Also available from Totally Bound Publishing:
A Good Feeling
S.A. Meade
Excerpt
Chapter One
He wasn’t the usual weekday afternoon customer. Normally, by three, the lunchers were gone and the blue-rinse brigade moved in, lingering over pots of tea and slices of cake.
This one sat in the corner, chin on hand while he stared out of the window. The late afternoon sun touched his short brown hair with fire. His face was turned away from the room while he watched shoppers drift by on their way to or from the Wednesday market. He was a study in stillness and silence while the old biddies chattered around him, trading recipes and knitting patterns. It was rare for anyone to walk into the tea shop and make me glance more than once. This one caused my breath to catch in my throat.
I took a deep breath, picked up a menu before walking toward his table.
He glanced up and grinned as I approached.
I gave him my best smile and handed him the menu. “Good afternoon. Can I get you something to drink?”
“A cappuccino, please. A large one.”
I scribbled the order down on my pad. “Would you like anything else? There’s the menu and there’s also the daily specials on the board.” It was the same spiel I gave to everyone. There was nothing I could put into the words to let my interest slip. Anyway, I’d promised my brother that I wouldn’t chat up the customers. I wasn’t about to start now, not while Liam let me hang my paintings on the walls. I needed all the sales I could get.
He glanced past me to the board.
“Can I have the lemon cake?”
“I think we have a slice or two left. Anything else?” I wanted him to order more, give me something nice to look at for longer than it took to drink a large coffee and eat a wedge of cake.
He studied the menu once more. “All right, you’ve talked me into it. I’ll have a piece of the stilton and bacon quiche as well.”
“Good choice.” I offered him another smile. “I’ll go and get your coffee.”
“Thank you.” He smiled back, his eyes warm.
I lost a little bit of myself at that moment.
“I won’t be a minute.” I headed back to the kitchen, stopping only to tidy an empty table and take a payment at the till.
“I saw you.” Hayley, my sister-in-law, glanced up from the sink.
“Saw me what?” I took the quiche from the fridge and put it on the counter.
“Chatting up the bloke by the window.” She smiled. “Not that I blame you. He’s hot.”
“And probably straight.” I cut a slab of quiche then slid it onto a plate. “They usually are.”
“You don’t know that.” Hayley stacked the pans neatly on the draining board. “He gave you a nice smile and watched you walk away.”
“Were you watching?”
She shrugged. “It’s a slow afternoon.”
I stared at her. “Don’t do the whole matchmaking thing again, Hayls. It didn’t work all that well last time.”
“How was I supposed to know he was married?”
“The wedding ring was a big clue, for starters.” I placed some salad greens alongside the quiche before heading toward the door. “Don’t do it again.” I paused and peered through the door. He was back to staring through the window.
“I have a good feeling about this one.” Hayley grinned.
“So do I. But it’s not for repeating in polite company.” I took a deep breath and pushed through the door into the tea room.
He turned away from the window. “That looks tasty.”
“Freshly made every day.” I set the plate on the table. “I’ll get your coffee.”
“Thanks.”
When I returned with his coffee, he’d already demolished most of the quiche. “This is really nice. Did you make it?”
“No. My brother does all the baking and cooking. I just work the front of the house.”
He leaned back in his chair. “I like the paintings you have hanging up in here. Local artists?”
“Yes, they’re mine.” If nothing else, there was always the chance I could make a sale.
“All yours?” He glanced around.
“All mine.”
“I’m impressed.”
“Thank you.”
“So do you specialize in landscapes?”
I thought of the nude sketches I had in the studio upstairs. “And human landscapes too.”
He smiled. “Portraits?”
“Not exactly. Let me put it this way, I think a few of our clientele would be a bit shocked if I put them up here.”
“Ah, I see.” Another grin. His gaze was suddenly keener.
I was almost grateful when Mrs Beamish, one of our regulars, asked for her bill.
Several customers took advantage of my attendance at the cash register to pay up. By the time I’d finished, Hayley had left the lemon cake on the counter and the man by the window was the only customer left.
“Sorry to keep you waiting.” I handed him the cake. “Bit of an exodus there.”
“It’s all right. I’m not in any hurry.” He picked up the fork.
I left him to enjoy the cake and cleared the tables, one eye on the clock. It was almost closing time and I wanted everything tidied away, apart from him.
“Jamie”—Hayley poked her head around the kitchen door—“I’m going home now. You don’t need me to do anything do you?”
