Page 4 of A Little Love Song in Seabury (Seabury #16)

LEAH

L eah let out a long, happy sigh. She was sitting cross-legged on the little flat’s cosy sofa, with her first holiday read open in front of her and the tail end of a cup of coffee cradled in her hands.

This was the life!

She’d already eaten three rounds of golden toast slathered in butter, and she was debating making herself a fresh cup of coffee. Sure, she’d promised herself breakfast at New York Froth—but she’d woken up hours before the café would be open, and there was no way she could wait that long!

That said, her first breakfast wasn’t going to stop Leah from scuttling downstairs for a second innings any moment now. After all, she was on holiday… and that meant that she could live like a Hobbit, didn’t it?!

Popping her bookmark carefully between the pages of her romcom, Leah let out another contented sigh as a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth.

She wasn’t sure what had come over her… but she hadn’t felt this relaxed in months.

Surely less than twelve hours of holiday wasn’t enough to have such a good effect? !

Maybe her contentment was simply because she didn’t have to pack up and move on to the next city, or start making calls to the next venue to confirm Will’s sound checks. Or… maybe it was because she hadn’t actually heard from her boss since she’d dropped him off the previous night.

Or had she somehow managed to miss a call?

Leah’s happy little bubble deflated slightly as she grabbed her mobile from the coffee table and swiped at the screen. Normally, Will sent her a message every quarter of an hour or so. It wasn’t that he was demanding… more that he’d come to depend on her for the small things as well as the large.

Where’s my dry-cleaning?

Which city did I just wake up in?

I can’t remember if I’ve completed a tax return this century.

When did I last eat?

Sure, being completely indispensable made for excellent job security, but it did mean that there were moments when things got a tad testing. Somehow, Leah’s growing feelings for the man she spent nearly twenty-four hours a day with only seemed to make things worse.

Frowning at her phone screen, Leah couldn’t quite believe her eyes.

Not a peep. This wasn’t normal!

‘No… this is a good thing,’ she muttered. ‘You need a break from each other!’

Maybe, if she kept telling herself that, she might actually start to believe it.

Leah let out a long, deep breath… but it didn’t work. The sense of contented calm she’d been basking in all of two seconds ago had completely deserted her. She needed to get up and get moving, otherwise she was going to start obsessing. Again.

Slurping down the dregs of her coffee, Leah stood up and stretched. It was time to put her shoes on, get her hands on that second breakfast, and then start exploring Seabury!

Heading for the bedroom, Leah reached for her hairclip and was halfway through pulling her hair up into its customary tight knot when she promptly let go.

The heavy twist spiralled back down around her shoulders.

It could stay down for a change. She was off duty after all…

even if her brain hadn’t quite got the memo yet!

‘Which means…’ She turned and kicked her heeled boots back under the bed, reached for her suitcase, and pulled out a scruffy pair of trainers instead.

Comfort. Pure comfort.

‘And that goes for choosing food, drink, books and company too!’ she said, shoving her feet into the trainers and quickly tying the laces.

This week, she was going to let her hair down—literally—and get some much-needed sea air and exercise. She had an entire bucket list of things she wanted to do, and she was going to make it her mission to tick off as many as possible while she was here.

Hurrying back into the living room, Leah grabbed her trusty handbag and quickly loaded it with her book, her wallet and—after a long moment where she considered abandoning it in the flat—her mobile.

As much as she’d like a break from the thing, she wouldn’t be able to relax if there was any chance she might miss an SOS message from Will.

Besides, she needed to send a message to Connie and Rosie to thank them for all the goodies.

She’d meant to do it the previous evening, but the bacon sandwich combined with the glass of bubbly had worked a very swift brand of magic.

So much so that Leah had skipped her shower and practically passed out the minute she’d climbed under the covers.

Leah briefly wondered if she should ask the girls to join her for her second breakfast, but something held her back.

Maybe it was the fact that her resignation letter was currently tucked between the pages of her diary like a ticking time bomb.

Somehow, hanging out with Will’s family members when she hadn’t decided what to do about it felt a bit awkward.

What would they think of her if she went ahead and handed it to Will?

Leah froze, chewing on her lip. It wasn’t just Will she’d lose if she resigned, was it…

or the job she loved? She’d lose contact with everyone at Seabury House, too.

They’d relied on her for news of their busy brother for months, now, but recently, the connection had developed into something more—the start of real friendship.

If she quit, all that would go away, wouldn’t it? !

‘Not a decision for today!’ she said, tucking that particular set of worries away in a different compartment of her brain. She was good at that. Some days it was the only way she coped!

With one last look around the living room to check she hadn’t forgotten anything, Leah dashed down the wooden stairs, then carefully closed the front door behind her and made her way towards the seafront.

The sight of the morning sun glittering on the gentle waves of North Beach took her breath away, and for a moment, Leah just stopped and stared.

What a place to live!

She could understand why Ewan, Matt and Rosie had decided to put down roots in their childhood hometown. As for Connie coming for an extended visit and ending up staying for good? She could see how easily that could happen. In fact, Leah wouldn’t mind moving there herself one day.

