’

  ‘You should – it’s lovely.’

  ‘Romantic, eh?’ Tia waggled her eyebrows.

  ‘If you’re up there with a partner, yes I’m sure it is,’ Emma said, ignoring the jibe.

  ‘What about a prospective partner?’

  Emma looked up from the sink with a frown and Tia laughed.

  ‘OK, OK… I’ve dropped it already. I won’t mention it again.’

  ‘I’m too busy for romance, even if I wanted it.’

  ‘See, that makes me sad. No one should be too busy for romance.’

  Emma smiled thinly. ‘There’s no need to be sad – you can have enough romance for the both of us.’

  Tia was silent for a moment. She looked up from the toast she’d been buttering. ‘Em… do you think it’s too soon for me?’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘For me to be seeing Blake?’

  ‘I don’t know. I thought it was just a bit of fun.’

  ‘So did I.’

  ‘Something’s changed? Is that why you’re asking me the question?’

  Tia nodded. ‘I really like him. And I think he might like me. And before you remind me of his reputation as a Casanova, I know all that. I’m not sixteen and I can see for myself when someone’s a bit naughty, and if I didn’t think he could change I’d run a mile. But I think he can change, and I think he might for me. Is that arrogant? Misguided?’

  ‘The one thing that’s always struck me about you is the way you read people,’ Emma said. ‘You’re really good at it. You get the measure of someone straight away. I think you can trust your instincts because I think you might be right.’

  Tia’s doubtful frown turned into a smile. ‘Did Aidan say something about it? He did, didn’t he? He’s told you what Blake’s been saying about me, hasn’t he? Tell me, please!’

  ‘I only know what Aidan thinks, not what he knows for certain. I wouldn’t want to feed you false information.’

  ‘Oooh!’ Tia squeaked, leaping up to hug Emma. ‘I knew it! I knew I was right!’

  Emma smiled. ‘You must really like him,’ she said gently.

  ‘I do. I’ve been so fed up and I felt like no one would ever look at me again.’

  ‘Why? You’re gorgeous!’

  ‘But I didn’t feel gorgeous. I felt bruised and broken on the inside and I felt like it showed on the outside. And even if it doesn’t last with Blake, I feel as if I’m starting to mend and it’s thanks to him.’

  ‘That’s down to you, not him.’

  ‘It’s down to you too,’ Tia said. ‘Now we have to do the same for you.’

  ‘Me? I’m fine; I’m not broken.’

  ‘Maybe not, but we all have room for a little more love in our lives, even you!’

  ‘Please don’t think me ungrateful when I say this. I love that you want to look out for me but please… please don’t get any ideas about trying to fix my love life. I don’t need it fixing, and I don’t want it.’

  ‘But—’

  ‘Tia, please. If you have any respect for me as a friend and business partner you’ll leave it alone.’

  ‘OK…’ Tia let out an impatient sigh. ‘Fine. But I think you’re missing the obvious.’

  ‘Which is what?’

  Tia sat back down and bit into her toast. ‘If I have to tell you then you really are more gormless than I thought.’

  ‘Thank you!’ Emma said.

  ‘You know what I mean. There’s a reason you spend so much time with Aidan.’

  ‘Yes, it’s because you’re always missing.’

  ‘And…’

  ‘And because we’re friends. We enjoy each other’s company. He’s showing me the local area so that we can tell our guests about it. There are a million reasons why I spend time with him and none of them are anything to do with sex.’

  Tia gave her an impish look. ‘Who said anything about sex?’

  Emma snatched the plate from in front of her and dumped it into the sink to wash. ‘Never mind that; we’re running late.’

  Chapter Nineteen

  Three weeks had passed since they’d started work on Honeymoon Station and things were going as well as could be expected. At least, that’s what Aidan and Blake had told them. Sid was doing his best to make his feelings known at every opportunity, but at least nobody seemed to be listening, and he hadn’t dared turn up at the building site again. He simply glared at Tia and Emma whenever he saw them in the village, his moustache quivering indignantly. They were falling behind schedule with the renovations, a little more every day, but the boys had told them not to worry, that all builds ran into setbacks and that they’d do their very best to pull the time back. Despite this, every day Emma could see a little progress: a few more bricks here, a rendered wall there, a drainage ditch, some pipework. It wasn’t exactly The Ritz, and there was nothing pretty about it yet, but that old station was slowly and surely becoming new again.

