It Started with a Secret

by Jill Mansell

  “You’re ready to meet someone,” said Lainey. “That’s good.”

  “There’s no hurry. Maybe the right man will come along someday. But you can’t make it happen.”

  “You took me on because you wanted a Mary Poppins to make your life better and easier.” Lainey gestured cheerfully with a knife in one hand and a potato in the other. “Well, that’s my mission. I may not be able to make it happen, but we can definitely figure out how to tip the odds in your favor.”

  Chapter 7

  It was five in the afternoon when Seth Faulkner arrived back in St. Carys a week later. The drive down from Bristol had taken just over two and a half hours, thanks to a fast car and, miraculously, no holdups on the motorway. He parked in the driveway of Menhenick House and let himself in only to find it deserted.

  The air was warm, the sea was delphinium blue, and seagulls wheeled overhead as the sun hung low in the sky; it didn’t take MI5 to work out where everyone would be. He made his way down through the garden, then farther down still, until he emerged at the top of the smallest of the three beaches in St. Carys Bay. Beachcomber was the farthest west, then there was Mariscombe; all three were stunning, but this one, Menhenick Bay, was the most hidden, the most sheltered, and his personal favorite.

  And there too, down on the sand, were his favorite people. India and Violet were sprawled next to a picnic blanket, helping themselves to food being offered to them by Majella. Richard, wearing sunglasses and his beloved panama hat, occupied a folding chair and was watching an energetic game of Frisbee being played by Harry and the new couple while feeding bits of sandwich to Ernie and Glenda, stretched out in the patch of shade beside him.

  Seth zoned in on Kit and Lainey. Even if he hadn’t seen the already noticeable difference in the house and garden, he was aware of how thrilled Majella was to have them here, basically because she kept sending him texts and emails telling him so in order to prove that he’d been wrong not to want them and she’d been right.

  No one had yet spotted him up here, and Seth continued to watch unobserved.

  The girls had always been happy to play beach games with sports-mad Harry when they were younger, but at seventeen, their enthusiasm had waned. Luckily Lainey and Kit were really throwing themselves into the game. All three were wearing shorts and T-shirts, and when Harry sent the Frisbee sailing into the sea, the other two raced in after it. Kit tried to reach it first, and Lainey, refusing to be beaten, pushed him to the left so he overbalanced and landed on his knees. With a shriek of delight, she danced past and launched herself at the Frisbee. Up to her thighs now in the turquoise water, she waved it above her head and did a gleeful victory dance, then pretended to throw it to Kit before sending it flying high over his head instead to Harry on the beach.

  Realizing he was missing out, Ernie abandoned the secret supply of sausage rolls—which was a miracle in itself—and tore over to join them in the water. And really, who could blame him? As Richard had observed last week, Kit and Lainey were an attractive couple. With his rugby player’s physique, tousled fair hair, and winning smile, Kit had a clean-cut, all-American look about him. But it was Lainey—surprise, surprise—who drew Seth’s attention to such a degree that he was finding it almost impossible to look away. Her dark-blond hair, wavy and windswept, flew behind her as she high-stepped through the waves, chasing Ernie. Her white shorts were wet, her tanned thighs gleamed with droplets of seawater, and the wide neckline of her red T-shirt was slipping off one shoulder. Ernie abruptly went into reverse and launched himself at her, and Lainey tumbled into the water, screaming with laughter as the dog, tail wagging madly, attempted to lick her face.

  It was the strangest sensation; there was just something about this girl. Seth had no idea what it was, but he knew he couldn’t allow himself to think it. Nor was he enjoying feeling this way; it wasn’t ideal, to say the least. The more he looked at her, the more strongly he felt as if there were some indescribable connection between them; a sense of recognition, almost, as if they’d known each other before.

  Although he was equally certain they hadn’t; thanks to his excellent memory, he’d always been able to place familiar faces from the past.

