Autumn Antics: Escape to the seaside with the perfect autumn read! (The Boardwalk by the Sea Book 2)

by Georgina Troy

  ◆◆◆

  Two hours later, Bella stood back, her gloved hands on her hips as she surveyed her freshly polished and vacuumed living room. As a small business, it worked well enough, but if they did get paid a fee, however small, for the images from Abel, it would give her a little breathing space.

  Spotting a candelabra that needed moving slightly to the left, Bella stepped forward to move it, distracted by cheers outside the cottage. Something was going on, but she couldn’t imagine what at this time of year.

  She pulled on her jacket and went outside to investigate. A crowd of people, mainly women, were leaning against the railings and whooping in delight at something going on down on the beach.

  “Excuse me,” she said, gently manoeuvring past two of them to get a good look at what was causing all the excitement. Bella saw cameras, and a young guy holding a large white screen with a spotlight trained on it. Megan, looking stunning in a pretty yellow sundress, was waving to someone in the sea.

  Craning her neck, Bella tried to see past a woman with wild curly hair in front of her. “Jack?” she gasped, spotting him striding out of the water, surfboard under one arm as he raked the fingers of his other hand through his wet, sun-kissed hair.

  “By all the saints,” said an elderly woman next to her. “If that isn’t an angel in human form coming out of the sea down there.”

  Bella’s stomach gave a little flip. She had to agree. “He is pretty amazing, isn’t he?” she said aloud without meaning to.

  “He is H-O-T,” said another. “Just give me five minutes with that man.”

  “Hey,” Bella said, disliking the tone. “He’s my friend, thank you very much. Not a piece of meat. You wouldn’t like it if a crowd of men were yelling like this over a female.”

  “Whatever,” the woman replied, looking slightly red in the face.

  “Oh, come on,” said a young woman whose face she couldn’t see. “Don’t tell me you wouldn’t pounce on him, given half a chance.”

  Indignant to be thought of in such a way, Bella glared in the direction of the unknown voice. “I most certainly would not,” she insisted, thinking how rude some people could be.

  “Hey, look at her with her flowery pink gloves on,” the woman sneered. “What’s the matter? Couldn’t you lower yourself to wear woollen ones like the rest of us?”

  “I’ve been cleaning, if you must know,” she argued, not wishing to share her real reason. Telling this woman that she was a hand-model and had to protect her skin for photo shoots would only cause further mockery, and she wasn’t in the mood for an unnecessary argument. Plus, she was too pleased to see Jack back safely to be really angry.

  Realizing she was missing the scene on the beach, she made her way to the railings to get a better look at what Jack was doing. She had seen him on the beach many times before, but had never seen him look more gorgeous than he did right now.

  He had been sent back into the sea, so the photographer could retake the photos. She had thought he was meant to be working with Tony at sea all day, so Bella couldn’t understand why he was here at all. She watched as he immersed himself into the water before standing once more, droplets of sea falling from his muscular arms as they pushed his hair back from his forehead. She couldn’t imagine them ever being able to take more perfect photos of any man.

  Then, she noticed Abel with his hand up as he spoke to the photographer. She watched as he moved around and while Jack re-enacted his walking out of the sea, the photographer took a photo of Megan from the other side, including the watching crowd.

  Despite Megan being the celebrity, it seemed like Jack was the star of the show. Looking at him more closely, as he emerged from the sea, she detected him shivering slightly.

  “We’re done here,” Abel shouted. He waved at the uninvited audience. “Thanks for coming, ladies and gents. Much appreciated. If you buy the magazine next week you might see yourselves in one of the photos.”

  Bella pushed her way out of the group and returned to her cottage to fetch a towel for Jack. He must be frozen out there, she mused. It was November, after all, and despite the bright sunshine, it was colder than usual.

  She returned to the boardwalk and ran down the steps to the beach. Spotting her, Jack waved and began running over, surfboard still under his arm. She saw Abel, Megan and the rest of the crew following slowly as she rushed over to him.

  He beamed at her. “Is that towel for me?”

