I do not think, sir, you have a right to command me, merely because you are older than I
Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre
Anna wavered all morning. Part of her quivered excitedly at the thought of moving to Cornwall – somewhere she had shut out of her life, but where she knew her heart and soul felt happy. The other part fought against turning her back on everything about her life in Yorkshire.
Unable to put it off any longer, Anna called Giles, letting him gloat about the inheritance for a moment before mentioning her wish to live in the property. When he dismissed it out of hand as ludicrous, stating she would soon come to her senses, she ended the call. They were going to meet for dinner, where no doubt Giles would overrule her menu choices too.
Trying not to think about the evening ahead, Anna sank onto the sofa with an old romance novel she’d dug out and tried to lose herself in the words. It worked. Soon completely wrapped up in the sheer passion of the story, she didn’t realise Lauren had come in until she sat down next to her.
‘Reading love stories now instead of the classics, then?’ Lauren gestured towards the book.
Anna put it on the sofa arm. ‘I’m not sure it was the wisest move. It’s brought back a lot of feelings from those days. Feels weird now. It’s almost like I’ve become that insecure teenager again, suffering the pangs of unrequited love. No one could make my young heart pound like Alex Tremayne.’
Lauren’s eyes widened. ‘Tell me more!’
It didn’t take long to explain about Alex – after all, what was there to say? It had been nothing but a crush of enormous magnitude, lasting years.
‘I was six when I first went to Polkerran, and he was a lanky local boy of about eleven with a band of followers. He was heading off to ‘big school’ and seemed so grown up. By the time I was approaching my teens, I’d started looking for him everywhere. A glimpse of him from a distance was enough to make my entire day.’ Anna shook her head. It all sounded so ridiculous now. ‘I filled my diary all year, writing about him, and lived for the summer holidays.’ She met Lauren’s amused look with a grin. ‘Blond, sun-kissed, with a smile that did strange things to my insides. Things I never really understood at my innocent age.’ Then, she sobered. ‘Not that he was smiling at me, of course.’
‘Oh dear.’ Lauren’s cheeks dimpled. ‘You did have it bad.’
‘Tell me about it.’ Anna picked up the book again. ‘I’ve come to a sad realisation. My emotions were stirred more by the heroes in my old romances and by a teenage crush than they ever have been by Giles.’
‘Anna.’ Lauren’s voice held a warning. ‘You’re not thinking this Alex chap will still be in Polkerran, are you? I mean, he’s surely moved on?’
Anna burst out laughing, dropping the book into her lap. ‘Of course not! It was a silly crush, and like I said, he never really noticed me anyway – other than as a part of the young kids in the village. They used to tease us mercilessly, had nicknames for all of us. He was barely there in the last few summers I had with Aunt Meg, and I never saw him again after I was eighteen.’ She pursed her lips in thought. ‘His family owned the local manor, though, so they may still have links to the place.’
Lauren raised a brow. ‘And how old would this fine specimen be now?’
‘Thirty-five-ish.’
Her friend snorted. ‘He’s probably balding and portly now from stress and too many business lunches.’
‘Wait a minute.’ Anna reached for her phone and opened Google Images. ‘Couldn’t resist looking him up.’ She turned the screen to face Lauren. ‘There. That’s him.’
Lauren’s brows rose further as she took the phone. ‘Wow. Is this a current photo?’
‘From some business awards event in London last month.’
‘Well, then. Not gone to seed at all, has he?’ Lauren sent Anna a speculative look. ‘You do like your men blond, don’t you?’
‘Of course!’ Anna winked. ‘It’s the only reason I love you, mate.’
With a chuckle, Lauren handed Anna the phone, and she studied the image: not overweight and thinning, but tanned, his golden hair a little more tamed but his smile as gorgeous as ever. Alex had lost the lanky frame of a youth, but he looked in good shape, and his dark business suit only made him all the more handsome. ‘And he’s hardly likely to be around – judging by the event, he’s got some important job in London. And he certainly isn’t likely to notice me if he is ever in Polkerran.’
‘Don’t sell yourself short. No one can resist those beautiful eyes.’ Lauren struck a pose. ‘All you have to do is think sophisticated. Cool, calm and collected. Make it your mantra in case fate steps in.’
‘I wish it would!’
Lauren giggled then sobered. ‘You do realise how you’re talking, don’t you?’
‘Yes. I have to tell Giles it’s over.’
As expected, when they met for dinner, Giles hadn’t listened when Anna told him of her decision to move to Cornwall, speaking over her as he outlined his intention to get the cottage on the market as soon as possible and a house clearance company in to dispose of the contents. Anna had shuddered at the thought, her resolve increasing, and finally she had managed to get the message over to him that she was serious. She was leaving not only her job and Harrogate but also him.