“No, I’m all right. I’ll lock up.”
She glanced past me then winked. “Thanks. See you tomorrow. Shall I put the ‘closed’ sign up?”
I looked at the clock. “You might as well. No one is going to get a cup of tea in the next five minutes.”
“Do you want me to leave?”
Please, no. Don’t.
“No, you’re fine.” Hayley flipped the sign and pulled down the blinds, hiding the sun. “Jamie could use the company. I need someone to make sure he cleans up properly.”
He raised his eyebrow. “He looks a responsible sort to me.”
“Good night, Jamie.” Hayley grinned and turned back toward the kitchen. “Behave yourself.”
“As if I had a chance to do anything else.” I picked up a used cup and saucer then placed it on the tray.
Our remaining guest returned to his cake. I took the tray into the kitchen before hurriedly loading the dishwasher. I half expected him to be waiting by the door when I went back to the dining room. Instead, he was sitting back in his seat contemplating his empty dish.
“I’m sorry. There’s one more dirty plate for you.”
“That’s all right. All I have to do is put it in the dishwasher.”
“How much do I owe you?” He reached into his pocket.
“It’s on the house.” I couldn’t be arsed to unlock the cash register.
“Are you sure?”
“Absolutely. Consider it the prize for being the last customer of the day.”
He rose. “Thanks. That was an unexpected treat.”
“We aim to please.”
“I suppose I’d better leave you in peace.”
I took a deep breath. “You don’t have to. Stay and admire the paintings and, if you’re feeling flush, you can buy one.”
He laughed and sat back down. “It might be nice to have something to brighten up my flat but I think I’ve spent enough today on my father’s present.” He nodded toward the bag on the floor beside his chair. “But I’m not in any hurry to leave.”
“Well, since you’re staying, do you want another coffee, or something else? We don’t have a license, I’m afraid, if you’re wanting something alcoholic.”
“Another coffee would be fine. Will you join me?”
If Hayley had still been there, her ear would’ve been pressed to the door. “Thanks, I will.”
I made two more coffees and carried them to the table. The café was silent, the only sound the dying gurgles of the coffee maker.
“Cheers.” He smiled and raised his cup to me. “Jamie, right?”
“Yes.”
He set the cup down and held out his hand. “Pleased to meet you. I’m Connor.”
His handshake was firm and…electric. His fingers strayed across my palm before he returned to his drink.
I was hard pressed to hold the coffee cup without my hand shaking. We seemed to have crossed a bridge. “So, what do you do for a living?”
“I’m an Army officer. A captain. I’m based down near Salisbury.”
I looked at Connor, at his short hair, the neatly pressed white shirt and khaki trousers. “Ah, right.” All I could think about was Afghanistan. It was the one word I associated with the Army.
“Yes, I’m being deployed to Afghanistan.” He sighed and stared at the closed blinds. “In about three months’ time. It’ll be my second deployment there.”
“How did you know what I was thinking?”
“It’s usually the first question I’m asked. And, no, I’m not looking forward to it.”
“I can’t imagine you would be.”
“It’s my last tour. I’m leaving after I get back. I’m not sure what I’m going to do, but I’ll have done my time. I just want to live a normal life, you know?”
“I know.” Suddenly, my little upstairs flat didn’t seem quite so pokey and my day job not so onerous.
Connor pushed his cup away and glanced at his watch. “I’ve kept you long enough. I should leave you in peace. I have to get back to barracks.”
“Don’t worry about keeping me.” I didn’t want him to go. I looked at those dark eyes and fell just a bit deeper.
“I should.” He stood up and collected his bag. “Do you get out much?”
I walked with him to the door. “No. I have no life. Marlborough isn’t exactly the liveliest of places after closing time.”
Connor leaned against the wall. “So, if I asked if you wanted to go for a meal some time, you’d not be busy?”
Bloody hell.
“It’s highly unlikely.” I reached for the lock. “Chances are, you’ll find me either down here or in the flat upstairs.”
“I’m on leave the weekend after next. Think of somewhere nice to eat. I’ll come and pick you up.”
“Why? You don’t know me. Not that I mind. Far from it.”
He touched my arm for the briefest of moments. “Let’s just say I have a good feeling about you.”
I opened the door. “All right. I’ll be here.”
Connor grinned. “Great. I’ll see you then.”
He walked out into the cool, bright evening. I closed the door behind him and pinched my arm, just to make sure.