Page 9 of A Little Love Song in Seabury (Seabury #16)

WILLIAM

‘ I can’t believe you stood us up!’ muttered Matt, heading for the door of Seabury House.

Will rolled his eyes. ‘I’m sorry, I got distracted?—’

‘And I can’t believe Matt wouldn’t agree to the pair of us stuffing our faces without you!’ huffed Ewan, massaging his belly and shooting both of them filthy looks… or as filthy as his easy-going brother could manage.

Will felt a pang of guilt. He could swear he’d just heard Ewan’s stomach growling.

‘To be fair, I wouldn’t have minded if you had…’ said Will with a little shrug.

‘You really think I could have sat down to eat when I was worried you’d collapsed or been taken ill or something?!’ said Matt.

‘Or something?’ said Will, curious as to what the something might entail.

‘You could have had a breakdown!’ said Matt.

‘Or been abducted by space aliens,’ added Ewan.

‘Or been licked to death by Stanley!’ said Matt.

‘Out of all of them, that’s probably the most likely scenario,’ said Will.

‘I mean, what plonker doesn’t answer his phone?’ demanded Ewan.

‘The kind of plonker who got busy and didn’t realise what time it was,’ said Will, rolling his eyes. His brothers really were a pair of drama queens. ‘And anyway, I can’t believe Lionel didn’t keep the table for us.’

‘He would have,’ said Matt, ‘but as previously noted, I thought you were ill or something terrible had happened. We waited for you for nearly an hour as it was, and Lionel had people turning up just in case he could squeeze them in. It wasn’t fair to make him turn them away on the off-chance we’d be back. ’

‘Well… nothing lost then, eh?’ said Will with another shrug. His fingers were dancing at his sides, and if he was honest, he couldn’t believe he’d let his brothers drag him away from the piano.

To be fair, he had agreed to meet them at the hotel. He’d been at the piano for six hours solid when they’d turned up at the clifftop house looking worried. Now, his hands were stiff… but they hadn’t finished their work yet.

‘What on earth are you smiling about?!’ tutted Ewan.

Will shrugged. Everything . He was smiling about everything. That morning on the beach and then the sight of Leah as she’d entered New York Froth had unlocked something inside of him that had been stuck for months.

‘Wipe that grin off your face,’ huffed Matt. ‘And stop shrugging. You’re not off the hook until we get food!’

‘I thought you said you’ve got plenty of food in the house?’ said Will mildly, the melody still tinkling through his mind.

‘Not the point,’ growled Matt. ‘Plus, there’s no Hattie here to cook it for us!’

‘Ewan’s good in the kitchen,’ said Will, deliberately not taking the point.

‘Usually, I’d take the compliment,’ said Ewan, opening the door and leading the way towards the kitchen. ‘But not after I’ve driven half way across the country for some wool.’

‘Want a hand unloading?’ said Will.

‘Only when I’ve had something to eat.’

Will gave his brother a little salute and then followed the two grumpy bears through the house.

Sure, he was sorry he’d messed up their dinner plans, but not as sorry as he’d been to leave the piano.

He was in Seabury for a whole week. There would be plenty of time to eat out with his family.

What there might not be time for was finishing the piece he’d been working on.

Actually, working on wasn’t the right term for it, was it? The music had hit him over the head that morning like a glittering battering ram, and it had been playing on a loop ever since. He simply had to get it down before it disappeared on him!

Something like this had never happened to him before. Will swallowed, trying to calm the flood of music laced with panic as it ran through his mind. His fingers itched to get back to a piano.

What if the music stopped? It was already starting to sound like it was coming from further away!

‘Earth to dimbo?!’

Ewan was glaring at him. Will blinked several times. He was standing in the kitchen doorway, with no recollection of actually getting there.

‘Huh?’

‘What do you want to drink, dozy?!’ said Ewan,

‘Oh. Erm… water?’

‘Well, at least that’s easy,’ said Matt. ‘There’s sparkling water in the fridge. Connie’s practically living on the stuff at the moment.’

