Page 60 of Booked for Summer

He turned to walk away, but was stopped in his progress towards the exit by two women who gave him a tentative smile. ‘Mr Haven?’

He eyed them warily. Usually when he was accosted, his accuser wore a scowl, but these two seemed more curious than angry. ‘Yes?’

‘I thought so. We just wanted to thank you.’ The older one with curly hair looked at her companion, but when she didn’t say anything, just kept staring at him like she was trying to work out what species he was, she spoke again. ‘We had a fabulous time tonight. Met so many like-minded people and we’ve come away with a long list of book recommendations.’

‘Which we’ll buy from Little Bay Book Shack, obviously,’ her companion piped up. Apparently now finding her voice.

‘I hope you can put on another evening like this. Maybe make it a regular feature.’ The curly-haired woman smiled. ‘It’s such a great way to meet new friends. Plus, of course, it brings the locals and tourists together, which is lovely.’ She glanced at her friend, who nodded vigorously.

‘What Anne said.’

They both laughed, and the older of the two patted his arm– yep, actually touched him. ‘We won’t keep you, but thank you again. It’s been wonderful.’

They drifted off, leaving Liam staring after them, an emotion he couldn’t identify settling in his chest. As several more people stopped to thank him for helping put on an evening he’d done nothing towards, it was quickly superseded by an emotion he did recognise. Guilt.

Jade hadn’t made him look stupid. She’d made him look generous,benevolent.

ChapterTwenty-One

Following the speed-dating evening, Saturday in the shop had been the busiest Jade had known it, full of people wanting to buy the books they’d been recommended.

She’d felt chuffed. Pleased enough with herself to instigate a family chat on the Sunday,andremain calm when Lauren kept trying to turn the talk towards her love life. ‘There is no love life. I’m here to focus on the shop,’ Jade told her. ‘And I think I’ve made some real progress in that direction.’

It had felt good talking about a success for a change. Her little team– she was running ateam– had been buzzing after the library event. When the last person had drifted out, Mary had attacked the leftover bottles of fizz. Then she’d found some awful music on her phone and badgered them all to dance. Philip, included. The man had actually shown some decent moves once he’d downed a few glasses.

The only low point was Liam and his determination to twist everything. Of course Adam hadn’t helped, but then he hadn’t helped with the whole event, either. Just swanned around telling people they should support the store because otherwise Haven was going to close it down, like he had other thriving businesses on the waterfront.

If only Liam had bothered to hang around long enough to listen toherexplanation, she thought for the umpteenth time, rather than slink off to stick pins in her voodoo-doll replica.

That’s if she was even important enough for him to have a voodoo doll of her. Or to have remained in his mind after he’d walked out of the frigging door.

I don’t want to spend my days thinking about you.

Okay, maybe he did think of her. But he didn’t want to.

Just like she did not want to keep thinking of him. Especially not on her day off.

Exasperated with herself, she stood up from her prone position on the beach and shook the sand off her legs. The book she’d been reading fell onto the sand. Great. She’d be picking the stuff out of it for days.

She quickly gathered her things and shoved them into her rucksack, taking a moment to take a final look at the stunning stretch of soft, golden sand that was Madaket Beach. It was so peaceful here, clear blue sea ahead of her, large sand dunes behind her. No rows of loungers, no tacky beachfront cafes. Just beautiful sand as far as the eye could see, a few couples strolling along the beach, a handful of swimmers… and a seal. Yes, a seal had bobbed its head out of the water straight in front of her. God, she loved this island. Forget the issues with the bookstore, with Liam. She would make the most of being here while she could.

Tugging the rental bike off its stand, she began to peddle back past Millie’s restaurant towards the bike path. And no, she was not going to remember this time a week ago, when Liam had shocked her into falling off. Then carried her in his arms and proceeded to care for her.

Nope, definitely not remembering that.

Instead she focused on her surroundings, the smell of pine trees and the glisten of small freshwater lakes, known as the Great Ponds, that nestled between the swathes of lush green countryside. She stopped at one small lake and squealed when she saw what was swimming in it. Turtles. Snapping turtles according to the sign. About a foot long, they were so ugly, they were beautiful.

As she neared the town she climbed off her bike and walked it along the cobbled main street– no way could her bum stand cycling over the smooth stones which, together with the grand old tree-shaded mansions lining either side, gave a real sense of times gone by.

When she reached the wharf she tried not to look at the gleaming white yacht moored at the end.

Her eyes had other ideas though, and her heart lurched as she spotted a male figure hunched over, head in his hands. Without thinking, she clattered the bike to the floor and ran across the rickety wooden slats. ‘Liam?’

His head snapped up, and she heard him mutter a curse before dragging a hand down his face. ‘Go away.’

‘You look awful.’

He let out a humourless laugh. ‘And you look fucking gorgeous. But you need to go.’ He bent and picked up a glass from the floor. That’s when she saw the bottle of whisky.

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