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Why not explore Sunshine Island, another wonderfully escapist series from Georgina Troy, beginning with Finding Love on Sunshine Island. Click the image below to buy now, or read on for an exclusive extract…
Chapter 1
A NEW SEASON AT THE BLUE HAVEN
Piper Le Brocq smoothed down the bedcover and straightened the guest welcome pack on the chest of drawers next to the circular tray displaying cups, saucers, a glass jar filled with chunks of Jersey fudge, and a tiny milk urn. She stepped back to take in the full effect of the room, satisfied that their second-best bedroom overlooking Gorey Harbour was exactly as her mother would expect it to be.
She bent to sniff the fresh floral arrangement she had collected earlier from Harbour Blooms along the pier. It was in prime position for Mr and Mrs Chapman to notice as soon as she showed them to their room. How amazing must it be to have spent sixty years of your life with someone, and still like them enough to want to return to stay in the same bedroom where you spent your honeymoon all those years before?
Noticing a couple of fingerprints on the window, she pulled the duster hanging from her back pocket and wiped them away. Unable to resist gazing out to her favourite view, she took a moment to sit on the window seat and looked at the vista. It was high tide and the small sailing boats, and a couple of fishing boats moored in the harbour, floated a few feet below the pier.
The late afternoon sun warmed Piper’s face and she closed her eyes, listening to the carefree laughter drifting up from the visitors strolling along eating ice creams. She loved it here and couldn’t imagine ever wanting to live anywhere else.
Hearing her mother’s voice, she followed it down to a bench at the edge of the harbour wall, across the narrow road, which was lined with Victorian cottages, small shops, hotels, restaurants and cafés. Her mother, Helen, was chatting to Dave, her ‘man friend’, as she insisted on calling him. Piper wasn’t sure what was wrong with calling someone your boyfriend, but her mother insisted that at fifty-one she was far too old to be using titles like that for someone she only occasionally agreed to accompany out for a meal.
As a taxi drew up outside their front door, Piper pulled the window open and leaned out to see if it was dropping off their newest guests. A passenger opened the door but looked far too young to be Mr Chapman. She watched as the tall, broad-shouldered, dark-haired man stepped out, thanking the taxi driver as he walked to the boot of the car and lifted out a large red rucksack. He stepped back as the car pulled away and, seeming to sense that he was being watched, glanced up to where Piper was peering down at him.
‘Bugger,’ she groaned, immediately pulling back into the room and knocking the back of her head against the window frame. She winced, and her orange duster floated out down to the pavement below. She rubbed her head and was contemplating what to do next when she heard the front door open and someone – presumably the taxi passenger – walk into the house.
She caught sight of herself in the mirror and grimaced. Her long, dark, curly hair was messier than usual. She hadn’t expected anyone this early, so her hair was still unbrushed and not in its usual ponytail. As her mother was outside, she had no choice but to go downstairs and greet their new guest. She quickly ran her fingers through her tangly hair and hooked as much as she could behind her ears.
‘Hi,’ he said as she descended the stairs to the hallway wishing she wasn’t so flustered; it was hardly the professional welcome her mother expected her to make. ‘I’m Alex Cooper.’ His voice was deep and confident. ‘I’ve booked a room here for four days.’
‘Yes, of course,’ she said, noticing the duster in his hand. ‘If you’ll come into the front room, I’ll sign you in.’
His eyes followed her gaze. ‘I think this is yours. You dropped it out of the window just now.’
Embarrassed by her clumsiness, she stepped forward and took it from him, remembering to smile.
‘If you’ll come this way,’ she said, leading him into the reception area. ‘Your room is ready for you.’ She sat at the computer, checked his details and took a few more. ‘Have you been to Jersey before?’ she asked, trying to sound professional.
He set his rucksack by his feet. ‘I’ve been to the island a few times, but only when I was young. My grandparents used to bring me and my sister during the summer holidays, but we usually stayed out in St Brelade’s Bay.’
Piper was aware that visitors tended to favour one area over another, often returning to the same place, rather than stay somewhere different. ‘And you didn’t want to go there this time?’ she asked without thinking.
‘Why?’ His blue eyes twinkled in amusement. ‘Would you rather I did?’
‘No!’ she replied, picturing her mother’s horror if she could hear her. ‘I mean, mostly people choose to go back to the place they know, to reminisce, that sort of thing.’
‘I don’t remember much about it, to be honest.’
She picked up his room key, remembering how her mother expected her to greet guests for the first time. ‘I’d like to wish you a warm welcome to the sunshine island.’
His eyes widened in surprise. ‘I’m sorry, what?’
Piper cringed, glad she had already turned her back to him. Although her mother insisted on the welcome, sometimes, like this time, it embarrassed her.