  “Well, it isn’t for me,” she laughed, opening it as he dropped his surfboard onto the soft golden sand and handing it to him. “I thought you were out with Tony on his boat all day.”

  “He managed to catch his quota of fish early, so we came back and I was roped into this shoot.” He wrapped it around his shoulders. “Bloody hell, it’s freezing out here. Come on, let’s get back to the cottage.” He picked up his surfboard and noticing several of the women from the crowd coming towards them, lowered his voice. “Did you hear that lot earlier?” he asked, waiting for Bella to go in front of him up the granite stairs.

  “Yes,” she said. “Here they come. I think you have a bit of a fan club forming.”

  “Hurry into the cottage then,” he laughed. “Move it. Quickly.”

  She opened the door and they raced inside, slamming it shut and locking it behind them. Turning the shop sign from Open to Closed, Bella followed Jack through the kitchen to the courtyard outside, where he put down his surfboard. He’d dropped his towel and she had to concentrate on not letting her eyes stare at his bottom in wet, navy swimming shorts.

  Jack picked up his towel from the floor and turned to say something to her when she wasn’t expecting it, catching her gazing at him.

  He frowned very lightly, almost so that she wasn’t sure his expression had altered at all.

  She cleared her throat. “That was close,” she said, her voice tight. Relief flooded through her as someone rapped the brass knocker heavily against the front door. “I bet you never thought today was going to work out like this?”

  “No,” he said thoughtfully.

  Transfixed by his gaze, she couldn’t seem to make her eyes look away from his deep blue ones.

  “Bella,” he said quietly, stepping forward. “I want to talk to you about something.”

  They locked eyes.

  “Oi, you in there!” bellowed a woman outside. “I thought this place was open today. It usually is.” The doorknocker rapped once again. “Hey!”

  Bella glanced over her shoulder at the door. “Maybe I should open up and see if they want to buy something?” she said assuming he wanted to discuss the bonfire party. “Can it wait?”

  “No.” Without taking his eyes away from hers, he lowered his head to kiss her. Unable to resist, Bella melted into his kiss. She had always mocked films where people heard choirs and angels singing, but when his lips touched hers, she wasn’t sure if she didn’t hear exactly that.

  The woman at the door shouted again, her voice suddenly reminding Bella of Sacha. She leapt back from Jack as if his lips had stung hers.

  “What’s the matter?” he asked, a hurt look in his eyes. “Haven’t I read you right? Don’t you have feelings for me?”

  “No, it’s not that,” she said, shaking her head, hating having to stop what had been so magical between them. She was scared to open up to him in case it wasn’t real. “I can’t do this.” Her eyes filled with tears. “You know what happened last time.”

  “Things are different now,” he argued.

  “Are they though?” She shook her head again. “I can’t, Jack, I’m sorry.”

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Bella was walking hand in hand with Jack along the boardwalk, autumn leaves crunching underfoot. She was perfectly capable of walking without holding hands, but Jack had insisted it was more slippery than usual with all the wet leaves on the ground. “And what if you do fall and break your fingernails?” he said, which scared her.

  “Bella!”

  Someone was calling her
name from far away. Concentrating on working out who it was, she woke with a fright. “A dream,” she said miserably, recalling how she and Jack had parted immediately after she had put a stop to their incredible kiss, and gone to answer the door only to discover that the customer who had been banging on it had gone away. Relieved to have only imagined Sacha’s voice, she turned to apologise to Jack, but before she could say anything to him, he fled to his room without another word.

  She stared at her bedside clock trying to get her sleepy eyes to focus. She’d barely seen him during the past four days. But today was Guy Fawkes and they wouldn’t be able to avoid each other with the bonfire party on the beach to prepare for.

  Megan would be back, too, she remembered. Lying back down, Bella mused how much she now liked the scatty, flirtatious girl.

  Jack. She couldn’t help wondering if he had left for the day, or whether he was lying asleep on the other side of the wall. One wall was all that separated them. How far would their kiss have gone if she’d let it? He hadn’t mentioned it since and neither had she.

