Last Words at the Star and Sixpence

by Holly Hepburn

  ‘Gabe – I rang him as soon as I got his message,’ Joss said. ‘Actually, I rang Nessie, but she’d turned her phone off. So I found his number in my missed calls and he told me what had happened – offered to come and collect me. It would be quicker, he said.’

  A sudden lump formed in Sam’s throat. It was so kind of Gabe – so typically him – that she found it hard to swallow. ‘He must be dead on his feet. Has he gone back to the pub for a rest?’

  Joss shook his head. ‘He’s outside.’ Again, he paused, but this time he seemed to be fighting some kind of internal battle. ‘He’s a good bloke. I like him.’

  ‘He is,’ Sam said, an involuntary smile pulling at her lips. ‘The best.’

  ‘Yeah, I thought you might say that.’ He puffed out his cheeks and then met Sam’s eyes in rueful resignation. ‘I think I knew the first time I saw you two together, to be honest.’

  ‘Knew what?’ Sam said warily.

  Joss opened his mouth and closed it again. He was silent for several long seconds, then pushed himself out of the chair and headed for the door. ‘I’ll let you work it out for yourself.’

  ‘Where are you going?’ Sam called in bewilderment.

  ‘I’m not going anywhere,’ Joss said, tilting his head. ‘But try opening your eyes to see what’s really in front of you, Sam.’

  For a moment, Sam lay against the pillows, struggling with a burst of intense irritation at Joss’s enigmatic comments. What did he mean, try opening her eyes? Obviously, they were already open. But then her gaze was drawn to their daughter, so small and perfect, and her annoyance drained away until she couldn’t feel anything but love. She slid out of bed and reached out a hand to touch the pink clenched fingers with their miniscule fingernails. Had this little person really been safely cocooned inside her less than twenty- four hours ago? It didn’t seem possible.

  ‘She’s beautiful,’ Gabe said from the doorway, and Sam didn’t need to turn around to know he was smiling.

  ‘I can’t argue with that,’ Sam said.

  ‘Just like her mother.’

  Now Sam did turn to look at him, suddenly aware of her matted hair and crumpled hospital gown. At least they’d given her another to wear like a dressing gown, so she wasn’t flashing bare skin to the world. ‘I’m pretty sure I’ve never looked worse.’

  Gabe’s dark-eyed gaze was level. ‘Not to me.’

  ‘Spoken like a true friend,’ she said dryly.

  He watched her in silence for a moment. ‘I will always be your friend, Sam. Even though I wish—’ His eyes slid away as he stopped talking.

  ‘You wish what?’ Sam asked as her heart started to thud.

  ‘Forget it,’ he replied, glancing at the cot with an expression that was both longing and sad. ‘I am a fool.’

  And then Sam thought she understood. ‘It was kind of you to go and get Joss.’

  Gabe shrugged, staring at the floor. ‘It was the decent thing to do. I knew he must be beside himself with worry – I would have been, in his place.’

  Sam took a small step towards him. ‘He told me he thinks you’re a good man.’

  ‘Really?’ He looked up briefly and she saw his mouth was twisted into a sardonic smile. ‘Then he doesn’t know me at all.’

  ‘But I do,’ Sam said, closing the distance between them a little more. ‘I know you pretty well, Gabriel Santiago, and I think you’re a very good man. The kind who makes me breakfast every day, who tells me off for not resting enough and catches spiders from the ceiling in my room.’

  He shook his head dismissively and seemed to be marshalling an argument. Sam wasn’t going to give him the chance; this time, she would say what was on her mind.

  She kept walking until she was standing right in front of him. ‘You’re the sort of man who feeds stray dogs and investigates liars and comforts a pregnant woman when she’s scared in the night, even though her feet are like blocks of ice and she can’t stay still.’

  A ghost of a smile crossed his face then.

  She took his hand and waited until he looked into her eyes. ‘The type of man I’ve thought about kissing every day that I’ve known him, but didn’t because I thought maybe it would make life too complicated for both of us.’