Seabury was a far cry from Cambridge where she’d grown up.

Sure, the ancient city was beautiful, but the regular influx of new students riding their bikes badly and chaining them all over the place always had a funny effect on her.

Maybe it was because a new term had always heralded even less time and attention from her parents than usual.

On paper, Leah’s childhood had been idyllic. She’d been raised by two wonderfully intelligent parents—both of them professors at world-renowned Cambridge colleges. She was sure loads of people would have given their right arms for such a story-book upbringing.

The reality, though, had been rather different. Her parents had been absent a lot of the time, and even when they were at home, they tended to be distracted, their brilliant minds too full of important learning to pay their four unremarkable—wonderfully normal—children much attention.

Leah let out a long sigh. It still upset her that she’d missed out on any kind of parental warmth… but letting it get under her skin was a ridiculous waste of energy.

Right now, she was on holiday on the opposite side of the country. Will had everything he needed for his week-long stay, and now it was her turn to focus on what would make her happy.

‘What would make me happy right now is another coffee and a large slice of cake,’ she said out loud, as if the seagulls wheeling overhead might pass judgment. One of them gave her an encouraging SQUEE! and she took that as all the permission she needed.

Heading back across the road, Leah made straight for New York Froth. She was glad to see the golden lights had been turned on, and as she opened the door, the smell of coffee hit her hard.

Excellent… it looked like they were ready for her!

Leah might have already made the most of Connie and Rosie’s stock-up of her kitchen cupboards, but there was nothing quite like a proper barista coffee.

‘Hey, what can I get you?’ said the young lad behind the till.

‘Cappuccino, please,’ she said with a grin. ‘And the most disgustingly huge piece of cake you’ve got.’

‘Carrot cake work for you?’ he said, his eyes scanning the counter.

‘Perfect!’ said Leah, her mouth already starting to water.

‘Small, medium or large coffee?’

‘Gigantic,’ she said with a grin. ‘And make that two of both, please.’

Leah could kick herself. She’d added that last bit out of sheer habit. She always ordered two of everything. Will regularly forgot to feed himself. It was like his mind was too full of music to remember the basics… like eating and drinking as often as he should.

‘Two?’ said the barista. ‘Two cappuccinos and two pieces of carrot cake?’

‘Erm… yeah… thanks,’ said Leah. She didn’t want to change her order and look like a total lunatic. She’d just have to find someone to palm the extras off on. ‘Could I take them to go, please?’

‘Sure! No problemmo!’

Damn! She’d been looking forward to lounging around in the café for a bit, but she couldn’t do that with her random duplicate coffee and cake, could she?

! Ah well, it didn’t really matter, did it?

She had a whole week ahead of her – there would be plenty of time to enjoy New York Froth’s squashy sofas with a good book and never-ending supply of coffee!

‘Hold that order, my good man!’

Leah jumped and spun around to see which soul was brave enough to deprive her of her much-anticipated hobbit breakfast, only to find herself flanked by two grinning women.

One had a high, perky ponytail that gleamed golden under the lights.

She was bouncing on the balls of her feet and looking more than a little bit excited.

The other woman was shorter, with huge, dark eyes and thick brown hair that cascaded over her shoulders in luxurious waves… and she was decidedly pregnant.

‘Connie?’ said Leah, peering at her. Yep. This was a face she recognised from their endless, glorious video chats. ‘And… Rosie?!’

They both nodded, grinning at her like a pair of Cheshire cats.

‘It’s so lovely to meet you at last!’ squealed Rosie, pulling Leah into a hug.

‘You too!’ said Leah, squeezing her back before pulling away to hug Connie.

This was harder than it sounded and caused a great deal of giggling as they struggled to navigate the baby bump between them.

‘Thank you so much for all the goodies. It was such a lovely surprise. I got everything Will needed… but I kind of forgot about myself!’

‘Told you,’ said Rosie smugly.

Connie nodded.

‘And sorry I didn’t message last night,’ said Leah quickly. ‘I kind of conked out. I was just about to do it over coffee…’

She paused and frowned.

‘Hey… why exactly did you just cancel my order, by the way?!

‘Yeah, can someone fill me in here?’ said the guy behind the counter, looking amused. ‘Am I double cappuccino-ing you or not?’

‘Sorry Robbie, not right now!’ said Connie, answering for Leah. ‘I’ll bring her back a bit later, okay?’

Leah watched in bemusement as Robbie shrugged and wandered off to fill one of the cake stands.

‘Erm… why exactly are you depriving me of my much-needed second caffeine hit of the day?’ said Leah.

‘Did you bring a swimming costume with you?’ said Rosie.

Leah nodded. She always had a swimming costume with her. A lot of the hotels she stayed in with Will boasted a pool and a gym. He might never use them, but she regularly went for a midnight dip to soothe the stresses of organising the scatterbrained genius.

‘Excellent,’ said Connie. ‘In that case, you’d better change… because it’s time for us to head to the beach!’