Page 29 of Coming Home to Sturcombe Bay
The dress code was colourful summer dresses, casual jeans, T-shirts. The same code seemed to apply to the two teams — only about half of them wore traditional cricket whites. The youngest player looked to be in his early teens, while some of the others looked old enough to be his grandfather. And there were several women on both teams.
“Nanna, would you like a cup of tea?” Cassie asked.
“Hmph! I thought you were never going to offer.”
Cassie smiled to herself. “How about you, Arthur?”
He beamed up at her, showing off his dentures. “What’s that, my luvver?”
“Would you like a cup of tea?”
“Oh, no, thanks all the same. My girlfriend’s fetching me one.”
“Your girlfriend?”
“That’s right.” He chuckled with mischievous laughter. “And here she is.”
A tall, slender young woman with honey-blonde hair and smiling eyes approached them carrying two paper cups of tea. “Here you are, Arthur — just how you like it. Nice and sweet.”
“Just like you, my luvver.” He took the cup in both hands. “Thank you very much.”
The young woman turned to Nanna with a warm smile. “Hello, Mrs Channing. Lovely to see you again. You’re looking really well. How are you feeling?”
“Fit as a flea!” Nanna declared briskly. “Has that old goat got you waiting on him hand and foot?”
“Oh, I don’t mind — he deserves it.” She glanced over at Cassie, her smile open and friendly. “Hi. You must be Cassie, Lisa’s sister. I’m Vicky. It’s lovely to meet you at last. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“Oh?” Cassie laughed, tilting her head towards her brother. “Don’t believe a word he says.”
“Oh no, not from him. From Lisa. She’s shown me loads of the photos you’ve sent her. That bungee jump in New Zealand looked amazing!”
“It was.” Cassie’s eyes danced. “It was like flying. I went up three times. They practically had to drag me away in the end.” A small brown-and-white terrier came snuffling around her feet. She tickled his ear, glancing up to smile at Tom Cullen on the other end of the lead. “Who’s this?”
“Rufus. Rufty-Tufty. Rufus, sit,” he commanded as the small dog tried to climb up Cassie’s leg. After a brief consideration the dog decided to obey and was rewarded with a treat.
“And I see you’ve met Vicky.” He slid his arm around the sunny blonde’s waist, his eyes smiling down into hers — the kindof look that would make the heart of the Wicked Witch of the West melt into a puddle of honey.
For a fleeting moment Cassie wished that Liam might look at her like that . . .
Vicky leaned up and put a kiss on the side of her fiancé’s mouth, then took the dog’s lead. “Let me have Rufus. You’d better go and join your team. I’m going to sit and have a natter.”
“Well, in that case, I’m definitely going to join the team,” he teased, laughing. “See you later, Cassie.”
“Yeah . . .” She smiled quickly. “Yes, see you later.”
Hopefully, no one would have noticed her momentary distraction — she had spotted Liam out of the corner of her eye. He was with his brother and sister-in-law, little Robyn running ahead with a boy maybe a couple of years older.
Turning back to Vicky, she smiled again. “Lisa told me about Molly. I was sorry to hear she’d died. She was an amazing old woman. And she left you her cottage.”
“That’s right. I was thrilled. I used to love coming down to stay here in the summer holidays when I was little. I don’t suppose you remember me from then.”
Cassie shook her head. “No, I’m afraid I don’t.”
“Well, it was a long time ago — sixteen years. After my dad died, we didn’t come down any more.”
“That’s a shame.” She was trying to keep herself focused on the conversation, refusing to let herself watch Liam, who was over by the pavilion, chatting to the other players.
Vicky nodded. “It was. But I’ve been fascinated finding out about her, stuff I’d never have dreamed of.”