Will decided not to point out that he’d prefer tap water.

He’d already caused enough havoc for his brothers as it was…

and besides, a tricky little run of notes had just worked itself out in the back of his mind.

Would they think he was being really rude if he just nipped to the piano in the ballroom to try it out?

Probably.

Definitely.

‘Ah, balls!’ muttered Matt.

‘What’s up?’ said Ewan, who was busy grabbing plates from the dresser.

‘I could have sworn we had a whole bunch of stuff in here. Cold meat… cheese… olives?’

‘We did,’ said Ewan, looking surprised. ‘I went shopping yesterday before I made bread. I mean… I know Connie’s eating for two, but…’

‘Well, there’s no sign of any bread other than this,’ said Matt. He’d turned to rummage around in the bread bin and was now waving a solitary, slightly curled crust in the air.

‘Well, I definitely made some,’ said Ewan. ‘Two loaves for us and an extra one for Leah.’

‘Leah?’ said Will, snapping into focus at the mention of her name.

‘Yeah, dozy,’ sighed Ewan. ‘You know, the poor woman you dragged along on your holiday. The one who’s staying in Doris’s tiny flat while you swan around like lord muck in that massive place on the cliff!’

‘She… I… she wanted to stay there!’ said Will defensively.

Or had he just assumed that? Should he have invited her to stay with him at the cliff house instead? Wouldn’t that have been crossing some kind of boundary?

That said, he’d just spent the entire day wishing she was there with him in person, rather than floating in his mind’s eye, wrapped in wreaths of musical notes.

‘If you hadn’t been such an idiot about not staying with us at Seabury House, Leah could have stayed here too,’ said Ewan.

‘Why on earth would she want to do that?’

‘Are you kidding?!’ laughed Matt. ‘I told you this morning that she’s friends with the girls. They talk to each other at least twice a week. They’re practically sisters by this point.’

‘You’re right!’ said Ewan. ‘And I think you might have just solved the mystery of the missing food,’ he added, snapping his fingers.

‘Of course!’ said Matt with a little laugh.

‘I’m lost,’ muttered Will.

‘What’s new?’ said Ewan, thrusting an empty dinner plate at him. ‘Just take this and follow me.’

Grabbing their drinks, Matt ushered Will out into the hallway.

‘Recognise this?’ said Ewan, nodding at a charcoal grey, soft leather bag that was sitting on the huge wooden bench near the front door.

Will glanced at it and shook his head. ‘Should I?’

‘You really are a doofus, aren’t you?’ sighed Ewan.

‘Erm… why, exactly?’ said Will, now thoroughly confused.

‘Because that’s Leah’s bag,’ said Ewan, rolling his eyes.

‘How on earth would you know something like that?!’ demanded Will. ‘You’ve not even met her yet!’

‘Because Rosie and Connie sent it to her as a gift for Christmas’

‘And I would know that how, exactly?’ said Will.

‘Oh… you know, maybe because you’re together every single day,’ said Matt. ‘And because she takes it everywhere she goes.’

‘Again, how the eff would you know that?!’ tutted Will.

‘Because she had it with her on the beach this morning,’ said Matt. ‘And I’ve got eyes!’

‘So, what’s it doing here?’ said Will, shaking his head. He felt like he had water in his ears. The music was humming loudly now. All this talk of Leah seemed to be stirring it up.

‘Unbelievable,’ muttered Ewan. ‘Just… follow me, okay? Think you can do that?’

Will nodded but then hesitated again as they passed the entrance to the ballroom.

Just two more minutes at a piano…

But no, he’d better not! For whatever reason, he seemed to have managed to rub his brothers up the wrong way. He’d better go along with their little game for a minute. He’d join them for something to eat and then maybe they’d let him play in peace.

Will trailed after Ewan, who was heading towards the back door, which led to the gardens. He could practically feel Matt’s tutting eyerolls following him as he went.