‘Jersey was known as the honeymoon island back in the forties, fifties and sixties,’ she explained. ‘It was a big deal to come here for your honeymoon.’ She wished she hadn’t mentioned honeymoons. ‘Although it’s also supposed to be the sunniest place in the British Isles, so I like to refer to it as the sunshine island.’ Why was she wittering on? ‘What I should be saying is, welcome to Blue Haven Guest House.’
‘Right. Thanks.’
‘If you follow me, I’ll take you up to your room. You’re in number two. It’s a lovely room right at the front of the house. Shall we go now, and you can settle in?’
She led the way up the first flight of stairs. Recalling his mention of earlier visits to the island and the hint of sadness in his tone, Piper sensed there was more to his return than a quiet few days away.
She reached the bedroom door and opened it, standing aside to let him enter.
He stepped in and looked around. ‘This is lovely and bright,’ he said, lowering his rucksack to the painted floorboards by the chest of drawers before walking over to the open window. She watched him silently take in the view of the harbour and Grouville’s golden arc of sand stretching out across the bay. ‘I might not want to leave,’ he said, almost to himself.
‘Well, feel free to extend your stay here. Although, if you did, I would have to move you as a couple of return visitors have booked in here from Monday for two weeks and always request this room.’
He kept staring out of the window as she spoke and seemed lost in thought. ‘You’re lucky having this view to look at every day.’ He turned to face her. ‘I’m presuming you live here. Or nearabouts?’
‘I live upstairs in a tiny flat in the eaves with my mum, Helen.’ She cringed, hearing herself sound like some sort of modern-day Cinderella. ‘Um, it’s her B&B now really. You’ll meet her soon no doubt. She’s got ash-blonde hair and wears glasses. She took it over from my gran a few years ago. Gran lives in the cottage next door, further down Gorey Pier.’ Why was she blabbering on like this?
‘I don’t blame her for not going far. I wouldn’t want to move away from somewhere like this.’ He took off his leather jacket and folded it before draping it across the back of the chair near the drawers. ‘Have you always lived here?’
‘I have.’ Piper forced herself not to stare at his muscular arms and the way his T-shirt moulded to his torso. Get a grip, woman. She was used to guests asking her these sorts of questions and didn’t mind at all. She cleared her throat. ‘My gran came here in her late twenties with my mum after she and Grandad divorced, but I’ve always lived on the pier. I love it here.’
Through the window, she recognised her mother’s voice, calling to Casey Norman and Tara Spencer. Piper’s friends ran the Smoke and Mirrors stall at The Cabbage Patch, next to where Piper sold her mosaics when she wasn’t helping out at the Blue Haven. ‘Casey!’ Helen shouted. ‘Tell your mum I’ll catch up with her later. She’s making a Victoria sponge for my guests, and I said I’d collect it.’
‘I can drop it off if you like?’ Casey called back.
Alex turned to watch the goings-on down below. ‘I think I already love this place,’ he said quietly. She wasn’t certain if he was addressing her or talking to himself.
‘It’s certainly got its own character and characters.’ Piper laughed. ‘Most of them have good hearts too.’
‘Hey, Helen,’ bellowed a deep voice with a thick Jersey accent Piper recognised as one of the farmers who regularly dropped off produce for the small restaurant and café a few doors along from the guest house. ‘Got some tasty maincrop spuds, aubergines and butternuts if you want them, ma love?’
‘You’re all right thanks, Len. I’ve still got some from the last batch you brought me. Possibly next week.’
‘Right you are then.’
Alex turned to face Piper once more. ‘I have a feeling I’m going to enjoy my stay here.’
‘I hope it doesn’t get too noisy with all the chatter,’ she said. ‘As well as the locals who live and work around here, we get quite a few holidaymakers at this time of year.’
‘I’m sure it won’t bother me at all.’
She was relieved to hear it. ‘Where have you come from if you don’t mind me asking?’
‘London,’ he said. ‘Not far from Hammersmith, so this might be noisy to you but it’s extremely quiet to me.’
She really should get going before her mother wondered where she was, but she was fascinated by Alex and couldn’t help wanting to discover more about him.
His stomach rumbled noisily, and he rested a hand on it giving her an apologetic smile. ‘Sorry. I haven’t eaten anything since leaving home after breakfast this morning.’
Remembering her manners, Piper shook her head. ‘Please don’t worry. I should have told you about the meals here. Obviously you get breakfast and that’s served between eight and nine-thirty each morning, but Mum is fairly easy-going if you need to catch an early flight or something like that.’
‘Sounds great.’
‘There’s the café along from here where you can find really tasty meals for your lunch and supper. In fact, there are several cafés, and also a great fish and chip shop if you walk into the village.’ She indicated the general direction he should take. ‘It’s about fifteen minutes away. Turn right just before the village green and keep walking. There’s a post office, chemist and plenty of other shops. Gorey village is really pretty.’