  The riotous game was in full flow again now. Wonder of wonders, even India had been persuaded to put down her phone and join in. Seth smiled to himself as Glenda promptly leaped up and entered the fray, then found his attention turning once more to Lainey, who was grabbing the hem of her boyfriend’s T-shirt in order to hold him back so Harry could dive past and seize control of the Frisbee.

  As Seth settled himself on the rock behind him, he wondered just how tricky the coming months were likely to be. He hadn’t been entirely truthful with Majella and Richard. When Majella had said in bewilderment, “But why don’t you think we should hire them?” he’d replied, “I just think an older couple would be better. These two have only known each other for a year, so who’s to say they’re even going to stay together? They could have a massive fight next week and break up, and then we’ll be back to square one.”

  As a rule, in both business situations and life in general, Majella accepted his advice and decisions. This time, however, she’d made up her mind and wasn’t allowing him to change it. With a shake of her head she’d said firmly, “And maybe they won’t break up. Don’t be such a pessimist, Seth. Just because you get bored with your relationships doesn’t mean everyone else does. They seem like a brilliant couple, the rest of us like them, we’ve decided we want them here, and that’s that.”

  It was surprisingly frustrating, he’d discovered, not getting his own way. “But—”

  “Seth, stop trying to argue with me.” Majella had stood her ground. “Even if they do break up, I’d rather have Kit and Lainey for a few months than be stuck with some boring middle-aged couple who’ll stay together for the rest of their lives.”

  That was the moment Seth had known he was beaten. He’d been forced to give in with good grace, drive down to the train station, and relay the news to Lainey and Kit that they were hired.

  And now they’d settled in just as effortlessly as Majella had predicted they would. The rest of the family was absolutely delighted to have them here.

  Whereas he…wasn’t.

  He expelled a stream of air from his lungs and reminded himself that he could do this. He had to. Yes, he was drawn to Lainey; he’d experienced that jolt of attraction the moment he’d first set eyes on her in the kitchen last week, so powerful it had almost taken his breath away.

  And he was accustomed—always had been—to getting whatever or whomever he wanted.

  But this time it wasn’t going to happen; it couldn’t happen. He might have something of a reputation where women were concerned, but the one thing he’d never done—never would do—was deliberately try to break up a relationship.

  Especially not if the couple concerned were working for his own family.

  Which meant he was just going to have to keep his feelings for Lainey to himself. It wouldn’t be easy, but it was doable. Just because you found yourself drawn to someone didn’t mean you had to act on it. When they weren’t available, you simply put the idea out of your head and carried on as if it hadn’t happened.

  Not by so much as a flicker would he give himself away. And with a bit of luck, his notoriously short attention span where the opposite sex was concerned wouldn’t let him down. Give the situation a few weeks, and the attraction would fade away of its own accord.

  “Seth!”

  They’d spotted him. Faces had turned in his direction, Majella was waving and India was beckoning him to join them. “Come on down. You can be on our team!”

  He hesitated and wondered whether to feign an urgent business call, one that would require him to head back to the house. At that moment, the phone in his pocket began to ring. Great, talk about karma; now it would be an urgent business call, requiring hours of work to sort out. />
  But when he glanced at his phone, he saw Dawn’s name on the screen, which was far easier to deal with.

  She’d left two messages already while he’d been driving down the M5. Oh well, one more couldn’t hurt.

  And it would be ridiculous to try to avoid Lainey and Kit; they lived and worked here, for goodness’ sake.

  He let the call go to voicemail and put the phone back in his jeans pocket, then rose to his feet and made his way along the sandy path that led down to the beach.

  No problem. He could do this.

  * * *

  An hour later, when Dawn’s name flashed up on his phone for the fourth time, he answered it.

  “So you are still alive,” she exclaimed. “I was beginning to wonder.”

  “Sorry, I was on my way home, couldn’t answer while I was driving. Then I ran out of battery. All sorted now.”

  “Well as long as you’re not trying to avoid me.” She laughed. “Because I’m not used to that happening.”