  ‘Sam—’

  She touched one finger to his lips to silence him. ‘But someone told me today that I should open my eyes and see what was in front of me. And what I see is you.’

  Gabe tilted his head to stare at her, almost as though he wasn’t sure he’d heard correctly. ‘But—’

  Sam took a deep breath and ploughed on. ‘I love you, Gabe. And I know things are stupidly complicated, but I’m pretty sure we can work things out . . . if you love me too.’

  ‘If I love you too,’ he echoed slowly and took a long deep breath. ‘Dios mío, Sam, you must know I have loved you from the first moment we met.’

  The room seemed to spin for a moment. Sam pressed her feet hard against the ground and focussed on staying present as a gasp escaped her. ‘How could I know?’

  Gabe took her hands in his. ‘I tried to show you each day – I tried to take care of you. But then I realised you were still in love with Joss, and him with you, and I didn’t want to stand in your way.’

  ‘But I’m not in love with Joss,’ she said, the words tumbling over each other in her hurry to make him understand. ‘He doesn’t love me either, at least not the way you mean. In fact, it was Joss who made me see what I really wanted – you, Gabe. It’s been you all this time.’

  He didn’t speak for a moment, then let out a sigh that made Sam’s heart flutter. ‘We are both fools, then.’

  ‘Agreed,’ Sam said. ‘Can we stop being foolish now, though? Please?’

  Gabe smiled. ‘It is definitely time.’

  Pulling her gently towards him, he lowered his face to hers and brushed her lips with his. Sam lifted her hand to touch his cheek and he responded by kissing her with such tender passion that she felt something soften and melt inside. Closing her eyes, she gave in, hardly caring that anyone walking past could see them. And then an indignant wail split the air. Sam and Gabe sprang apart, turning as one to stare at the cot, where Frances had started to wriggle.

  ‘I suppose I should get used to this,’ Sam said, leaving the warmth of Gabe’s embrace with some reluctance.

  ‘You should,’ he agreed.

  A shiver passed over Sam as the magnitude of what she was asking of him hit home for the first time. Joss had made it sound so simple; open her eyes and see what was in front of her. And Gabe had responded in a way she’d never allowed herself to dream he would, but she wasn’t asking him to love just her; she and Frances came as a package now and she’d never be truly free to give all of herself to him the way he might want her to. Could she expect him to love another man’s child? Would Joss allow him to?

  Something of the sudden onslaught of worry must have shown in her face because Gabe tilted her chin up towards him and smiled deep into her eyes. ‘But it’s okay. I’m going to be right there beside you. We’ll get used to it together.’

  And Sam burst into tears of relief and happiness at the thought.

  Epilogue

  It was August Bank Holiday Monday. The sun was sinking below the horizon, sending tendrils of red and gold winding through the cherry blossom clouds. Sam and Nessie sat on a picnic blanket that was spread on the dry yellowing grass of the village green and watched as the last few sunbeams danced across the sky. Beside them, baby Frances, now firmly nicknamed Franny, gurgled in her basket and, at the far end of the green, Nessie could just about make out Luke, playing with his friends, Bucky bounding along at their heels.

  ‘Happy?’ Nessie asked Sam.

  ‘Half-dead from exhaustion,’ Sam replied instantly. But then a smile tugged at her mouth and creased the corners of her eyes. ‘But yeah, I’m happy. Are you?’

  Nessie reached across to brush the back of her hand against her niece’s plump downy cheek. ‘Of course. I’ve got everything I
want.’

  The movement caused the diamond and emerald ring on her wedding finger to flash.

  ‘Almost everything,’ Sam corrected. ‘You and Owen still need to set the date. I know I told you to wait until I no longer looked like a beached whale, but there’s such a thing as too long an engagement, you know.’

  Nessie hesitated. Should she tell Sam now? Was this the right time? But if the last year had taught her anything, it was that there was never a right time for news like this.

  ‘It might be a slightly longer engagement than anyone expected,’ she said slowly. ‘Around nine months longer, in fact.’