‘It sounds like I’ll be well catered for.’
She smiled. ‘Most people are happy with what’s on offer.’ Turning to leave, about to close the door, Piper realised she was still holding his room key and placed it on the chest of drawers. ‘If you have any issues with the television, kettle or anything else, ring downstairs and either Mum or I will come and help you. The Wi-Fi password is written on the card next to the tea tray. Oh, and the bathroom is down the hall to your right.’
‘Thanks.’
Piper closed the door behind her and returned downstairs where she found her mother making a cup of tea in the kitchen.
Helen narrowed her eyes thoughtfully. ‘You’ve been an awfully long time settling that new guest into his room. Was everything all right?’
‘Yes, Mum.’ Piper took a mug and placed it on the worktop next to her mother’s. ‘Can I have one of those too,’ she asked. ‘I’m parched.’
‘Probably all that chatting you’ve been doing,’ her mother teased.
Piper grinned. ‘I’m not the one who’s been gossiping. I saw you, on the bench, chatting away to your “man friend”. And anyway, you always tell me to try to make the guests welcome.’
Her mother popped a tea bag into Piper’s mug and poured hot water onto it. ‘I do.’ She gave the steaming liquid a bit of a stir. ‘What’s he like? Alex something-or-other, isn’t it?’
Piper nodded, not realising she was smiling as she thought of him. ‘He’s quite nice. I think he’s hungry, so I told him where to go to find food. I’m fairly sure he’ll be down for breakfast in the morning.’ She took her mug and poured in milk before removing the tea bag. ‘He seems to like his room.’
‘That’s good.’ Helen picked up her mug and Piper followed her through to the dining room where they sat at one of the smaller tables.
She loved this time of day, when everything had been done and the two of them had a chance to sit and chat.
‘I wonder why he’s here,’ Piper said.
‘Who?’ Her mum raised her eyebrows. ‘The new guest?’ Piper nodded. ‘He probably needs a few days away from wherever he lives. And what better place to do it.’
Piper agreed, but they usually welcomed couples for long weekends, or friends getting away to visit the sights rather than single men. Never mind. She would probably find out at some point. Alex seemed friendly enough.
After finishing their teas, Piper set the tables ready for morning. She was looking forward to setting off to The Cabbage Patch. She loved the large barn in Trinity where she and other artisans ran their concessions. Before she had a chance to leave, the front door opened and she heard voices as new people arrived.
‘That’ll probably be Mr and Mrs Chapman,’ Helen said, folding tablecloths ready for ironing. ‘Will you look after them, love?’
‘Sure.’ Piper grabbed a hairband from her pocket and quickly scraped her hair back into a semi-neat ponytail as she hurried through to greet their guests.
‘Mr and Mrs Chapman?’ she asked, smiling.
‘That’s us,’ the husband confirmed. She noticed they were holding hands, their free hands gripping the handles of their cases. ‘Please call us Eric and Patty, dear.’
‘Thank you. And I’m Piper.’ She took their details and picked up their room key. ‘You’re our honeymooners. We’re extremely excited you’ve chosen to come and spend your sixtieth wedding anniversary with us.’
They gazed at each other with such love that Piper unwittingly sighed. ‘It’s lovely to have you back. We’ve put you in Room Four, as you requested. If you want to follow me, I’ll show you up.’ She reached out to take Patty’s case. ‘Please, let me take that for you.’
‘I don’t mind carrying both cases,’ Eric said, attempting to take it from her.
‘It’s fine, honestly. I’m used to it.’ Piper led the way, taking it slowly, aware that when the couple had come on their honeymoon they had been six decades younger and might not find the two flights of stairs as easy this time round. ‘If you decide after a few days that you would rather swap rooms for one below, I’m sure we can arrange that. The gentleman in there is only here for a short visit.’ She heard them whisper something to each other as they reached the second floor and stopped outside number four. ‘Well, here we are.’ Piper unlocked the door and pushed it wide open, stepping back to let them enter.
Patty gasped and rushed forwards to the flowers. ‘These are from you, aren’t they, Eric? Only you would buy me red roses and orange tiger lilies.’
It was obvious they had already forgotten Piper was there. They might be seventy-nine and eighty years old, but the young newlyweds they had once been shone in their faces as Eric stepped forward and took Patty in his arms.
Not wishing to intrude on their privacy, Piper placed the suitcase inside the room and set the key on the bedcover, before closing the door quietly behind her.
As she returned downstairs, she thought about the saying ‘true love never dies’. She might have agreed with that sentiment once, but in her experience, true love only pretended to exist. It warmed her heart to witness this couple still so clearly in love with each other and gave her hope that, one day, she might experience something similar.
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