  “I can imagine,” said Seth, and he meant it. They’d met for the first time a couple of weeks ago, had been introduced by mutual friends on the terrace of the Mariscombe House Hotel. She’d moved down from Durham last month to join a small firm of solicitors in St. Carys, and interest among the thirtysomething crowd at the hotel that evening had been intense.

  Even now, Seth realized he was mentally comparing Lainey and Dawn; he couldn’t help himself. If you were to stand them next to each other and ask people who was the most beautiful, most would say Dawn. She was physically impressive, tall and perfectly proportioned, with immaculate makeup and glossy dark hair snaking down her back. She had a swaying, slinky walk, an air of absolute confidence, and a low-pitched Joanna Lumley voice. She looked like one of those go-getting, high-powered legal types in the U.S. TV show Suits.

  Lainey, in comparison, was more… How could he phrase it? Down to earth. She was attractive, but in a completely different way. In his imaginary lineup, Seth couldn’t help picturing her as she’d looked on the beach earlier, with her cheeks glowing, her eyes bright, and her streaky brown and blond hair whipped by the sea breeze into a mad tangle. Sand had dried on her arms and legs, a strand of seaweed was caught up in one hoop earring, and a trickle of blood had slid down her shin where she’d sliced open her knee on a broken mussel shell during a particularly energetic dive tackle.

  The red T-shirt had stretched out of shape and the white denim shorts had been drenched and clinging to her thighs, but she’d been having too much fun to care how she looked; basically, she’d radiated joy.

  If he had the choice, Seth knew, he would go for Lainey every time.

  OK, time to stop comparing them. Because he didn’t have a choice, did he?

  Lainey wasn’t available, and the one currently on the other end of the phone was Dawn.

  Who clearly wasn’t accustomed to having to call a man four times before getting to speak to him.

  “Sorry about that,” he continued. “It’s good to hear from you. How are things?”

  “Things are fine, thanks so much for asking.” She sounded amused. “Although I did think you might have been in touch before now. You told me you would be.”

  “I know. The last couple of weeks have been crazy at work. I’ve been up in Bristol most of the time.” Which was true enough.

  “But I can hear the sea, which hopefully means you’re back now,” said Dawn. “I was wondering if you’d like to come over to my place for dinner this evening.”

  She wasn’t shy, you could say that for her.

  “Dinner sounds good,” said Seth. “Or we could go out to eat, if that’s easier. I’ve heard great things about the new French place on Silver Street.”

  “Tried it last weekend. My food’s better than theirs.” Modest too.

  “In that case, you’d better tell me where you live and what time you’d like me there.”

  “Eight sharp. I’ll text the address. You won’t regret it,” said Dawn. And confident.

  Well, he was in need of some distraction, and she seemed keen to supply it.

  Seth told himself it was the sensible thing to do.

  * * *

  At 7:45, ready to leave, he headed downstairs and made his way through to the kitchen, drawn by the smell of fried onions and sizzling bacon.

  Lainey, also showered and changed, was wearing a pink dress splashed with yellow stars, her hair tied up in a messy topknot. Busy putting the finishing touches to a tray of burgers, each one piled high with onions, sliced tomatoes, and melted cheese, she looked up and noticed him eyeing them.

  “Hi, I know you said you didn’t want anything, but there’s plenty here if you change your mind.”

  “It’s killing me, but I mustn’t.” Oh God, though was there anything better?

  Seth watched as she deftly crisscrossed strips of streaky bacon on top of each burger before pressing the upper halves of the buns onto the stacks. His mouth watered.

  “Suit yourself.” She placed the last two strips of bacon on a small plate and pushed it across the table in his direction. “Although these’ll just go to waste if you don’t eat them.”

  As Seth finished the second one, he realized they’d just whetted his appetite and made a bad situation worse; now he really wanted one of the giant burgers.

  “Thanks.” He checked his watch. “I have to go.”