Giles had become conciliatory as they left the restaurant, then patronising, but when his efforts proved ineffective, he’d turned to anger.
It was all Anna had needed. Once he’d started calling her selfish and mercenary, she’d found it easy to walk away from him, and although he tried to phone her over the next few days, she didn’t take the calls.
There were moments when she wondered if she’d made the right decision about leaving Yorkshire, but Anna, with Lauren’s support, moved forward with her plans, liaising with the solicitor in Cornwall and handing in her notice at work – though she did have a bit of a wobble when she’d done that.
She had several conversations with Mr Mottershead, who seemed delighted with her decision to make the cottage her home. Her boss, on the other hand, was less impressed. Lauren and Georgia were sad to see her go, but understood and promised to come and visit her when the summer came around.
The final weeks of the year flew by. Christmas and New Year came and went, and by the middle of January, Anna had started to pack up her old life in preparation for the move to Cornwall. By the end of February, all the necessary taxes were paid, the probate finalised, and the keys ready for Anna to collect from the solicitors in Lostwithiel.
Finally, her last night in Harrogate came around.
‘How’s it going?’
Lauren’s head appeared round the bedroom door, and Anna smiled.
‘Pretty much done. Not sure why I’m taking all my glam rags to a Cornish village.’
‘Hah! Bet those fishermen know how to party!’
‘I’ll be sure to let you know.’ Anna took the proffered mug of tea as her friend walked over to perch on the bed.
‘You okay?’ Lauren eyed Anna in concern. ‘You look a bit out of sorts.’
Anna put her mug down to tuck a sweater into the only space left in the case. ‘Oh, you know, this and that. Giving up the job I love. Leaving all my friends, moving to a whole new life in Cornwall. Adjusting to being single again.’
‘Hmm.’ Lauren grinned. ‘You have been rather busy in recent months.’
Anna retrieved her mug and took a sip of tea as she walked over to sit beside Lauren. ‘I genuinely thought my life was going to be like a book.’
‘Think you were reading the wrong ones, mate.’
‘Don’t I know it. And here’s me, newly single.’ She pulled a face. ‘I’m beginning to see how stupid I was. I mean, I don’t regret the loss of Giles, merely the future I’d dreamed of.’
Lauren’s expression sobered. ‘I know, love. You were too good for him.’
‘You said that once before.’
‘Time you believed me.’ Lauren’s voice softened. ‘Listen, Anna. I know how much you want the happy ever after – especially children – but I did warn you I thought you were settling for Giles as a means to an end. He’s a tad too obsessed with himself and making money, and you’re just—’
‘Not. You were right. I think it was the only time we nearly fell out in all these years of friendship.’ Anna bit her lip. ‘Forgive me?’
Lauren reached out and squeezed her hand briefly. ‘Of course.’
‘I don’t know what I was thinking. But I’m thirty, heading for spinsterhood and living La Vida Lonely. I think I’d better take up knitting and get a cat.’
Lauren rolled her eyes. ‘This is the twenty-first century, not a Jane Austen novel. Besides—’ she fixed Anna with a stern eye ‘—you’re available, remember? If that Alex chap so much as shows his face and hasn’t got a ring on his finger, you go for it.’
Anna burst out laughing. ‘I really don’t think I’m his type. He had the most gorgeous girls on his arm, even as a teen.’
‘Probably gay now then.’
Anna grinned at Lauren and took another sip of her now cooling tea.
‘You’re a match for any of them.’ Lauren got to her feet. ‘Remember what I said if you see him? Repeat the mantra: cool, calm and collected. You’ll be sophistication personified. Right, the girls have arrived, so I’m off to open the wine.’
Anna got up and walked over to look out of the window. Sophistication? She knew her own limitations. She contemplated the jumble of gardens and rooftops. She was sad to be leaving the house. It was the closest thing to a home she could remember having. Soon she would be seeing a totally different scene from her windows.
Anna straightened her shoulders and turned around. This was a moment to look forward, not back. And right now, it was time for one last evening of wine and giggles with her friends.
It was late in the day when Anna finally collected the keys to Westerleigh Cottage from Potter, Ball & Mottershead’s office and headed towards Polkerran Point, soon driving along West Street towards her new home. Tired after the long drive, her anticipation over this new stage in her life felt muted by the uncertainty of taking on the unknown. She had little thought for Giles, but sadness at saying farewell to her colleagues, her friends, and especially Lauren, hung over her, tempting her mile by mile to turn and go back.