  Tia and Blake spent almost every evening together now, and although Emma was getting used to it, she still craved Tia’s company when they’d finished work and gone home for the day. By now she knew she wouldn’t get it and had to be content with calling Patricia or her dad or Elise, or wandering around Honeymoon to see who was free for a chat, or taking a walk out into the countryside around her new home, sometimes with Aidan and sometimes without.

  On site, every time Emma happened to look up from her work either Tia was watching Blake or Blake was watching Tia. And whenever they caught each other’s eye there was a shared grin, or a wink or a blown kiss.

  ‘It must be love,’ Aidan said one morning in a low voice as he came to fetch a newly mixed batch of cement from Emma.

  ‘You’ve noticed too?’

  ‘It’s kind of hard to miss.’

  ‘You can say that again. By the way, I never said thanks for showing me that cave last night.’

  ‘Oh, it was nothing that spectacular.’

  ‘I mean, I’m not convinced that pirates used to hide rum in there but I still thought it was cool. Our guests will too.’

  He laughed. ‘Scout’s honour. It was fun anyway, so it was no bother. Where do you want to go tonight? There’s a field full of ghost cows. We think they’re ghost cows because people can hear mooing when there’s nothing there. It could be coming from the dairy farm up the road, of course. And there’s the Honeymoon stone circle. It’s not exactly Stonehenge, more of a garden centre ornamental rockery, but it’s cute, and legend has it that at midsummer it’s where the fairies go to dance to celebrate the longest day. Or…’ Aidan paused, ‘I don’t know… maybe I could take you somewhere civilised. Like out to dinner…’

  ‘Aidan…’ Emma gave him a pained look. ‘I’m not like Tia.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘I’m not where she is’ – she tapped her head – ‘in here. I’m just looking for friendship right now, nothing else.’

  He frowned, and then he looked horribly embarrassed and awkward, and Emma suddenly realised she’d assumed too much and insulted him into the bargain.

  ‘I mean…’ she began to backtrack, ‘it’s not that I don’t—’

  ‘Please,’ he said, ‘forget that I suggested anything. I’m sorry if it came across as anything other than friendship. I was only thinking you must be sick of eating at Darcie’s café or cooking your own food and you might fancy a change. I overstepped the mark.’

  ‘No, no you didn’t! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean—’

  ‘Aid!’ Blake called from where he was installing a damp-proof course. ‘Can I borrow you, bro? Need you to look at this.’

  Without another word to Emma, Aidan went to join his brother. She watched him go. If she could have punched herself in the face she would have done. Of course he was just trying to be her friend. Why did she
have to be so suspicious of everyone’s motives? Maybe the real problem was that she wanted there to be more in it than friendship but couldn’t bring herself to open up to that. Not every man was out to use her like Dougie and others before him had done. She was a different woman now too: stronger, more independent – the sort of woman who forged her own path. If she’d met Dougie today she wouldn’t let him walk all over her like before. And Aidan wasn’t even like that. He was kind, respectful, good company, fun to be around, so why couldn’t she allow herself to like him as more than a friend? After the way she’d just blown him off, even that was in jeopardy now. Why did she have to be so stupid?

  Another thing that had become a regular occurrence in the weeks they’d been in Honeymoon were lunch breaks during which Blake and Tia disappeared. Today was no exception – as the clock struck one, Blake announced his intention to go and pick something up from the café and Tia announced hers to go with him and off they went, leaving Emma and Aidan alone.

  Aidan sat on a pile of bricks munching solemnly on a cheese sandwich. Things still felt a little awkward between them since their mortifying conversation of earlier that day, but Emma was determined to fix it.

  ‘You want some tea from our flask?’ she asked.

  He gave a vague smile. ‘That’d be good, thanks.’

  Emma poured some and handed it over.

  ‘If the offer’s still there…’ she began, doing her best to keep her tone light, ‘I’m actually pretty desperate to see a field of phantom cows. And garden centre rockeries full of dancing fairies are really my favourite things.’

  He gave her a small smile. ‘Emma, it’s really OK – you don’t have to—’

  ‘No, I know. I really want to. I love you showing me around and, let’s face it, if I’m going to sell holidays here then I really need that local knowledge.’

  His smile grew a little. ‘I mean, the cows are cool.’

  ‘I think they’d go down a storm on TripAdvisor.’

  He sipped his tea, and Emma was relieved to see he looked a little more like his normal self.

  ‘You know what? I’m an idiot,’ she said after a silent moment. ‘I have some trust issues right now, but that’s not your fault and I was wrong to make you a victim of them.’