  “Darling, are you off?” Majella came into the kitchen with Richard. “What time will you be home? Oh God, ignore me. Force of habit. You’re not one of the girls!”

  “I’m not,” Seth agreed. Were there really no more leftover strips of bacon?

  “And am I allowed to ask who you’re seeing?”

  “Her name’s Dawn. She’s the new lawyer at Berry and Dexter.”

  “Ooh, I’ve heard about her! I gather she’s causing quite a stir in St. Carys. Stunning and supersmart.”

  Seth noticed that Lainey paused for a split second and glanced across the table at him. He shrugged. “She seems pretty smart.”

  “And of course she’s a stunner,” Richard chimed in. “He wouldn’t be wasting his time on someone who wasn’t. Let’s face it, he’s not going to go out with a warthog.”

  Chapter 8

  At ten o’clock, while she and Kit were stretched out in front of the TV, Lainey’s phone rang.

  “It’s Biddy.” Leaning over the edge of the sofa, she reached for it. “Why would she be calling?”

  “All going well?” asked Biddy, and Lainey assured her that everything was fine.

  “Well, that’s good news.” Biddy had clearly felt dreadful about letting them go at such short notice. “Now, I know you’re not going to be able to help with this, but I promised I’d get in touch with all of you and ask, just on the off chance. We had a call from Wyatt this afternoon. He’s only gone and lost the engagement ring, hasn’t he?”

  Lainey sat up. “What? Lost it where?”

  “Well, if he knew that, it wouldn’t be lost,” said Biddy. “Silly boy. He went to return it to the shop this morning, and when he opened the box, the ring wasn’t there.”

  “Oh my God, you mean it’s been stolen? But who would do that? And when did it happen? It wasn’t me!” The little hairs on the back of Lainey’s neck prickled with alarm; was it weird to feel instantly guilty even though you knew you were innocent? At the age of eight, a boy at school had shoplifted a packet of fruit gummies and promptly told the shopkeeper she’d forced him to do it. The horror of being unjustly accused had haunted her ever since.

  But Biddy was laughing, keen to reassure her as Lainey switched to speakerphone so Kit could hear what was going on too. “Oh no, love! Of course it wasn’t you, nobody’s saying it was. Wyatt’s blaming himself, what with being so distraught and getting so plastered. He thinks he has a vague memory of going up to his room that evening and taking
the ring out of its box, but apparently it’s all a bit of a blur from then on, so it could be anywhere…he could have dropped it or thrown it into the lake. We’ve searched the chateau as best we can, and Bill’s been outside all afternoon with his metal detector, but it’s hopeless. I’m just calling on the complete off chance that you or Kit might have spotted him with it at some stage.”

  “I wish I had, Biddy. But I can’t help you. And neither can Kit,” Lainey added, because he was right next to her, shaking his head. “I mean, I went out to talk to Wyatt at around midnight—you already know that—but he didn’t mention the ring then and I didn’t see him with it. But I can tell you where he was—under the trees directly across the lawn from my room. He was looking up at the biggest tree with the low, spready-out branches…” OK, tree names weren’t her forte. “The one that looks like a belly dancer waving her arms and wearing a fringy costume.”

  Kit shook his head in disbelief. “Biddy? She means the weeping blue cedar.”

  “Well, that’s where he was when I found him. And it’s where we sat down on the grass to have a chat.” Lainey paused, because watching Wyatt trying to conceal his tears had been absolutely heartbreaking. “I was just doing my best to cheer him up, make sure he didn’t do anything drastic. So Bill could try there with the metal detector.”

  “We’ll give it a go in the morning.” Biddy sighed.

  Kit said, “It was insured, wasn’t it?”

  “Apparently not. Wyatt thought he’d wait until they were engaged, poor lad.”

  “And do you know how much it was worth?” said Lainey.

  “I do. He told me. That’s why Bill’s been spending so long trying to find the damn thing.” Biddy lowered her voice, as she always did when discussing money. “Apparently it cost him forty thousand pounds.”