She’d persevered, though and soon stepped from the car, inhaling deeply of the bracing sea air, before turning to close the gates to Westerleigh Cottage and opening the boot. Dusk was falling and so was the temperature. She’d get the log burner lit and make a much-needed cup of tea before thinking about food.
Soon Anna surveyed the jumble of cases, boxes and bags now deposited inside the hallway. A faint musty smell hung in the air, but it would soon disperse once she’d had the windows open a few days. Feeling a little sad over being here without Aunt Meg, she closed the door and flicked the light switch. Nothing.
‘Damn!’
She flicked the switch again, and again. Where is the fuse box?
Selecting torch mode on her phone, she made her way along the hallway to the staircase. Was it upstairs or down? She’d never given it a moment’s thought during those carefree holidays.
There was something incredibly creepy about dusk. Shadows formed where there should be none; a strange stillness and heavy silence lay—
‘Aargh!’
Anna dropped her phone as a dark shape shot out from under a dresser. The beam of light caught a small, skittering creature making its escape.
With a shudder, she picked up her phone and warily made her way around the house, convinced a pair of beady eyes watched her.
‘Don’t be ridiculous. It’s a mouse. A particularly large mouse,’ she muttered, flashing the torch here and there and popping in and out of the various rooms.
Anna found no sign of a fuse box. Perhaps only the hall light bulb was out? She flicked the kitchen light switch hopefully, but nothing happened other than the sound of scurrying feet again.
Then, she spotted the rear door leading on to the paved terrace, which overlooked the garden and the sea beyond. It unlocked with ease, and she placed her phone on the table before stepping out into the half-light and drew in another breath of the crisp sea air.
Memories assailed her as a gull swung low overhead, its mournful cry drifting away on the wind. She shivered again, hugging her arms to herself as she walked to the edge of the terrace, bordered by its ivy-clad wall, and looked across the cove. There were lights shining out from the Bat House – she must try to remember to use its proper name, Harbourwatch. The reclusive writer was at home.
She turned slowly on her heel to look at the small town of Polkerran – nestled in its embrace of tree-clad cliffs – and her spirits lifted. Perhaps it was more exciting than nerve-racking to be back.
Anna returned to the house and grabbed her phone, shining the torch around. The fuse box must be upstairs, but as she reached the bottom step, she heard a noise outside. She hesitated, then walked over and opened the door a fraction to peer out. The same broad-shouldered giant of a man as before had emerged from the garden shed. Before she could give in to the temptation to close the door, he looked over and saw her.
‘You again!’
He crossed the driveway to stand in front of her. He was as tall as she remembered, though she could barely discern his features in the now near darkness. Strangely, she didn’t feel threatened.
Anna cleared her throat. ‘Yes. I live here.’
The man seemed to still, his gaze raking her face. Then, he took a step closer. ‘Why are you in the dark?’ He reached over and flicked the light switch, then swore, and Anna blinked. Whoever he was, he seemed to be in a very bad mood. ‘Here, give me that.’
He took the phone from Anna before she realised his intent and shone the torch along the hall. Then, he strode past her, opening the door to the cellar and disappearing from view. A minute and a muffled curse later, the lights flickered into action. Blinking in the sudden glare, Anna eyed the man warily as he returned to the hall. He had handsome features, marred by the irritated look on his face. His dark hair was short-cropped, greying at the temples, and he had piercing blue eyes, which narrowed as he studied her closely.
‘You were in the graveyard a few months ago, before I found you snooping around here.’
Anna bristled.
‘I was not snooping! And this is my house now.’
His gaze narrowed further. ‘You can’t stay here tonight.’
For a stranger, he had very clear ideas about what she should or shouldn’t be doing.
‘And you are?’
‘Getting impatient. Are you seriously thinking of living here in these conditions?’ He waved a hand round at the dusty, neglected interior.
‘Yes, I am.’
The man’s attention turned to the haphazard pile of cases and boxes. ‘You’d better come home with me. Supper will be ready soon. I’m sure we can make it stretch to three. Grab what you need.’ He made for the door.
‘Don’t be ridiculous.’ Anna knew she sounded patronising, but really, this man! ‘How stupid would I be to go with a complete stranger?’
‘Technically, this isn’t our first meeting. But it’s your choice. Enjoy your evening.’
He had gone before she had a chance to respond, and she closed the door with a snap.
‘Good riddance,’ she exclaimed, then eyed the jumble of luggage and possessions with regret. She was tired and hungry, and whoever was preparing supper was probably far less grumpy, had a few social graces and – more importantly – hot food!