  Sam’s head whipped around to stare at her in bewilderment, then a delighted smile wreathed her face. ‘You mean—’

  Nessie’s eyes prickled with tears. ‘Yes, Sam. Franny’s going to have a little cousin. Owen and I had our twelve-week scan on Friday. Everything is fine.’

  Sam threw her arms around her and pulled her into a hug. ‘Oh my god, I am so thrilled for you, Ness!’ She drew back and Nessie saw she was crying too. ‘This is such amazing news!’

  ‘You’re the first person I’ve told,’ Nessie whispered. ‘And I know it’s going to be hard, with two babies instead of one to look after. But we’ll find a way to make it work.’

  ‘We will,’ Sam told her fiercely. ‘It’s going to be a dream come true for Joss – he’ll finally be the one in charge. It’s a good thing he and Gabe are practically best friends now – imagine if they hated each other!’

  Nessie laughed. ‘It’s a shame we can’t make it a double wedding,’ she teased. ‘Joss could be best man for both grooms.’

  ‘One step at a time,’ Sam said, rolling her eyes in exaggerated derision. ‘Gabe and I aren’t even sharing a room yet.’

  ‘Okay, maybe not a double wedding, then,’ Nessie conceded. ‘But you’ll still be my matron of honour, though, when Owen and I finally make it down the aisle?’

  ‘Of course – I’m planning a Carry On hen do, remember?’ Sam grinned, as Franny waved her legs in the air. ‘And you’ll have a ready-made flower girl on the day itself – she might even be walking by then.’

  Nessie leaned into her and kissed her on the cheek. ‘Thanks, Sam. I’m so lucky to have you for a sister.’

  Sam’s eyes glistened in the fading sunlight. ‘Same. But you’re more than just my sister,’ she murmured, resting her head against Nessie’s. ‘You’re my best friend.’

  A swell of contentment washed over Nessie as she hugged Sam. ‘Best friends,’ she agreed, smiling as the sun set over Little Monkham. ‘Always.’

  The End

  Don’t miss the paperback bind-up of parts 1-4 of the new Star and Sixpence series . . .

  Roaring fires, cosy nooks and friendly locals,

  welcome back to the perfect village pub...

  It’s September and the new season is bringing change to the village of Little Monkham. Nessie has moved in with the lovely Owen and his son Luke, leaving her sister Sam next door in their renovated pub, the Star and Sixpence. But is all change for the good? Sam and Joss have gone their separate ways and he’s left Little Monkham for good.

  New chef Gabriel Santiago is causing a flutter among the women of the village but Sam is determined not to make the same mistake again and keeps things strictly business between them. But an inconvenient attraction to Gabe is the least of Sam’s worries when an unexpected visitor arrives at the Star and Sixpence. Who is Laurie Marsh and what does he want from the sisters?

  COMING AUGUST 2019 IN PAPERBACK.

  AVAILABLE NOW TO PRE-ORDER.

  Also by Holly Hepburn

  The Star and Sixpence Series

  Snowdrops at the Star and Sixpence

  Valentine’s Day at the Star and Sixpence

  Summer at the Star and Sixpence

  Autumn at the Star and Sixpence

  Winter at the Star and Sixpence

  New Beginnings at the Star and Sixpence

  Christmas Kisses at the Star and Sixpence

  Cosy Nights at the Star and Sixpence

  The Picture House Series

  Brief Encounter at the Picture House by the Sea

  Singing in the Rain at the Picture House by the Sea

  Dirty Dancing at the Picture House by the Sea

  Some Like it Hot at the Picture House by the Sea

  The Castle Court Series

  Snowy Nights at Castle Court

  Frosty Mornings at Castle Court

  Stormy Weather at Castle Court

  Starry Skies at Castle Court

  First published in Great Britain by Simon & Schuster UK Ltd, 2019

  A CBS Company

  Copyright © Tamsyn Murray, 2019

  The right of Tamsyn Murray to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.

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  A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

  eBook ISBN: 978-1-4711-8003-3