  She had spent the time focusing on her work, and Jack had left early to go working on Tony’s fishing boat. She couldn’t help wondering how he would have avoided her if his work hadn’t provided him with a reason to be out before she got up, but assumed he probably would have gone surfing instead.

  Bella was relieved her mother was staying with Betty, because Claire would have sensed the tension in the cottage and want to sort it out. Bella wasn’t ready for that, and didn’t think Jack was either.

  No point lying here wallowing, she thought unable to stay in bed a moment longer. She pulled open her curtains. It was barely dawn, but she noticed someone crouching down near to the sea wall opposite her cottage. She peered down to try and see what the person was doing. It was a man wearing a dark hoodie. His hand moved back to reach for something to reveal a symbol built of pebbles. She covered her mouth with her hand to stifle a gasp, desperate not to alert him to her presence.

  Moving slowly back from the window, she quickly dressed in her jeans and a jumper and went outside, unable to resist uncovering who had been behind the mysterious symbols appearing over the past few months. Thankfully, the sound of her footsteps were masked by the noise of the waves breaking on the beach. Bella barely breathed as she crept up next to the man.

  “Tony?” She couldn’t believe it. Why would he be doing something like this?

  He stood up, mouth open, seemingly lost for words. “Bella, I…”

  She hated to think that she had given him a shock. And now that she was standing in front of him, wished she had left him alone. It wasn’t as if his symbols were hurting anyone. “Are you okay?”

  He stared at her and then down at the partially formed symbol. “You must wonder why I’ve been doing this?”

  “We’ve all been curious about them,” she admitted. “Do you want to carry on? I won’t tell anyone it was you.”

  At that moment, her mother stepped out of Betty’s cottage and seeing them, walked over to join them. “What are you two doing out here so early? Is anything the matter?”

  Bella cringed. She didn’t like to share Tony’s secret. She exchanged glances with him.

  “It’s me,” he said quietly. “I’ve been the one leaving the symbols. You probably think I’m a little odd.”

  Claire frowned. She reached out and placed a hand on his right shoulder. “I heard your wife died a year or so ago,” she said. “Are these for her?”

  Bella didn’t dare speak, but watched as Tony nodded. “She had a tattoo of this symbol on her wrist. She designed it herself and said that it represented our family. When I have a difficult day coping without her, I come out here when no one’s around and leave a symbol as a message to her.” He gave Bella a sideways glance. “I know she won’t see it, but it helps somehow.”

  “Are your children at home?” Claire asked, pointing at his cottage a few doors down from Betty’s.

  He shook his head. “They’re staying with my wife’s parents for a few days.”

  “Then why don’t you come with me to Betty’s? She still asleep, but you know you can always confide in her, and I’d like to think you could trust me too. I find it helps to talk to someone.”

  Bella watched him consider her mum’s invitation, hoping he would accept. “There’s no harm in sharing how you feel,” she said.

  “It’s so long since I spoke to anyone about her,” he said, almost to himself. After a moment’s hesitation, he nodded. “Yes, if you’re sure you have the time,” he said staring at Claire. “I think I’d like that.”

  “Good,” she said, smiling. “Let’s go.”

  He looked at Bella. “Don’t look so worried. I’m glad you caught me. Will you put those pebbles back on the beach, so no one sees them?”

  She nodded and watched her mother and Tony go to Betty’s cottage, thinking how everyone was fighting their own battle.

  She tidied away the pebbles, trying to make sense of how lonely Tony must have been yet none of them had noticed because he had kept himself to himself and either worked or focused on his small children.

  She remembered Megan was arriving mid-morning and that she had promised to take her for a walk along the beach. She was still surprised by the girl’s fondness for the place, but secretly thrilled about it too. Returning to her cottage, she showered and dressed, then made her way to the bookshop to see Jools. The bell jangled to announce her arrival and she saw Mrs Jones seated at the counter, crocheting.