As they stepped outside, Will lifted his face to greet the evening sunshine and felt something in him shift again. He was home. Maybe it wasn’t such a bad thing after all. Maybe he should spend a bit more time at Seabury House while he was in town. Maybe…

His thought process ground to a halt as they rounded the corner of the house, only to find that the large picnic table between the flowerbeds was already occupied.

Suddenly, Will understood what his brothers had been getting at. He was a plonker, wasn’t he?!

Leah. She was right there.

Will paused, watching quietly for a long moment.

Rosie was clearly in the middle of entertaining the girls with a lively story, and when she paused at what he assumed was a dramatic climax—if her flailing arms were anything to go by—Leah burst out in a laugh so clear and unguarded that it took his breath away.

He’d never heard her laugh like that before. Hell, did he even know this beautiful woman he’d spent so much of the last three years with?

Will gave his head a little shake. Of course he did. Leah was capable, organised and thorough. She was also kind, patient and fun to be around.

Let’s add beautiful and breathtaking to the list, shall we?!

Another surge of music ran through him. It was nearing a crescendo now, and he needed to capture it before it was lost. Maybe he could just dash to the ballroom. Just a few minutes at the piano and he’d have it down. Then he could come back outside.

‘Ladies… prepare to share your picnic!’ called Ewan.

The three women turned to stare at their little invasion party, and Connie let out a delighted cheer at the sight of Ewan approaching.

‘Don’t even think about getting up!’ he chuckled, jogging to her and dropping a kiss on her head.

‘This is… unexpected!’ said Rosie, smiling at Matt before shooting a concerned glance at Leah.

‘Blame my idiot brother,’ said Matt.

Will flinched.

‘Which one?’ said Rosie.

‘Oi!’ huffed Ewan, scrambling onto the bench next to Connie and stealing an olive from her plate. ‘That one, of course!’ he said, pointing at Will.

Will smiled sheepishly, still hovering several feet away from the little party.

Leah glanced at him briefly, and he saw a whole range of emotions cross her face, though he couldn’t read a single one of them.

All he knew was that once again, Leah was here at the heart of his family… and it felt right.

‘Don’t tell me he did something to get you all chucked out of the hotel?!’ said Connie, her eyes wide.

‘Chance would have been a fine thing,’ said Matt. ‘At least that would have meant he’d turned up.’

‘Yeah,’ huffed Ewan, grabbing a slice of bread and buttering it like his life depended on it. ‘The git stood us up.’

‘Well… there you go,’ said Connie, laughing.

‘Yeah, looks like I owe Leah a fiver!’ said Rosie.

‘What do you mean?’ said Will, unfreezing at last and mooching towards the table.

Leah glanced at him again and smiled uncertainly. Will froze. He hoped he was smiling back, but something told him he might just be staring like an idiot.

‘We told her the boys were taking you out tonight,’ said Rosie. ‘She wanted to add it to her diary so that she could remind you, but I said you were a big boy and could get yourself there on time.’

‘And now we know exactly which one of us around this table knows you best!’ laughed Connie, elbowing Leah playfully in the ribs.

Leah shot him an apologetic look, and suddenly… Will wanted to kiss her. Just like that. Right in front of his annoying brothers. Right in front of the girls. Hell, he’d do it in front of the whole town as long as he could gather Leah in his arms and tell her he loved her.

Wait. He loved her?!

The music in his mind suddenly geared up another notch. Chords crashed inside Will’s head, and he knew—for certain—that he couldn’t make this bit wait.

‘I’ll be back,’ he muttered, turning on his heel.

‘Will… wait!’ said Connie.

‘Where are you going, weirdo?’ laughed Matt.

‘Urgh, who cares, as long as he doesn’t take the food with him!’ muttered Ewan.

‘Is he okay?’ That was Matt’s voice, and the last thing Will heard before he hotfooted it back inside the house and made a beeline for the ballroom where his childhood friend still sat.

Will practically jogged across the beautiful, wooden floor, barely sparing Ewan’s cosy knitting nook in the corner a glance. He yanked the dust sheet from the piano, lifted the lid, and suddenly his hands were flying over the keys with all the urgency he felt in his soul.