Page 2 of Christmas at Sturcombe Bay (Sturcombe Bay Romances #3)

“Of course it’s okay. I’ll just get these boots off and get myself a coffee, and I’ll come in and say hello.”

“Right.”

Julia slipped back into the sitting room, a question in her eyes. Jess nodded, drawing in a long slow breath to compose herself. By the time he appeared in the doorway she had her smile in place. “Hello, Graham.”

“Hello there, my luvver.”

Graham Ellis’s Devon accent was as rich as Devon cream.

In his mid-sixties, with grizzled hair and a weathered face and growing comfortable around the middle, he and Luke ran a farm-animal practice, while his wife Diane ran a small animal clinic, and his younger son Liam’s main interest was in horses.

They all lived in this rambling old cottage. Graham and Diane lived in the main section, their two sons and their families each having a separate wing, though they all seemed to spend most of their time jumbled together in this sitting room, the heart of the house.

Graham brought his coffee mug and sat down next to the spaniel. With a small contented grunt she twisted round and laid her head on his lap. “So, you’re down for a few days, is it?” he asked.

“That’s right.”

“Ah.” He nodded. He must have noticed the redness of her eyes, but to her relief he didn’t ask questions. He was the type to mind his own business unless invited in.

“That new batch of Bangs vaccine has arrived,” Julia told him, sitting down next to Jess again and picking up her coffee mug. “It’s in the fridge.”

“Good, good. Draw up a schedule for me, will you?” He chuckled at the slightly quizzical expression on Jess’s face.

“Don’t worry — no danger of you pouring it on your cornflakes by mistake.

We don’t keep it in the kitchen fridge with the milk and cheese — we have a separate one in the mud room for medical supplies. ”

She laughed. “I thought you must have.” She finished her coffee and put down her mug. “I’ll just pop out and bring my stuff in from the car.”

Julia put down her mug too. “I’ll come and help you.”

“Need a hand?” Graham offered.

“Oh . . . No, thanks all the same. There’s not much. We can manage.”

“Right then.” He tickled the spaniel’s ear and picked up the remote to turn on the television.

It took a couple of trips to haul all of Jess’s stuff up to Julia’s spare room on the first floor.

At the far end of the passage, overlooking the stable yard, it was small and cosy, tucked beneath the eaves, with a sloping ceiling and a dormer window.

The bed looked comfortable, the wardrobe and dressing table old-fashioned, but more than adequate.

“I’ll get some fresh bedding for you.” Julia dumped the three bags she had brought up from the car onto the floor. “Will you be all right in here?”

“Absolutely.” Jess smiled at her sister. “It’s fine.”

“It could probably do with a bit of a dust round.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll do that.”

“Okay.”

The two of them went back downstairs to bring up the last of the stuff from the car, then Julia brought the fresh bedding from the airing cupboard and helped Jess make up the bed. As they were finishing, the sound of hoofs on the cobbled stable yard echoed up to them.

Jess glanced out of the window as a slim, dark-haired young woman slid athletically down from a large chestnut. “Who’s that?”

Julia came to peer over her shoulder. “That’s Cassie — Cassie Channing. Liam’s fiancée. You’ll like her. She’s loads of fun. They’re getting married at Christmas.”

Oh. A wedding. Ouch.

Julia was quick to notice the thinning of her lips. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have mentioned it.”

Jess shook her head. “Don’t be silly. People get married all the time. I can’t pretend it doesn’t happen.”

The woman was unfastening the horse’s girths and lifting off the saddle, all her movements quick and efficient.

“She’s Lisa’s sister. Remember Lisa Cullen from the hotel, the assistant manager?”

“Oh, yes.”

“Cassie’s been away for ten years, travelling all over the world. But apparently she and Liam had a thing going when they were teenagers, and when she came back they got together again.”

“Ah, how romantic.” Jess couldn’t quite keep the cynicism from her voice. Turning away from the window she began to pull her clothes out of the bags and hang them in the wardrobe. “What does little Robyn think of her?”

“She adores her. It’ll be good for her to have a mum again. It was so sad, Natalie dying like that when she was only two. Though Liam’s done a great job with her — he’s a smashing dad. Anyway, how about some dinner?”

“Sounds good.”

“We sometimes have dinner with the family, but I’ve got a lasagne on for us tonight. There’s plenty for the four of us, and . . . I guess you’d prefer to eat with just us anyway?”

Jess smiled crookedly. “Yes, I would, if that’s okay?”

“Of course.”

“Thanks, Jools.” Impulsively she hugged her sister. “Thank you so much. I feel better already.”

“That’s good. Come down in about twenty minutes. I’ll leave you to unpack for now.”

Alone in the room, Jess sat down on the edge of the newly made bed. The anger that had sustained her on the drive down here had exhausted her. Now her head was aching. She felt as if she had been hit with a sledgehammer.

Reaching into her handbag she pulled out a small parcel. Glenn’s Christmas present. A watch — quite an expensive one, one he had always coveted.

She’d bought it early, looking forward to Christmas with as much excitement as a child. Her first Christmas as Mrs Glenn Howell. Well, it wasn’t too late to send it back and get a refund.

If only she could get a refund on the past five years of her life so easily.

Oh dammit, it was her own stupid fault. Oh, not Glenn’s behaviour — that was entirely on him — but she should never have let it pass the last time he had done it. And the time before.

She hadn’t told Julia about that first one — she had been too embarrassed. He had apologised so profusely, promising her so sincerely that he would never do it again. And she had believed him because she had wanted to. Pathetic.

So, the wedding was off. She would never wear the beautiful vintage ivory lace dress she had left hanging up in the spare room of the flat she had shared with Glenn, above his motorbike shop. Her little cousins would be upset that they weren’t going to be bridesmaids — she felt bad about that.

There were all the guests to be told, the church and the vicar, the hotel where the reception was to have been held, the photographer, the florist, the caterers . . . Oh lord, the list seemed endless!

In her initial surge of anger she had told Glenn that he would have to deal with it, but that wasn’t really fair on all those people. When it came to tasks like that, he couldn’t find his backside with both hands. Besides, he’d give his version of the reason — which probably wouldn’t be true.

She’d have to do it herself. Dammit. Impatiently, she brushed a tear from her eyes and rose to her feet to continue unpacking her bags. She was not going to cry any more. Even though it hurt like hell.