  “Good morning, young Bella. How are you today?” She dropped a gravy bone treat for Teddy, onto the floor. The little Jack Russell was popular with customers, but had a tendency to run outside if the door was left open. “Quit your begging, or you’ll not have your walk on the beach.” Mrs Jones looked up at Bella. “Jools has gone off to take photos of someone’s garden she’s been commissioned to paint,” she said. “I’ve no idea when she’ll be back and this one is driving me nuts, whining.”

  “Would you like me to take him for a walk?”

  “No, lovey, you’ve got more than enough to be getting on with.” She placed her crocheting onto the counter. “Now, tell me how your mum and Betty are getting along. I know your mother’s a free spirit, but I think the two of them will be fine living together.”

  Bella had thought so too, but it was a relief to hear Mrs Jones say so. “I agree. At least I hope it works out. I want Mum to be happy, but I know she’s used to her independence and living with me might have made her miss that a little.”

  “Do you think she’ll stay put now she’s back?” Mrs Jones asked.

  Bella shrugged. “I’d like to think so. For the first time since she’s been back, I can imagine it. I’ve never felt that before.”

  Mrs Jones nodded sagely. “Well, it’s about time she settled down. It’s taken her long enough.”

  Bella knew Mrs Jones was fond of her mother and wasn’t being mean, but still felt the need to defend her. “Some of us are freer spirits than others,” she said.

  “Yes, lovey, and some are given responsibilities earlier than they should have them.”

  Bella knew she was referring to the couple of years she’d cared for her grandmother when she was unable to do much for herself. “I was happy to be here with Nan, Mrs Jones. Mum would have felt trapped. It worked out for the best.”

  “Maybe so.” Mrs Jones reached out and patted Bella’s left hand. Teddy barked, just once. “That’s him telling me he wants to go out,” she said, sighing heavily. “If you want to fetch his lead from the back of the kitchen door. If you really wouldn’t mind, I’d appreciate you taking him for a walk.”

  “I’d love to,” she said, keen to help.

  “His ball is there too. Just be careful not to throw it up onto the rocks. It doesn’t matter how high it’s thrown up there, the little devil will charge up to fetch it. He got stuck twice before and the second time damaged one of his front legs.”

  “Don’t worry, Mrs Jones,”
Bella reassured her. “I’ll be careful not to do that.” She attached Teddy’s lead, said goodbye to Mrs Jones, and left the shop.

  “So, shall we give Lexi a call and see if Megan has arrived yet?” She took her mobile phone from her jacket pocket and located Lexi’s number. “Hi Lexi, how are you? Have you got any idea when Megan’s expected to arrive? I promised to take her for a walk on the beach and I’ve Mrs Jones’ dog Teddy with me. I thought I’d walk them both at the same time.”

  “She’s just arrived actually,” said Lexi. “I’ll put her on.”

  “Hi Bella,” Megan said, sounding very excited. “I’m so buzzing to be back here. I was determined to be at Jack’s party tonight, although my agent wasn’t very happy and we had a bit of a row. But I told her that I’m busy at the moment and I need a break. Being here over Halloween showed me that I really did need to take time out.”

  “Good, I’m glad,” Bella said, thrilled to hear how happy Megan sounded. “I’ve got Teddy here, he’s a little Jack Russell and he’s desperate for walk on the beach. How about I collect you now and we go together?”

  “I’d love to, but no need to come and get me. I’ll walk down to you. I’m sure I won’t get lost. See you in ten minutes?”

  Bella laughed. “That’s great, I look forward to seeing you.” She ended the call, thinking how different Megan seemed now that she’d got to know her. If only she had been nicer in the first place, they could have been friends before now. Better late than never, Bella thought.

  She decided to pop to the café while she waited for Megan to arrive. “Shall we go and see Sacha?” she asked.

  As if Teddy understood he gave a quick little bark and frantically wagged his tail. Bella wondered if maybe it was time she got her own dog. She loved dogs. She especially wanted one of the rescue dogs that had been brought to the island that she’d seen on online. She’d spotted one on the website. He wasn’t very cute and no one seemed to want him. Maybe she should make some enquiries.